RICHMOND, Va. -- Thousands of veterans in Virginia and across the nation now have additional educational support with the signing of landmark legislation that includes major protections of the GI Bill.

Carrie Wofford, president of support group Veterans Education Success, said the Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act, passed unanimously by Congress, lets student vets get in-state tuition at public universities, regardless of residency.

She outlined another important provision, which directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to target schools for payment instead of veterans if any conflicts over tuition occur.

"Previously, before this law, [the] VA was going after students every time there was a tuition dispute and it was affecting one out of every four GI Bill students, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office," Wofford explained.

She said if a chosen school closes or doesn't get VA approval, the new law means veterans can get their GI Bill payments back and start over at another school. More than 780,000 veterans live in Virginia. Nationally, about 70% use their GI Bill benefits.

Wofford noted the bill also places more scrutiny on schools known for taking advantage of GI Bill recipients. The VA will investigate if schools facing government legal action, creditors or fines should not receive more GI Bill money, she said, adding advocates have been pushing for this protection for years.

"VA felt that their hands were tied," Wofford remarked. "They felt that under the law they couldn't cut off GI Bill funding. So Congress unanimously came back and said, 'Oh, yes, you can, and you should. You must protect the GI Bill funds from unscrupulous schools or schools that are closing or schools being raided by the FBI or schools that are being cut off by their creditors.'"

About 62% of student veterans are first-generation students. The broad 340-page package also includes more than a hundred measures to help veterans facing issues including homelessness and COVID-19 and to improve services for female veterans.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Virginia student loan borrowers will feel the effects of federal courts blocking more student loan forgiveness.

The Biden administration forgave around $3.5 billion of the state's student loan debt, but borrowers will not see reduced payments on July 1, due to court injunctions which could upend the SAVE program. Student loan debt creates burdens whether the borrowers earn their degree or not.

Kelsey Coweger, press secretary for the advocacy group Progress Virginia, said the debts have tanked homeownership rates for younger generations.

"One of the criteria that you're gauged on is how much debt you have and the ability to pay those debts back," Coweger explained. "There is a whole generation of people who are losing these really critical wealth-building apparatuses that have been available to older generations, that will make things harder for them in the long run."

The average Virginia borrower's debt is just under $40,000 but the state's total student loan debt is $43 billion. Cowger feels student loan forgiveness has been misunderstood. She noted people using the program are not the ones attending expensive private colleges or getting what some see as "worthless" degrees.

Some blame students' inability to budget as a reason student loan debt has grown. But Cowger pointed out systemic changes have played a role, like states not funding public schools and universities the same way they used to. Now, most of a college's budget comes from tuition.

She argued the federal government could take different steps to help students graduate in a better financial position.

"The government could expand its access to Pell grants," Cowger suggested. "The government could stop taking interest on the student loans that it provides. You know, I don't know that the government should be in the business of making money off the backs of students trying to get an education."

Cowger added a federal regulatory framework could be established so student loans are not predatory. She thinks states funding public colleges should be seen as an investment in an educated workforce, with loans which can and will be repaid. One-third of federal student loan borrowers defaulted on their debt in the last 20 years.


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New Mexico consistently ranks low in childhood educational achievement, but its path to a college degree is being recognized at the highest levels.

President Joe Biden has applauded New Mexico for leading the way in no-cost higher education, along with loan repayment and loan-for-service programs.

Stephanie Rodriguez, the state's secretary of higher education, said a recent "gold star" designation by the Campaign for Free College acknowledges the state's tuition-free Opportunity Scholarship program as one of the most accessible, inclusive and all-encompassing in the country.

"We know that when people are educated beyond high school they have higher wages, they can have family-sustaining careers and they can be successful in whatever endeavor they want to go into," Rodriguez pointed out.

She noted the state's Opportunity Scholarship, Lottery Scholarship, grants and other financial aid programs make it possible for nearly all New Mexicans to pursue higher education without having to worry about tuition and fees. In addition to recent high school graduates, the program is open to returning adult learners, part-time students and immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.

New Mexico is one of the nation's poorest states, with some of the country's lowest K-12 educational outcomes, but lawmakers have significantly increased educational funding in recent years and created the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department.

Rodriguez emphasized since the college scholarship program was introduced in 2022, enrollment has increased every semester.

"We're moving the levers in other areas so that New Mexicans can be successful," Rodriguez observed. "We may not see it right now, but in the future -- because of the investments, because of the policies we put in place -- you're going to see us move up in education overall."

The Lottery Scholarship continues to cover full tuition for around 10,000 students each year. Rodriguez added New Mexico had the second-best enrollment growth of any state last year and remains in the top five this year, with first-time enrollment up 10%.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Workers who help Washington state classrooms run are calling for higher wages.

Known as classified staff, their jobs include administrative work, transportation and custodial services. Unions representing workers, including the American Federation of Teachers of Washington and Washington Education Association, have launched a wage campaign to increase pay for these workers.

Anitra Wise, a para-educator with the Tacoma School District, helps teachers in the classroom and said her wages simply aren't enough.

"We have to work two and three different jobs just to catch up with the cost of living, including housing, groceries and things that we need to survive," she said.

With Washington state school districts out for summer, classified staff members face another challenge: the suspension of their low wages.

Wise said she's working at summer school this year.

"We have to supplement that income somehow, and I really don't get a summer, because I have to work just to supplement my income," she continued.

Wise added classified staff have many important jobs, including the work she does as a para-educator in the classroom.

"We're the glue that keep it together, do all the small jobs and the big jobs, too. Because without the team of para-educators, the teachers would not be able to teach, and para-educators are teachers also," she said.