Public Universities Fight Veterans Groups Over Bill Calling for In-State Tuition for Veterans
I don’t know why there should be any problem, plenty of public universities offer in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Don’t veterans deserve as much if not better?
Michael Stratford of Inside Higher Ed reported.
Veterans vs. Land Grants
As Congressional lawmakers seek to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of Veterans Affairs Department reform legislation, one provision on the negotiating table has sparked a clash between veterans groups and public universities.
Part of the Senate-passed bill would, in effect, require public universities to offer in-state tuition to any veteran within three years after he or she comes off active duty. It would also extend that benefit to spouses and dependents.
Under the bill, states or institutions that don’t make those changes to their in-state tuition policies would be unable to continue to accept federal veterans educational benefits.
Veterans’ advocates say the provision is needed because of the transient nature of military deployments, veterans often have difficulty meeting the residency requirements that would qualify them to pay the in-state tuition – often a difference of tens of thousands of dollars. Several publicized cases of veterans being denied in-state tuition have prompted many states to change their policies.
But the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities say the changes will reduce federal funding to their institutions, which are already cash-strapped in the wake of state budget cuts over the past several years.
Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill Yellow Ribbon Program, colleges and universities can enter into an agreement with the VA to fund the gap between a veteran’s GI Bill benefits and the tuition and fees (in excess of the most expensive in-state public university tuition rate). Universities can fund up to 50 percent of that cost and receive a matching federal grant to cover the rest.
By awarding in-state tuition to veterans, public universities would essentially be picking up the tab for those veterans’ education without any matching federal money.
Veterans groups, public universities spar over federal bill calling for in-state tuition for veterans (Inside Higher Ed | News)
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But tell the Universites to not give in state tuition to illegals and they get their panties in a twist.
Further proof (as if needed) that they despise our military.
Back in the old days, before everybody on the plant went batshit crazy, there was a solid rationale for in-state tuitions. Residents were generally taxpayers in the state, so had been paying for the school (along with many other things) for, well, as long as they’d been tax-paying residents. So, since they’d already paid for the school, they were given a discount on tuition so they at least wouldn’t be paying full price again. The same is obviously not true for non-residents.
Of course in the age of Homo socialisticus, in-state tuition is just another freebie to be awarded to whatever special-interest group has enough clout.