Fighting for veterans with fewer resources

IOWA CITY - In the course of a year, the number of military-affiliated students on the University of Iowa campus has more than doubled - surging from 714 to 1,532.

That total, from fall 2015 to fall 2016, includes veterans, active-duty military, National Guard members, reservists and direct dependents.

Travis Arment, the school's Military and Veteran Educational specialist, credits 'a huge” portion of that to a change the Board of Regents adopted last year to its in-state tuition rules.

The change came just months after UI officials unveiled a federally-supported pilot program for veterans called the Iowa Consortium of Veteran Excellence - or ICOVE - and as UI sat among U.S. News & World Report's top 10 best colleges for veterans.

But the board since has amended its in-state tuition rule affecting veterans, the government has yanked funding for ICOVE and the UI has slipped in those U.S. News rankings to No. 50.

Arment said the university has taken the hits and continued striving to best serve its veterans albeit with fewer resources - even unveiling new military-specific services this fall. But, he said, the lost programs and offerings are disappointing.

He pointed to the regents' decision in early 2015 to change rules affecting admission and tuition for military families.

Old rules allowed in-state tuition and admission status at the undergrad level for veterans, spouses and dependents who live or move to Iowa and were eligible for benefits under a federal educational assistance act.

The new rules extended the offer of in-state admission and tuition rates to any veteran - regardless of where he or she lived - who was eligible under 'any federal program authorizing veteran educational benefits.” The new rules applied to any dependents, regardless of where they lived, and extended to graduate and professional students.

The reason for that expansion, board documents showed, was to align Iowa and federal rules. Arment said the UI saw more than 200 students take advantage.

'They're coming as far away as Germany - Germany, Japan, Hawaii, all over the U.S. - they heard about it, and it made college affordable,” Arment said.

But less than a year after making that change, the board in December 2015 made another change - taking back portions of its offering and again citing a need to align with federal rules.

Now, instead of laying out the offer of in-state tuition to veterans and dependents regardless of where they live, the code simply says rules classifying veterans and other qualified individuals for residency are in compliance with federal laws.

Arment said the change is a take-back.

Arment said he believes the change occurred after universities started losing money in the more expensive out-of-state tuition.

'My argument was they would not have come here had it not been for that,” he said. 'So they are bringing millions of dollars here, plus they are impacting the economy, they are staying here.”

Regents spokesman Josh Lehman said in a statement the board made the changes after realizing 'there needed to be clarification.”

'This is to make sure that we know that we are in compliance with the law,” Lehman said.

And, he said, even though federal law outlines vets eligible for in-state tuition as those who enroll within three years of discharge, the board applies its rules more broadly.

'That's the minimum,” Lehman said. 'But we are extending the in-state tuition to any veteran. We are going above what the federal law specified.”

Still, the board's new rules limit spouses and dependents' ability to get cheaper in-state rates.

'When they went with the broad policy, that was a very good tool for recruiting people,” said David Johnson, UI senior associate registrar.

Anyone already admitted for fall 2016 was still allowed the in-state rate. And, Arment said, he's working on a proposal to qualify veterans, spouses and dependents for in-state tuition if they live in Iowa 'while enrolled.”

Despite the tuition changes and loss of federal money, Arment said UI student vets and their families remain well-served, thanks to staff members' hard work and collaboration with community partners.

The UI recently started offering new mental health counseling services for military-affiliated students on campus, and the UI Pomerantz Career Center is hiring someone to work only with vets.

Current services are sufficient for Austin Benson, 24, a junior from the Quad Cities. His Navy active service ended in June and he chose the UI because 'it's pretty unparalleled as far as veterans resources go.”

'The amount of veteran students also is above and beyond,” he said. 'There is never a shortage of resources or people available or connections that you can make just by speaking with individual veterans. We just get showered with opportunity.”