Education for our returning soldiers

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Iowa has provided its eligible National Guard soldiers and airmen with college education assistance since 1998. It's never been less than 80 percent of tuition at the state's public universities, and it stood at

90 percent recently.

That all changed when the Iowa National Guard announced last week that assistance will be cut to 50 percent, effective this spring semester.

That's a sudden, sharp drop. The maximum award will decline from about $2,900 per semester to $1,600. And it's especially disappointing now because Iowa recently welcomed home 2,800 Iowa National Guard members who had served in Afghanistan - the largest such Iowa deployment since World War II.

We also wonder: Does the

tuition assistance cut break promises made to recent recruits?

No, Guard spokesman Col. Gregory Hapgood told us.

“The tuition assistance level is variable, and we tell them that when they sign up. At a minimum, we have to provide

50 percent under Iowa code.”

The reduction in education benefits was ordered to help ensure that all qualified applicants get at least the minimum in assistance, Hapgood said. A record number of returning veterans are applying for assistance with no increase in state funding as tuition costs continue to rise.

In the spring semester of 2011, a total of 847 full-time and part-time students took advantage of their Guard benefits. As of Friday, “we were pushing 1,400 for the 2012 spring semester” with the application deadline nine days away, Hapgood noted.

All eligible veterans also can apply for federal education benefits, such as the GI Bill. But the Guard program is entirely state-funded.

It's up to legislators to decide whether to increase funding. “We're also looking at other states' programs to see if they have a better concept or process to minimize this type of (tuition reduction) in the future,” Hapgood said.

We hope so. It's not like the big increase in returning veterans is a surprise.

Meantime, Iowa should be sure all eligible Guard members receive at least the minimum assistance. They deserve no less.

It was good to see the University of Northern  Iowa commit to covering the reduced tuition benefit for its current students who are Guard members. Perhaps other Iowa schools can provide similar help.

We also urge legislators to strongly consider a support level that would allow the Guard to again offer more than 50 percent assistance as soon as economic conditions allow.

Our fellow Iowans who sign up to be citizen soldiers are among the nation's best-trained, and their performance in combat situations has become increasingly important to the military.

Before the 9/11 attacks, few Iowa National Guard members were deployed to combat zones. In the past decade, more than 14,000 have seen such duty.

And clearly, education assistance is one of the best ways we can reward our soldier for the sacrifices and risks they incurred on our behalf.

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