Veterans Financial Aid Reform

The Military Veterans Organization (MVO) at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a non-partisan student group that fosters military awareness and promotes veterans issues. The intent of this letter is to inform you of an urgent matter affecting veterans seeking an affordable education. The current G.I. Bill provides approximately $1000 per month, for 36 months, towards college tuition. A four-year education, at UCLA, currently costs $93,172. Veterans are left to compensate for an alarming $57,172 in additional tuition expenses. While educational costs may vary across the country, the need for additional financial aid is without question. The MVO has developed a strategy to maximize the amount of financial aid available to veterans, while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

The Department of Educations financial aid guidelines, under the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Chapter 34 Part 673.5(c)(ix), require financial aid offices nationwide to count Veterans Affairs educational benefits as resources that reduce a veterans ability to accept financial aid from private sources. In a recent case, a UCLA veteran had to needlessly turn down $4,500 in scholarships. The MVO is proposing that the Department of Education release Veteran Affairs benefits from financial aid budgets allowing veterans to seek out and acquire additional private aid. Currently, financial aid guidelines not only prevent veterans from affording the cost of college education but also favor students whose parents participate in the 529 College Savings Plan. While the G.I. Bill and 529 Savings Plan share similar features, money from the Savings Plan is not considered a financial aid resource. Consequently, it is not incorporated into the students financial aid budget. Veterans benefits should be managed in the same fashion, augmenting a veterans ability to acquire additional private financial aid.

We believe veterans have rightfully earned the opportunity to attend college without assuming massive amounts of financial debt. While our proposal will not achieve this objective entirely, it will make additional financial aid available to veterans grappling with the rising costs of education. The 1944 Bill Servicemen Readjustment Act allowed veterans to experience higher education at virtually no individual cost. These veterans went on to become our Greatest Generation, serving as business leaders, public servants, and a model for later generations. We hope to follow their example. This proposal will bring immediate support to veterans without affecting the existing federal budget.

The MVO will work diligently to educate our fellow citizens on how they can help Americas veterans. Veterans make up a small but important segment of the overall collegiate population. For our servicemen and women, who promise their lives in defense of this great Nation, far too little is done to support them after their service. If you support our efforts to make college education more affordable for veterans, we ask that you sponsor or cosponsor a bill to achieve this end. In summary, we ask the 110th Congress to remove CFR 34 Part 673.5(c)(ix) to maximize financial aid opportunities for veterans.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about this pressing matter and we hope to hear from you in the near future. Additionally, please take the time to view support for this legislation online at www.petitiononline.com/vetaid07.