Vets hit books

This Veteran's Day, many veterans are reflecting on more than their experiences serving their country, they are also looking toward a future with a better education.

"The old GI Bill was not that great, so I stayed out of school for several years," Valencia Community College student Donald Gibson said. "I just decided to come back this fall for business."

Gibson said he was feeling lost after he returned home from four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, so he, like so many veterans, decided to take advantage of his educational benefits and further his education.

He is among the many veterans returning to school at alarming rates.

Between fall 2009 and fall 2010, the number of veterans registered at Seminole State College jumped 20 percent to 600 students, according to the college's Veterans Affairs Office. The number of veterans at Valencia Community College also increased nearly 30 percent, from 921 in 2009 to 1,262 in 2010.

The University of Central Florida has also experienced a jump in veteran enrollment with currently 1,200 veterans and their dependents enrolled this semester compared to 808 in 2009, and 696 in 2008.

The number of veterans using their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits also soared by 50 percent at Seminole State.

"Veteran's have been changing their old benefits to the new benefits," Seminole State's veteran's affairs specialist, Jose Toro, said. "We are trying to keep veterans aware of their benefits."

UCF sophomore Kaylee His said she is grateful to have the benefits, which give her the opportunity, as a dependent of a veteran, to fulfill her goal of becoming a teacher.

"It has helped me a lot," she said. "They have definitely been very beneficial."

Toro said the difference between the old GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill is the new bill supplies tuition, as well as their cost of housing.

"Majority of students taking advantage of the old GI bill had to have employment with it, and they couldn't finish their education because of that," Toro said. "Now they don't have to worry about that, they can just focus on school."

Service members who were discharged in 2001 have until the end of 2011 to use their benefits. The Post-9/11 GI Bill was approved in 2009, so vets who were discharged between 2002 and 2009 are eligible for educational benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 Bill.

Veterans who want to use either program must submit an application within 10 years of their date of separation. Those who opt for the Post-9/11 GI Bill will have 15 years to complete their educational program.