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House panel passes new GI Bill changes

A federal student aid bill was amended Tuesday by a House committee to increase Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for veterans in states that heavily subsidize tuition at public colleges, and to expand student loan forgiveness for National Guard and reserve members when they’re mobilized.

The GI Bill change, sponsored by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., comes less than two weeks before the new veterans education benefits program will launch, and is unlikely to become law in time to influence benefits payments, which are set to begin as early as Aug. 3.

McKeon’s amendment, approved by the House Education and Labor Committee by voice vote, would help students attending institutions of higher learning in California, Massachusetts and other states where the tuition cap on benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill will be low because of how they are calculated.

Caps for each state are based on the highest tuition and highest fees charged at the in-state tuition rate for undergraduate education for a four-year public college or university. The cap is then used to determine the maximum payment for people attending private schools, or who are attending public schools but are either paying nonresident tuition or attending graduate school.

McKeon’s plan would create a special supplemental grant for veterans in states with low public-school tuition costs that would combine the cost of tuition and fees into a potentially larger single payment.

For example, if the cap for a state was $100 in tuition and $500 in fees, but a student attended a private college where tuition was $800 and fees were $100, current law would provide a payment of just $200 — the $100 in fees plus the maximum of $100 for tuition. In this case, McKeon’s amendment would allow a payment of $600, the combination of the tuition and fee caps for that state.

In California, McKeon’s plan would allow up to $13,000 a year in tuition and fees for someone attending private school, rather than the current $1,000 maximum.

There is a way around the cap for some students attending colleges and universities taking part in the Yellow Ribbon Program, under which the Veterans Affairs Department will match, dollar-for-dollar, any reduction in tuition made by a school for a qualified student using the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

McKeon called the problem he is trying to correct a “technical issue” that “has been poorly interpreted against the intent of Congress.” That points the blame at VA for how rates are calculated. But VA officials have said the fault — if there is one — lies with lawmakers who wrote the law governing GI Bill payments.

The fate of the McKeon grant is tied to the fate of the bill to which it is attached, HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, a measure that changes private lending for college loans to nonveterans. Because it could lead to the loss of up to 35,000 jobs for private lenders, the measure is controversial and no sure thing.

Along with McKeon’s provision, the committee approved an amendment by Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., that requires forgiveness on student loans in cases where a Guard or reserve member is called to active duty while attending college.

Davis said relief is needed because someone who mobilizes in the middle of a quarter or semester gets no credit for the course work they have done to that point and must retake the same courses when they return from military duties.

People called to service “have enough to think about without also worrying about whether they will have to pay additional student loans on the courses they have not completed,” said Davis, chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel.

Her amendment, also passed by voice vote, would direct the federal government to assume responsibility for any loans incurred by students who are activated.