By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 4, 2008 9:33:40 EDT
Two key lawmakers have unveiled a compromise proposal for increasing GI Bill benefits that might be acceptable to the Defense Department, which is worried that an overly generous education benefits program would hurt readiness by encouraging troops to leave service.
For those who serve at least three years on active duty, the Veterans Education Improvement Act, introduced Wednesday, would provide basic benefits of $1,450 a month — which just happens to be the amount top Pentagon officials named in January as the maximum acceptable level before the GI Bill would become so attractive that it would hurt retention.
In addition, the Department of Veterans Affairs would pay a $500 monthly stipend for those attending school at least half-time and a $250 monthly stipend for those attending less than half time.
While the proposed full-time payment is well above the current maximum payment of $1,101 per month, the $1,450 paid over nine months of schooling per year still would be slightly less than the national annual average cost of $13,589 in tuition and fees for attending a four-year public college or university. It also would be far short of the average $32,307 average cost for a four-year private school.
Stipends, not paid under the current GI Bill, would leave GI Bill users far better off than they are today.
Reps. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., and John Boozman, R-Ark., are the chief sponsors of the bill, HR 5684.
Herseth Sandlin is the chairwoman and Boozman the ranking Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs economic opportunity subcommittee, which is responsible for GI Bill initiatives. That automatically gives their proposal a leg up.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/04/military_gibill_compromise_040408w/
