In an effort to ease the stress for veterans wishing toenrollin higher education, an informativewebsitewas launched.
In the first week of February, theUnited StatesDepartment of Veteran Affairs introduced a tool that allows veterans to understand how much of theirGIBill funding cancounttowardstuition for chosen programs. This is in response to a significant degree of frustration from veterans in trying to make sense of their Gi Bill benefits.
Additionally, the site provides completion and pricing information forover10,000 postsecondary and training programsapprovedby the department.
The tool is intended to help veterans make informed decisions such as where to use their benefits, said RAN Corporation Project Associate Peter Buryk, who specializes in veteran affairs .
Looking to the future, it is possible that the tool will have an influence on policymaking as it will finally be possible to better-track veteran students through their postsecondary journey.. Further, there is a plan to eventually monitor and track complaints from veteran students to ensure the integrity of postsecondary schools is maintained.
“Let’s start to get the information from the veterans instead of relying on anecdote,” Michael Dakduk, vice president for military and veterans affairs at the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, told Inside Higher Ed. “We need to start getting evidence that’s based on patterns.”
