IU forms veterans committee in response to increased benefits

Administrators are preparing for a new law that will increase benefits to student military veterans.

Starting Aug. 1, many college-bound veterans will be eligible for expanded services, thanks to the post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act.

The benefits will extend far beyond the current benefits, said Kirk White, director of community relations and a lieutenant colonel in the Indiana National Guard.

Veterans can receive housing stipends, book stipends and, depending on their financial situations, more money for tuition, among several other changes, said Margaret Baechtold, director of Veteran Support Services at IU.

About 320 students per semester receive GI benefits on the Bloomington campus, Baechtold said.

But the new benefits are difficult to implement, Baechtold said.

“It’s a very generous program. It’s great. It’s just very complicated,” Baechtold said.
After the law was signed on June 30, campus veterans’ affairs offices started preparing, she said. But there are still more questions than answers.

A new committee headed by White will ensure IU’s campuses are well-informed, have talked through potential problems and are ready to meet requirements, Baechtold said. It’s a chance to share information and coordinate, she said.

The committee was formed in January, according to an IU press release.

The committee will help make the benefits easy for veterans to use, White said. He said the members will look at current policies and procedures and make sure everyone knows how to proceed.

“There are still a lot of unanswered questions at the national level about how exactly this is going to work,” Baechtold said.

Potential problems such as delays in funding have to be worked out, she said.

“We expect additional students will take advantage of this,” White said.
How many more students isn’t clear yet.

Baechtold said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expects a 20- to 25-percent increase in veterans attending college across the country.

She said no one has a good sense of how many will come to the Bloomington campus, but she expects some increase, whether it’s two more students, or 200.

White said he wants to “cut the red tape” for programs.

Baechtold said the committee members, who work with student veterans at each IU campus, are still concerned there will be more questions than answers when it’s time to pay students.

“Getting a bunch of us together will be a good thing,” she said.