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| Saturday, July 1
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Stanley: Welcome home veterans with tuition and fee-free education |
On May 15, 2006, an 11-member special commission created by the The Welcome Home Bill and tasked to "study tuition and fee waiver programs for veterans" released its report. The report recommends establishing a 100 percent tuition and fee waiver program for veterans at state and community colleges. These benefits are currently only available for National Guard members. Approximately 24,000 service members have returned home to Massachusetts since Sept. 11, 2001.
Under current law, Massachusetts’ veterans may be eligible for certain tuition waivers, but it is not a guaranteed benefit. The mandatory fees at the Commonwealth’s public higher education institutions can be four times the cost of tuition. Because the laws providing education benefits have not kept pace with the escalating costs of higher education, the current tuition waiver has become generally insignificant when a veteran decides whether seeking a higher education is financially feasible. Furthermore, Massachusetts residents must face advanced education costs that are well above the national average.
The commission’s proposal holds state universities and community colleges harmless, with the state assuming the cost for the tuition and fee waiver program. Under the assumption that student enrollment could double, the commission recommends initially appropriating $25.7 million in the fiscal year 2007 budget into a trust fund for the program which would allow the Board of Higher Education to retain any remaining funds, making them available for following fiscal year.
The program will be administered by the Board of Higher Education, which will provide full tuition and fee waivers for all veterans at public institutions of higher learning. The commission recommends that:
tuition and fee waivers should be made available to both full and part-time students;
tuition and fee waivers should be applied to, but not be limited to, state and non-state supported classes;
any veteran may apply the tuition and fee waivers towards any credit bearing class;
any veteran who has resided in MA for a period of 24 hours or more be eligible for in-state tuition rates and therefore eligibility for the program; and
each participant be required to show proof that he/she has applied for available federal education benefits.
I am pleased with the report’s recommendations and believe that a 100 percent tuition and fee waiver program for state and community colleges will greatly benefit our veterans. I look forward to continuing work with my colleagues on the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs and hope that these report recommendations are given a fair and favorable review.
Thomas M. Stanley is state representative for the 9th Middlesex District
source: www.dailynewstribune.com |
posted by ^%&^
@ 1:01 PM
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