Veteran enrollment at PSU is on the rise

With the help of the new GI Bill, veteran student enrollment is up 30 percent at Portland State. This brings the total number of veterans on campus to 738.

The increase in veteran attendance represents just under a third of the overall 2 percent rise in enrollment PSU experienced between fall of 2009 and this year.

Jackie Balzer, vice provost for student affairs, indicated that having such a significant population of veterans on campus has the great potential of creating a positive impact on the entire student body. According to Balzer, veterans are known across the campus as being extremely hardworking, motivated and punctual.

Of the 171 newly enrolled vets this fall, 140 are receiving money under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, also referred to as the new GI Bill. This is a 50 percent increase in students receiving the  new GI Bill over last year.

“This is the highest number of people receiving benefits ever because of military service,” said Veterans Certification Officer Allen Roberts.

Roberts works out of the Degree Requirements & Veterans Certification office in Neuberger Hall, and is directly responsible for helping all eligible vets complete the paperwork required to receive their benefits under the various veterans’ educational assistance programs.

“The new GI Bill applicant requires a substantial amount of paperwork on the part of the school in order to help them get their money,” he said.

Under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the benefits awarded to a vet qualifying for the full amount will match whatever the highest in-state public tuition is; in Oregon, that means Oregon Health and Science University is used to set the cap. Therefore, a veteran with three years of service after Aug. 11, 2001 is eligible for a package worth up to full tuition plus a monthly stipend for housing based on zip code and $1,000 a year for books and supplies.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the original GI Bill in 1944, it opened the door for millions of Americans to earn a college degree, buy a home and receive short-term unemployment. Additionally, the federal government helped avoid flooding the labor market by furnishing the means for returning vets to go to college. This was also seen as a real attempt at helping the country avoid another depression.

Today, the effect is much the same. Over 2 million service members are duly qualified and eligible for this provision; many are returning from overseas assignments in either Afghanistan or Iraq.

“The new GI Bill is so much more than Uncle Sam paying for someone’s education, it’s changing the socioeconomic status of entire families,” Roberts said. “Here is a segment of the population that is so deserving, by virtue of their service, and it’s putting a bunch of people in college classrooms that otherwise wouldn’t be there.”

Pre-med junior Britni Mimms, a former staff sergeant in the Air Force, attends PSU on the new GI Bill.

Commenting on the timing and reason for her return to school she said, “I wasn’t feeling like the creative side of me could be expressed any longer, and the new GI Bill was like a spring board, it absolutely cemented my decision.”

Another student taking advantage of the new GI Bill, Sheraya Martin, said she likes the opportunity that her status as a veteran gives her to follow her educational goals. Martin is a pre-med student and a soldier in the Oregon Army National Guard.

Both the office of Student Affairs and the Veterans Certification Office believe the number of vets attending PSU will continue to rise over the next few years. The new GI Bill has only been active for a year, and there are well over 2 million eligible veterans in the United States.

“This is only the beginning, so there’s no real way to know,” Roberts said. “But I’d be surprised if enrollment didn’t increase.”?