A new program in the Post 9/11 GI Bill will give increased financial aid to 200 to 300 Central Michigan University students in off-campus and online programs.

The Yellow Ribbon Program will guarantee to pay a tuition rate for veterans that is equal to the highest public institution in the state, said Brian Bell, associate director of financial operations for Off-Campus and Online Programs.

“Even with military discount rate, off-campus (tuition) rates are still somewhat higher,” Bell said. “The Yellow Ribbon Program says that the VA will meet schools halfway between our rate and what the VA has approved.”

Each of CMU’s 66 off-campus locations around the nation will give the first 100 soldiers to apply up to $450 per year.

“It’s like a scholarship,” Bell said. “We’re thinking it’s going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 to 300 students this year that this will affect.”

The $450 was designed to meet the VA limit so students wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket at all, Bell said, and students in non-traditional programs would get a $450 discount.

The Montgomery GI Bill covers $4,500 per year for soldiers and those who do not take advantage of the Yellow Ribbon Program will have to pay the rest of their college bills out of pocket.

Bell said students on campus will not be affected, because CMU’s tuition rate is much lower than the highest rate in Michigan, which is near $1,000.

“With current rates, most students in Michigan should have 100 percent coverage from the VA,” said Ernie Bedford, assistant director for Organizational Strategies for Off-Campus Programs. “Other states, such as Georgia, the tuition cap is much lower.”

CMU ROTC Public Affairs Officer Rodney Williams said the program will allow soldiers to attend an institution that has a national brand name.

“Before, students could only afford a tier 3 or tier 2 school. Now it allows students to go to a school like CMU,” he said. “I think it’s a good program.”

In addition to the Yellow Ribbon Program, the Post 9/11 GI Bill mandates that the VA will directly pay universities for veterans’ tuition starting August 1.

“It takes student out of loop, which is good for them and good for us, which benefits everyone really,” Bell said.

Other Michigan universities have pledged significantly more money than CMU, such as Western Michigan University, which contributed $3,000 per student per year.

“I respect other universities getting involved in the program,” Bedford said. “But the likelihood that any university except the University of Michigan will have to pay out of pocket is less than 1 percent. We tried to be realistic about amount that we set.”

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