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July 06, 2009

Gaming the G.I. Bill

AP IMPACT: New GI benefits vary widely by state:

The new GI Bill covers full in-state undergraduate tuition and fees at any public college. That's far more generous than the old GI Bill, which provides a monthly stipend that is the same from state to state.

So, full ride... any PUBLIC undergrad school... any state. Very generous indeed, and that part of it I fully support.

But Congress also wanted to help veterans attend often pricier private schools. So the new bill offers them an amount equal to the tuition at the most expensive public college in the same state.

This is where it becomes problematic because of how the law has been interpreted.

Anthony Brooks, a 26-year-old former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will get a mere $5,000 toward the $38,570 tuition charged at the private University of Southern California — and half of that comes from USC through the government's Yellow Ribbon matching-grant program.

"It's depressing, actually. It's putting states up against each other," said Brooks, who plans to become a doctor. He added: "We all fought for our country. It just seems unfair."

Um, no... it does not put states up against each other. It's a full-ride deal at the PUBLIC universities of all 50 states. Mr. Brooks has spurned that offer and wants to go to a PRIVATE school. His service for his country earned him the exact same full-ride deal that it earned every other qualifying former service member.

Here's what I don't understand: Mr. Brooks could have gone with a full ride at UC-LA (Geffen), UC-San Francisco or UC-San Diego - each listed as among the top medical schools in the nation and each is a PUBLIC institution - but instead he wants to go to USC which isn't even listed as a top medical school.

Granted, the G.I. Bill pays for undergrad school, not graduate school. But an undergrad degree in biology or some variation thereof would seem to be an ideal academic path towards getting into a great graduate medical school, no?

Again, Mr. Brooks' choice of USC isn't even listed as a top biological sciences school. But in addition to the previously listed three PUBLIC universities considered tops in the nation for medicine, they along with UC-Davis and UC-Berkeley are listed as among the top biological sciences schools in the nation! And all five of them are PUBLIC institutions where he'd get the full-ride deal.

Mr. Brooks wants more public tax dollars so that he can get into an inferior school. Why is that the government's problem rather than his problem???

It just seems to me to be a case of losing sight of the entire POINT of the exercise.

Posted by Kevin at July 6, 2009 05:03 PM