Few at SEMO apply for new tuition cap for combat veterans

Few students at Southeast Missouri State University are taking advantage of a bill that caps tuition at $50 a credit hour for combat veterans.

Since the Missouri Returning Heroes' Education Act went into effect Aug. 28, only one student has completed an application to show eligibility. There are more than 120 veterans on campus, university leaders say.

"There's not the kind of interest I expected," said Karen Walker, financial aid director. She chalks up the lack of response to students being unaware of the bill.

Within the next two weeks, the university will notify veterans about how to apply. Questions about implementing the program have prevented Walker from doing so sooner.

The law limits tuition at Missouri public universities and colleges. Veterans who were Missouri residents when entering the military, were honorably discharged and served in armed combat after Sept. 11, 2001, are eligible.

While the bill is "an excellent program," university president Dr. Ken Dobbins worries some veterans may miss the fine print of the bill. The tuition cap applies after financial aid and scholarships are applied, meaning a student who already receives a Pell Grant and Access Missouri scholarship, for example, "may not get any benefit." If the clause wasn't included, students would be walking away with money in their pockets, he said.

Walker has been working with the state for more than a month to clarify exactly which benefits will be applied.

The cost to the university is unknown, she said. Full tuition is $184.80 a credit hour.

When the bill was first introduced, other college presidents had reservations about the costs of what they called an unfunded mandate. Colleges and universities will be able to include costs in state appropriation requests, but there is no guarantee the money will be reimbursed.

"I don't think there will be a significant impact, definitely not over the short term," Walker said. "Obviously, the hope is that this will open up the opportunity for veterans who may not have been considering attending."

Veteran Timothy Chism, 24, receives GI Bill benefits but said the bill doesn't cover all expenses and can take awhile to process. While he is grateful for it, he said he still has to work to make ends meet.

"If a soldier comes back from Iraq and wants to go to school full time and if they're not rich, then they have to work 20 to 40 hours a week. And if they have a family, it starts to get really complicated to go to school and take care of your bills," the sophomore said. In 2006, he served for about a year in Iraq. He is still involved with the National Guard.

Chism intends to apply for Returning Heroes funds and is looking forward to a new GI Bill that will go into effect next August.

The federal bill will pay up to 100 percent of veterans' tuition at a state school and provide housing and textbook stipends. It updates the current Montgomery GI Bill. Veterans who served three years and meet qualifications will receive a 100 percent tuition reimbursement, while those who served less will be reimbursed on a sliding scale. Three to six months of service has a reimbursement rate of 40 percent.

"It was hard for [veterans] over there, and now they're getting a benefit coming back and trying to improve themselves and their quality of life," Chism said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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