Cassandra Brown is a single mother of two children, a four-year Army veteran and a correctional officer at the Shelby County Correctional Center. She is also a full-time student at The University of Memphis and in the ROTC program enrolled as a pre-law student.
The Northside High School graduate is using the Montgomery Era GI Bill to complete her bachelor’s degree, going to law school and then reentering the Army as a Judge Advocate General Officer, which is a military term for lawyer.
“I love it here at Memphis,” Brown said. “The environment, the wide variety of classes you can take and the ROTC program is the best.”
“We have several different programs in which veterans or their dependents can get assistance with their education,” said Bryan Porter, The U of M Veterans Services Specialist.
Porter has been helping veterans at The U of M for the past 11 years. He coordinates the paper work for veterans to get their money and benefits while enrolled in school.
“This office should be the first step for veterans when they want to go to school here at Memphis,” Porter said.
The University receives on average between $500,000 and $1 million each semester from the Veterans Administration (VA) for paying veterans’ tuition, fees and supplies.
The most commonly used benefit is the Chapter 30-Montgomery GI Bill. It is the post-Vietnam era GI Bill. During the 2002 summer semester, 146 veterans were enrolled at The U of M under Chapter 30.
There are other programs that are used but none of them are used quite as much as the Montgomery GI Bill.
Veterans who have a service connected disability and are rated at 20 percent or higher are eligible for Chapter 31-Vocational Rehabilitation.
It is by far the most comprehensive of the VA’s educational assistance programs because a student receives tuition that is paid in full, books and supplies and a monthly stipend to supplement their income.
The amount of the stipend varies based on the amount of dependents a vet has and starts at $448. 52 vets used this program during the summer sessions.
Porter said that if a veteran is possibly eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation, they should contract the local VA office to apply for these benefits.
There were 26 dependents using the Chapter-35 Dependents which give financial assistance to dependents or survivors of veterans who had service connected disabilities.
Reservists are another group of veterans attending The U of M. During the summer semester, 17 were enrolled. Last spring, several reservists who were enrolled were called to active duty for Operation Enduring Freedom.
The most common misconception about veterans may be their age. Many believe that they are in the 30-40 year-old range.
“We’ve got 15-20 military retirees, but the majority of students are in their 20s. The age range goes from 20-50,” Porter said
