College made more affordable for veterans, their family

Veterans in the Northern Mariana Islands and their families could now benefit from two provisions of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act that will make college more accessible and affordable.

In an email from the office of Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP), it said that changes have been made to the veteran educational benefits that are coming into effect and will affect the CNMI.

President Obama signed the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act into Public Law 113-146 on Aug. 7, 2014, and technical revisions were made on Sept. 26, 2014, when Obama signed into law the Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2014.

Two provisions of the new law could benefit veterans and their family members here in the NMI.

One provision—Section 701—expands the reach of GI Bill education benefits to the surviving spouses of service members who died in the line of duty.

This extends the Marine Gunnery Sgt. John David Fry Scholarship to surviving spouses of military personnel who died in the line of duty after Sept. 10, 2001.

This allows the family of fallen service members—children and spouses—to obtain up to 36 months of tuition and fee payment, a monthly housing allowance, and books and supplies stipend for their education.

“Spouses and children of fallen service members can use this benefit to cover higher education costs at Northern Marianas College or the University of Guam, for instance,” said Sablan’s legislative assistant, Matthew Deleon Guerrero.

The Fry Scholarship will allow CNMI veterans’ surviving spouses and their families a tuition and fee benefit paid to the school of up to $20,235.02 per year, books and supplies stipend paid to student of up to $1,000 a year and monthly housing allowance.

The duration of this benefit is 15 years from the date of death of the service member. This covers college, business technical, or vocational programs, certification tests, apprenticeship, on-the-job training, vocational flight training, tutorial assistance, and work-study.

The second provision—Section 702—requires colleges and universities to offer resident tuition for recipients of the GI Bills’ benefits.

“[This reduces] the cost of attendance for veterans from the CNMI if they choose to attend a college or university in the U.S,” Deleon Guerrero said.

Those recently discharged veterans, and their eligible family members, will not have to bear the cost of out-of-state charges while using their well-deserved education benefits.

These are only for covered individuals: An NMI veteran living in the U.S. can avail and enroll within three years of discharge from a period of active duty service of 90 days or more.

An NMI veteran with a spouse or child [both] who lives in the United States but is not a resident of the U.S. can also enroll.