Benedictine University Offers Free Tuition to War Veterans
Friday, May 9, 2008
Printable FormatDaily Herald By Jake Griffin
Call it a starter kit for funding Illinois military veterans' education. Benedictine University President William Carroll announced Friday that a $750,000 federal grant will enable the university to create a tuition-free education program for veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Though it's only a one-time grant, Carroll said the university is committed to continuing the program for as long as possible. Illinois students who have seen service abroad in war zones can apply for the classes that begin next fall.
The offer is an extension of the university's ongoing tuition-free First Responder Program that provides business and management degrees to state firefighters and police officers.
"We book a loss every year for the program," Carroll said. "And we will use up the grant for veterans, but the future of the program comes out of the university's hide."
Some 500 public safety personnel from across the state are participating or have graduated from the program that began in 2001, Associate Dean Tanesha Pittman said.
Carroll credited U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for securing the new grant for Illinois military personnel.
"The grant will go to offset the overhead and pay for the teachers," Carroll said. "He understood the importance of the program."
Participating veterans will be able to earn an associate's degree in business administration or a bachelor's degree in management. Students still have to pay for books and fees, but that runs around $1,600 to $2,000, and can be funded through G.I. Bill dollars, Pittman said.
Veterans with no college education would have to enroll in the associate's degree program first. Reservists who have not been shipped abroad can participate as well, but at half price.
Carroll said he pursued the grant for veterans because the G.I. Bill often doesn't cover the annual cost of a college education. He went on to explain that many of the nation's universities and colleges owe their existence to the G.I. Bill that allowed so many returning World War II veterans to seek higher education after that war.
He said he hopes the benevolence of Benedictine's board of trustees will rub off on some other colleges in the state so the program can sustain itself.
Undergraduate tuition at Benedictine runs about $21,000 a year, Carroll said.
Students in the First Responder Program take a four-hour class once a week. The associate's degree program runs for 26 months and the bachelor's program is twice that, Pittman said.
Classes are offered at firehouses or police department conference rooms, essentially any space they can book, Carroll said. Veterans will take classes alongside firefighters and police officers.
"We'll build this on the back of the firehouses we're already in," he said. Pleasantview Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Edward Switalski is graduating from the bachelor's program later this month. He said it's a natural evolution to provide the program for veterans.
"I'm taking these classes so I can market myself better in the private sector when I'm no longer with the district," he said. "It's something veterans can certainly find useful, too."