For thousands of student veterans across America, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is a bureaucratic nightmare. The VA is backlogged this fall with an avalanche of requests from vets seeking financial aid through the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program. Both initiatives are new this semester, so the department has been slammed for months. Luckily, student veterans on campus have reason to hope, because AU has taken several steps since this summer to insure them an affordable education.
AU signed on to the Yellow Ribbon Program this fall, agreeing to provide $6,000 of university funds to each of four undergraduate veterans for the academic year. The VA was supposed to match AU’s contribution so that these students could receive $13,000. Due to its digital paperwork pileup, the department has failed to fulfill its commitment. It may take many more months before the four students get their VA funds. Thankfully, AU stepped up and came to the aid of these deserving students.
While the VA plays catch up, AU is paying half of the $13,000 the vets are owed. The VA intends to reimburse the university at a later date, but in the meantime, the departments of Financial Aid, Student Accounts and the Registrar have been working hard on behalf of the vets. What they have done is truly heartening. These actions speak well of the specific offices and individuals involved. They also reflect well on AU and the esteem in which it holds veterans.
AU deserves accolades for joining the Yellow Ribbon Program at all. Obviously, the university is not required to participate. Many schools across the country including some in the Washington, D.C. area — choose not get involved. But AU literally puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to affirming service and sacrifice. And its students are often out front, leading the charge.
Students started encouraging AU to get involved with the Yellow Ribbon Program as early as last spring. In April, the Undergraduate Senate passed a bill pressing the issue. The campus mobilized for a common cause and achieved an important objective.
To be sure, there are still close to 60 veterans enrolled at AU and thousands at other colleges in the United States who have not benefited from any of this. The VA awards Yellow Ribbon Program funds on a first-come, first-served basis. Presumably, they will do what they can to expand this initiative and cover more people. But what they have done is a good start. And AU has more than taken advantage of it.
