VA funds lag for undergrads

The University has pledged $770,000 across all its schools to veterans as part of the Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program. But only $15,000 will go to eligible undergraduate veterans-the bulk of the funds will go to those seeking graduate degrees.

The schools decided individually how much money each "could afford to spend" and how many eligible veterans it would offer the money to, said Alison Rabil, assistant vice provost and director of Financial Aid. The initiative supports veterans who meet the maximum service requirements of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

The Pratt School of Engineering will provide $5,000 to one veteran and the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences pledged a total of $10,000 to two eligible veterans per year. But the Fuqua School of Business has offered the most so far with $17,500 per year going to each of its 25 qualifying veterans.

Michael McInerney, outgoing president of the Student Veteran's Association at Duke who graduated from the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy in May, said he was surprised the University did not allot more money for undergraduate use.

"Out of that $770,000 that they came up with, it wouldn't take much to really support the undergraduates," McInerney said. "And they're really in the most need because you can argue if you're at Fuqua you're going to see an immediate return on your money, but if you're an undergraduate you're starting out on the bottom rung somewhere."

The University is not the only private institution of its kind to offer aid. Many of Duke's peer institutions have either offered more aid to undergraduates or offered less money to more eligible veterans. Harvard University has offered $3,000 to each of its 15 eligible undergraduate veterans and Dartmouth College has offered $19,223 per student to an unlimited number of qualifying undergraduate veterans, the VA Web site reports. Emory University and Princeton University have not yet joined the program at all, according to the Web site.

When comparing Duke to other universities, however, it is important to note that differences in size and funding availability may allow certain institutions to appear more generous than others, Provost Peter Lange said.

Rabil said every school wanted to participate in the program but had to consider costs in the economic downturn. As a result, some schools have offered significantly more aid than others.

In light of its small veteran population, McInerney said he was surprised the University did not try to attract veterans to Trinity and the Pratt School of Engineering with more funding, considering most veterans seeking an undergraduate education do not have financial support from their parents.

Veterans are generally financially independent of their parents during and after service, but University financial aid considers parental contribution when forming packages, McInerney said.

"Every dollar [veterans] can get is really one less out of their own pockets, which is probably not the case for most students," he said.

But Duke may not appeal to undergraduate veterans, Rabil said. Rather, veterans come to Duke seeking a graduate or professional education, which is reflected by the larger number of veterans that received the financial aid from the graduate school, Rabil said.

Eligible veterans can transfer their benefits to a spouse or child, and Rabil predicted that undergraduates applying for the Yellow Ribbon benefit may increase in the future, but they are likely to be children of veterans rather than veterans themselves.

"We tend not to enroll non-traditional undergraduates," Rabil said. "We don't tend to have a lot of 24 to 26-year-olds, that's not really our population.... Veterans are older and many would wonder whether Duke would be the school of choice for a person who [enlisted] after high school, it might not be the group we appeal to versus someone like an officer's child."

McInerney said any aid will be helpful to veterans.

Still, the money and the number of eligible veterans is subject to re-evaluation every year, Rabil said. She added that schools had very little time to join the program and delegate funds this year.

"I just think getting all of the deans of all of the schools to respond that quickly was an act of God," Rabil said. "It was great, it showed people really wanted to participate and support these people."

The Yellow Ribbon Program is new, the deadline to join was June 15 and the money must be available to eligible veterans by Aug. 1. Because the schools and financial aid departments have had to act quickly to join the program, Rabil said the University has not finalized all of the details and the transition "may be a little bumpy."

Rabil said the schools will definitely provide the committed amount of aid by Aug. 1, but added that the schools will re-evaluate their monetary offers and their number of eligible students every year. In the future, Rabil said some schools may find they have more money to give or that they need to offer funds to an increased number of veterans as more apply.

The University has a plan for how veterans can apply for aid. Veterans must receive a certificate of eligibility from the VA, then submit their certificates to Jean Ross, the veterans' Certifying Official for the Office of the University Registrar, Rabil said.

Money must be awarded to eligible applicants on a first-come, first-served basis according to the program, and Rabil said individual schools still have to determine how they will follow the rule.