TMCnet News
Colleges Mull How To Handle More VetsTAMPA, Nov 01, 2008 (Tampa Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When Congress passed a recharged GI Bill for veterans in the summer, most lawmakers probably didn't consider the capacity of Florida's public colleges and universities. But most Florida educators say the bill is so good, they expect that thousands more veterans throughout the state will take advantage of the benefits when they take effect next fall. The increased demand is a mixed blessing for the state's community colleges and universities. Schools have long opened their doors to members of the military eager to take up higher education, but even a modest increase in enrollment these days builds pressure. As they work to close their growing budget deficits, Florida's 11 public universities have frozen the size of their freshman classes and cut back on services, some of which support veterans. Community colleges, which have an open-door policy, have absorbed the spillover of students unable to get into four-year schools while facing the same budget cuts. Demand, however, may be more than modest. The new GI Bill bestows thousands more dollars in benefits on veterans. Under the old bill, known as the Montgomery GI Bill, veterans received $1,321 monthly to cover all college expenses, whether that college was the University of South Florida or Princeton University. It also required veterans to pay a $1,200 enrollment fee. The revamped measure, known as the Post 9/11 GI Bill, covers the tuition and fees of any public college or university, even the most expensive. It also provides a monthly housing allowance that will average about $1,000 as well as a $1,000 yearly stipend for books. No fee is required. The better benefits led the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to estimate that at least 525,000 will take advantage of the bill next fall. Florida's share could be 8 percent of that, or about 42,000. A Veteran's Goal One of those veterans may be Christian Lopez, who spent more than four years on active duty in the Marine Corps and did two six-month combat tours in Iraq. He enrolled at Pasco-Hernando Community College two years ago on the old GI Bill and planned to go for his four-year degree after the new one takes effect. But Lopez, 26, finds the new GI Bill so appealing that he wants to talk with an adviser at the University of South Florida to see if he can get there earlier than he planned. The housing allowance that comes with the Post 9/11 GI Bill would allow him to live on USF's campus. He would otherwise commute from his home in Spring Hill, where gas prices and tolls would have piled onto his expenses. "The new GI Bill is so beneficial for any veteran, I don't know why you wouldn't take it," Lopez said. With the admissions season accelerating, more colleges and universities are talking about how to accommodate the anticipated influx. University system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg considers the GI Bill a top priority he must meet before he leaves his post in February. Rosenberg and representatives from Florida's community colleges, public universities, private colleges and the Department of Veterans Affairs will spend the next several weeks figuring out how to accommodate the spike in interest and how to support the veterans once they are enrolled. Getting into any public university in Florida is becoming harder for students. Record numbers of high school seniors are heading to college, but the souring economy is forcing state universities to raise admissions standards. The demand sparked by the GI Bill will only add to the applicant pool. "Clearly, there is going to be a lot more pressure on access," Rosenberg said. Meetings At USF Most colleges and universities cannot guess yet how many more applications they may receive from veterans, but USF, for example, which enrolls nearly 800 veterans, could grow by a few hundred or more, said undergraduate studies Dean Robert Sullins. A university committee met this week to discuss several issues that may affect veterans: how credits transfer from military courses, which university programs have room and how to identify veterans eligible for benefits under the GI Bill. Future meetings will focus on admissions. "The next few months are going to be critical for us," Sullins said. They also will be critical for a veterans service office set up at USF to guide returning troops through the university and through policies that govern work-study and class schedules. That office, however, lost one veterans' assistant when the university cut $50 million from its budget over the summer. That was the time Congress approved the new GI Bill. Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285. To see more of the Tampa Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tampatrib.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |