Legion disagrees with official's analogy on in-state tuition

Legion disagrees with official's analogy on in-state tuition

In a Sept. 4 Stars & Stripes article, an employee of the American Association of State Colleges (AASCU) referred to the benefit of in-state tuition for all student veterans – regardless of their residency – as “the proverbial ‘free lunch.’”

Barmak Nassirian, director of federal policy for AASCU, made his comments in the article, which covered the newly mandated in-state tuition provisions for veterans that were included in the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act that was signed into law by President Obama last month. Nassirian complained the additional education benefits were provided without covering “the significant costs this will impose on public colleges.”

American Legion National Commander Michael D. Helm disagreed with the ‘free lunch’ analogy. “That phrase implies that a good or service is received at no cost, and that is far askew of reality," Helm said. "Our student veterans have already paid a high price through their service and sacrifice while serving in uniform.”

It is not the fault of veterans, Helm said, that their military service got in the way of residency requirements for in-state tuition. “Is it right to penalize our veterans and deny them the same price break that civilian students get for merely residing in a state long enough?”

Helm said he hoped that institutions of higher learning across the country do not see in-state tuition for veterans “as some kind of handout. If they do, then we need to carefully observe the way veterans are treated on those campuses.”

Nassirian also said in the article that Congress could have opened the Yellow Ribbon program “to public colleges to be more price-competitive with private and for-profit schools.”

Helm said the statement was incorrect. “If you check the Department of Veterans Affairs website, it says that all degree-granting institutions of higher learning are eligible for the program – that includes public colleges and universities, so they can join Yellow Ribbon at any time.”

Under VA’s current eligibility rules, student veterans can only participate in Yellow Ribbon programs if they are eligible to receive maximum benefits afforded by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. For example, veterans who served (or are serving) in the National Guard or reserves may not be able to participate in a Yellow Ribbon program because they do not qualify for 100 percent of their veterans education benefits.