STAFF EDIT: Fitting the bill

In August, a revised GI bill will come into action, adding additional provisions to the previous version of the bill, which granted government-subsidized tuition sanctions to United States military veterans who choose to attend public colleges and universities. The newly amended version of the bill now gives veterans the option to attend private universities as well as public ones and receive the same benefits, along with stipends to cover books, supplies and living expenses. The benefits are now even transferable to the veteran’s family members.

The new edition of the bill makes it so government aid goes to the university, where it is then distributed to individual veterans who are enrolled. This updated procedure will indubitably change the dynamics of veteran enrollment in both public and private colleges, and give veterans more options when the time comes for them to apply to schools. However, individual states have the final say on how large their contribution will be per credit hour, and Massachusetts’s allotment is comparatively low in contrast to the rest of the country.

Monetary assistance from the government is nothing unprecedented in private institutions. Financial aid packages for students enrolled in both public and private colleges consist mainly of government-sanctioned grants and loans, and the Work-Study program provides federally funded paychecks to student employees. But these programs cater to a wide, varied demographic of students, not just one specific group, as the new GI bill does. The establishment of such a close relationship between the government and this very small, exclusive and narrowly defined group of enrolled veterans means that strings are likely attached. These strings may negatively influence the reality that a student enrolled in a private college on the GI bill should be considered first a student, and only secondly a veteran.

Since private institutions are traditionally considered more prestigious than public ones, and since students applying to any school on the GI bill must first meet the school’s individual academic requirements in order to be admitted, the new bill should not be looked at as a free ride into an otherwise very selective academic sphere. There is no argument that the revised GI bill is duly beneficial for those select Americans who worked to deserve it. But once enacted, the bill could complicate the relationship between public bodies and private institutions, and detract from the academic ideals of these private colleges. The government must remain mindful of maintaining a balance between aiding worthy veterans and keeping private institutions at arm’s length.