Bill would limit tuition costs for Mo. veterans

Undergraduate war veterans seek financial relief from a Missouri Senate bill

By Ettie Berneking
Feb. 1, 2008

(Click graphic to enlarge)

Student veterans attending college in Missouri would see a drop in their tuition costs if things go as Mizzou Student Veterans Association President Gerald Caetano said he hopes.

For student veterans, paying for a college education and living expenses can be difficult, but a recent bill filed in the Missouri Senate might reduce that burden.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, said the bill would signify appreciation and honor for those who “put themselves in harm’s way.” As the war in Iraq has continued, Coleman has seen her colleagues gain an appreciation for what U.S. troops are going though, she said.

Coleman said she hopes this appreciation will help get the bill out of committee but that MU had not supported the bill when it was introduced last year.

The bill would limit the cost of each credit to $50 for student veterans who served in active duty after Sept. 11, 2001. MU has raised concern about what this price reduction would cost the university, Coleman said.

To limit the scope of the bill, Coleman said that it would apply only to undergraduate veterans who are Missouri residents, were honorably discharged after serving in combat, and maintain a 2.5 grade-point average. Veterans would have 10 years after being discharged to enroll.

“We are working through MU’s concerns and moving toward a resolution,” Coleman said.

For Caetano, this bill would mean combat veterans would pay hundreds instead of thousands of dollars for their tuition.

Caetano, a senior majoring in political science at MU, served in the Army for 11 years. He was stationed in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and during all of 2005 as a military police officer. He said his job ranged from training Iraqi police to transporting detainees. It was a “multi-purpose job,” he said.

As president of the Mizzou Student Veterans Association, Caetano said he works with about 250 other veterans on campus. The organization serves as a sort of support network and offers a sense of “camaraderie,” he said.

Caetano says most of MU’s veterans are not average 20-year-olds.

“They have a life, a family,” he said. “They are really here to get their education.”

Caetano said paying for that education can be difficult. After discharge, most veterans receive their money under the GI Bill of Rights, which provides them with money for food, a place to live and gas for their cars.

For students who have to pay for their tuition, Caetano said, the GI Bill isn’t enough.

The GI Bill, originally passed in 1944 and later revamped, allows full-time students access to as much as $1,075 per month. If the veteran served for fewer than three months, the amount is only $873 per month, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Web site.

Funding isn’t the only problem for these veterans, Caetano said. Most combat veterans live with “hyper-vigilance,” a feeling of constant alertness. Deployed soldiers on active duty look at everyone as having a weapon, he said.

“Then you come here, and it’s like slamming on the brakes —no more enemy,” he said. “This is one thing we all have in common.”

Student Financial Aid Director Joe Camille said the bill would not affect veterans’ access to other sources of financial aid.

“If that bill passed, veterans could still apply for state, federal and institutional financial aid,” he said. “The only difference would be that the cost of education would be lower.”

Share on Facebook

Bill would limit tuition costs for Mo. veterans

More Feb. 1, 2008 News Stories

Most recent News Stories