Post-9/11 GI Bill Means Less Debt for College-Bound Vets ... and Their Families

Hundreds of Mississippians are taking advantage of the new GI bill to pay for college this fall. MPB’s Cari Gervin has more.

Tom Gilliam couldn’t have been happier about starting his senior year at the University of Mississippi on Monday. It’s his second time around – when he first started 10 years ago, he didn’t do so well.

But four years in the army – including one in Iraq – gave Gilliam a new focus. And now with the help of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Gilliam feels better than ever about his chances for success.

“I don’t have to worry about the tuition. You know, you get the book stipend and you get a cost-of-living allowance and that definitely sort of frees your mind up to worry about, you know, school and not have to worry about money so much.”

The Montgomery GI bill went into effect after World War II. It provides a monthly stipend for veterans enrolled in school. The new bill pays tuition to the schools directly, and then provides a monthly housing allowance and yearly book stipend on top of that.

The new benefits are only for service members who have served on active duty since the September 11 terrorist attacks. But for the first time, the benefits are transferrable to family members.

And Ole Miss Assistant Registrar Priscilla Melton says that so far, most of the 75 or so students taking advantage of the new bill aren’t veterans.

“I have some students that have come in, that they have parents that are serving a second tour of duty, and even a third, in Iraq right now. And wow, what a difference that’s gonna make! That while their parents over there serving, you know, our country, that they’re able to reap the benefits of that.”

Since the state’s universities are still finalizing their fall rosters, it’s not clear yet exactly how many Mississippians will be paying for school with the new GI benefits.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin in Oxford.