NEWS FEEDS
SLU, Clarkson give military a big break
Clarkson and St. Lawrence universities will soon provide big breaks in tuition and fees for qualified military personnel in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program.
The Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Act covers up to the highest cost of public university tuition in each state. In New York state, troops are eligible to receive up to $970 per credit hour and $3,457 for fees, depending on when and how long they have served in combat.
The Yellow Ribbon Program allows private colleges to fund some or all of the difference in cost for their tuition, along with the VA, so that soldiers also can use the benefits there.
"The fact of the matter is, it's a price we're willing to bear to attract this type of student and, to be honest, to do the right thing by them. It's really a no-brainer. How many are we willing to take? We'd like to take them all," said Timothy F. Sugrue, dean of Clarkson's school of business. "It's the right thing to do. These guys earned this and a lot more."
Eligible veterans and dependents will be covered for the full cost of tuition and fees in more than 50 programs of study at Clarkson University, Potsdam, including undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. The college has not put a limit on the number of veterans it will admit through the program.
"Our intention is that qualified students will be coming to Clarkson tuition-free," college spokes-man Michael P. Griffin said.
Clarkson will provide $3,115 for undergraduate and $3,375 for graduate and doctoral students, on top of GI Bill benefits.
Mr. Sugrue, who received his Ph.D. in finance with the help of the original GI Bill and has a daughter and son who both served with the 10th Mountain Division, said Clarkson's programs are a good fit for veterans.
"The mix of programs that we have at Clarkson are very consistent with what a lot of guys coming out of the military often are and should be looking at," he said. "People come from all over the country to Fort Drum, and they can find this as a great place to get an education."
In addition to the college's well-known engineering programs, Clarkson hopes to pitch its online master of business administration and its supply chain management degrees as a good fit for soldiers, Mr. Sugrue said.
Clarkson also has a military tradition on campus, thanks to its Army and Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Mr. Griffin said. The college has been recognized as one of the top five colleges in the country for the percentage of students serving in ROTC.
St. Lawrence University, Canton, plans to admit up to 10 undergraduate students through the Yellow Ribbon Program, and will provide $6,292 toward their tuition through the program. Students would have to seek scholarships and aid for the remaining amount.
"A lot of our nontraditional students are part time, but if someone wanted to go full time, we would help them figure out how to do that," SLU spokeswoman Macreena A. Doyle said.
Many SLU alumni received their degrees through the original GI Bill, and remember fondly a small complex of cottages nicknamed "Vetsville" where veterans and their families could live while earning a degree, Ms. Doyle said.
"The military is part of our heritage," she said.
ON THE NET
Yellow Ribbon Program:
At Clarkson: www.clarkson.
edu/yellowribbon
