The Yellow Ribbon Program is an initiative in which participating educational institutions will provide eligible student-veterans with a tuition waiver or grant that will be matched by the Department of Veteran Affairs; it will make participating private institutions such as Columbia University more accessible to student-veterans and has the potential to be as significant as the original GI Bill.
While program regulations will not be finalized until June 2009, when the Yellow Ribbon Program award is combined with benefits of the Post-9/11 Assistance Act, the entire cost of education for eligible student-veterans will be covered. The scope of benefits provided by the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program makes a Columbia education accessible to eligible veterans regardless of socioeconomic status.
According to Curtis Rodgers, Dean of Enrollment Management, in the fall of 2008 the School of General Studies welcomed 19 veterans of the U.S. armed forces who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 60 veterans enrolled in its undergraduate degree program. Rodgers, noting the School of General Studies’ long tradition of educating veteran students, expects that with the participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, the University and the School of General Studies should see a significant increase in the number of veterans on campus, which currently boasts more than a hundred veterans across all of its schools.
“For a school like Columbia University School of General Studies, which already has a robust and established community of student veterans, the impact this bill will have is enormous. Military veterans bring a wealth of life experience to Columbia’s classrooms, and we are thrilled that the Yellow Ribbon Program will enable more veterans to take advantage of the educational opportunities we have to offer. Because the School of General Studies was designed to meet the needs of veterans, we are particularly poised to serve them,” Rodgers said.
University Director of Financial Aid Laurie Schaffler explained that student services offices across the University are expecting an increase in the number of students-veterans who will be utilizing the new benefits package.
“Many schools and departments are working diligently to compile the services and expertise necessary to receive the expected increase in veteran enrollment. And members of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University student group have been instrumental in providing information to us so we can provide the best accommodations possible,” Schaffler explained.
Founded in 1947 in large part to meet the needs of thousands of military personnel returning from World War II, the School of General Studies provides a traditional Ivy League education to students who have had a break of one year or more in their educational paths. The mission of educating adult and returning students who have career demands and family responsibilities while pursuing their educations is directly tied to the needs of veterans.
