Currently, IU students serving or who have been discharged within a year receive in-state tuition, said Margaret Baechtold , director of IU Veterans Support Services. This is based on Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 177, which was passed in summer 2013.
Both the new and old laws provide the same tuition break: no matter if a veteran goes to an out of state or in-state school, if they meet the requirements, they only pay in-state tuition.
“As an institution, IU has been fairly supportive of this legislation and is certainly supportive of military and veteran students on campus,” Baechtold said. “Administration at the campus and the university level have always wanted to look out for this population in particular.”
The new federal Veteran’s Access to Care Act will widen the window for qualifying students. Servicemen and women may not still be serving, but they can qualify if they’ve been discharged within three years of their enrollment date.
The Indiana act also differs from the federal act in who receives these tuition breaks. The state law assists serving Indiana National Guard members and all military veterans but does not extend to family members, Baechtold said.
To be eligible under the federal law, veterans must be using either the Montgomery GI Bill, which took effect after the Vietnam War , or the post-Sept. 11 GI Bill. If the GI Bill benefits are currently being extended to a spouse or family member, then the tuition break will also be extended under the new law.
During the 2013-14 school year, only 16 veterans in all seven IU campuses received this tuition break, Baechtold said. Of the 516 veteran students at IU-Bloomington, only six of them benefited from the state law.
Although it only reaches a fraction of the veteran population, these tuition breaks add up to at least a $22,000 difference per year.
“I don’t think there should be any limitations for a veteran as far as where he goes to school,” said Micah Hazlip, IU sophomore and Air Force veteran. “I think it’s put in the l aw for a good reason. I definitely support it.”
