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The GI Bill intended to help veterans pay for college is about to have the opposite effect — saddling New York students with thousands of dollars of debt or even forcing some to drop out of school.
Starting in August, 204 military veterans at Columbia University will see their annual $31,000 in financial aid cut to $17,500 under an abrupt policy change that will force many students to take on massive loans to pay for an expensive private education that they been promised would be free.
Veterans at other private institutions like Fordham and NYU are in similar straits.
In 2008, Congress passed an expanded version of the GI Bill for vets serving after 9/11, which covered the full cost of public education. Students at private universities got funding equivalent to the maximum in-state tuition. In New York, student vets received $1,010 per credit and take an average of 30 credits a year.
Last year, lawmakers altered the bill to include a $17,500 annual cap on tuition and fees.
Columbia junior Jose Robledo, 30, who served nine years as an infantryman, said transferring is not an option because many of his credits don’t transfer. “I have to take out massive amounts of loans,” he said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said he’s trying to grandfather in current students.