Tuition free for veterans
By Staci Reafsnyder | Sports Editor
The University of Indianapolis announced on Feb. 10, that military veterans who attend the university are eligible for free tuition.
“The Freedom Award is a University of Indianapolis program,” said Director of Financial Aid Linda Handy. “We are offering full tuition for students who enrolled as full-time, day-division only students who are eligible for the Post 9/11 [Bill] and the Yellow Ribbon [Program].”
The Freedom Award Program guarantees that veterans who qualify for it, who were on active duty after Sept. 10, are eligible to receive tuition equal to the highest priced state university in the state where they reside, Mark Weigand, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management said.
“They can use that money at any institution in the state, but that’s the way the amount is set,” Weigand said. “They look in each state and decide what that highest priced state university would be, and that’s what the student gets.”
Currently, The Department of Veterans’ Affairs is still determining the amount that will be equal to the highest priced state university’s tuition cost.
“All of this is still under consideration by the Department of Education,” Handy said.
Students must qualify for both the Post 9/11 Bill, and the Yellow Ribbon Award to qualify for the Freedom Award. According to Weigand, the new GI Bill was enacted last summer by Congress, the Post 9/11 Educational Assistance Act of 2008, will take effect for students in the fall of 2009.
Handy said that for the Post 9/11 Bill requirements, veterans must to have served at least 90 days on active duty after Sept. 10, 2001, and still be on active duty or honorably discharged. Having completed at least 36 months of active duty makes a veteran eligible for full benefits.
A full list of the GI Bill requirements, is available at the United States Department of Veteran Affairs Web site (gibill.va.gov).
“If they have completed less than 36 months of active duty, they could potentially be eligible for benefits, but at a reduced rate, depending on how many months they’ve completed,” Handy said.
According to Weigand, active duty means that veterans are full-time in the military, stationed anywhere in the U.S. or internationally.
“It’s not just for veterans who were in a war zone, like Iraq,” Weigand said.
The other program requirement for the Freedom Award is the Yellow Ribbon Program.
“To get into the Yellow Ribbon Program, which is the matching program, only people who are eligible for basic Post 9/11, based on 36 months of service, are eligible,” Handy said.
Both Handy and Weigand said that all veterans should fill out a FAFSA form by March 10, because these grants only cover tuition. If veterans choose to live on campus, they will have to pay the additional costs of room and board, and some of them could be eligible for government aid besides the GI Bill, Freedom Award and Yellow Ribbon Program.
