Va. to allow students in military more time to finish school

Nan Turner
Staff Writer
Young veterans will now be given more time to complete their college studies.
The State Council for Higher Education recently decided to approve a movement that gives students on active duty in the military up to five years to return to their institution of higher learning without having to reapply for admission. This would allow college-aged veterans more time following their return from deployment to come back to their university and continue pursuing the education they planned on before being sent overseas.
The five-year extension is up from the previous 12-month deadline. This is the first time the rule has been updated since 1991. Students must tell their schools that they intend to return no later than three years after their deployment is completed. Public schools are being required to put the act into effect, and private schools are expected to follow, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
When the topic was brought up at the General Assembly, Del. G. Manoli Loupassi, R-Richmond, was particularly vocal in his support of the law. He believes the five-year extension will be a fair alteration.
“It’s an important issue because people were serving our country and then coming back, and they had to reapply to the college or school that they’d already gotten into,” Loupassi said. “I think the five-year resolution is an excellent resolution to the situation, and it’s obvious that … a person that is willing to serve our country should not be penalized for having done so by having to reapply.”
Students around campus weighed in on the council’s decision and how it would affect their potential classmates.
“I think it’s a good thing that it’s five years rather than 12 months,” said Justina Hwee, a sophomore at VCU. “I mean they’re just out there, and they’re fighting for so long, and education may not be the first thing on their mind when fighting a war and when they’re in the middle of a battlefield, but when they come back, I’m pretty sure that they want to pursue future careers and … start families. Education is very important in helping with that.”
Fellow sophomore, Ankana Sarkar, has similar feelings.
“It’s an amazing thing that they extended it,” Sarkar said. “I mean, if you’re a veteran, you deserve the better stuff in life. In case they retire before their age, I guess it’s good that they have an education so that they can get a job aside from the army or the military or whatever they’re in.”
While still skeptical on the costs allowing veterans to return to school after five years will impose on the state, freshman Carson Anthony believes that the extension could also benefit the mental health of those who have served.
“With post traumatic stress syndrome and all that stuff, the extended time might make it a little easier,” Anthony said. “Veterans have it a little rough; they have to leave, and it stops their life for a while. It’s a good thing to get them re-acclimated and get things back they way they were.”

1 Comment

  1. As a student-soldier I think this is really a waste of a ‘movement’. If they want to really help student-soldiers how about they allow us to use time sensitive benefits like the VA National Guard’s State tuition Assisstance that is wasted while a soldier is deployed. I know I’ve missed a few semesters of this benefit due to deployments which add up to several thousand dollars of tuition money lost.

    …and no offense, but how did you pick these people for this article. I gather that none of them are soldiers, much less vets. How do you expect them to be knowledgeable of what this really means (or doesn’t) to vets.

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