Veterans who have served three or more years of active duty and were honorably discharged have 100% eligibility for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, which provide $27,120 for tuition assistance. This covers the average cost of state school tuition but is not enough for most other higher education options. The Yellow Ribbon Program is a collaboration between Veteran Affairs (VA) and higher education institutions to help provide funding to veterans to attend out-of-state, private, foreign and graduate schools. Matthew Butler, senior director of Military and Veterans’ Services, explained that when the Post-9/11 GI Bill was signed into law in the mid-2000s, Fordham University was one of the earliest adopters of the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon benefits are solely for the veterans themselves or a dependent to whom they give the benefits. However, in order to give their dependent the benefits, they must have been their dependent while they were on active duty. Children born to the veteran after the completion of their service are not eligible to receive the benefits.
Butler explains that in the past Fordham has had a cap on the number of seats available in the Yellow Ribbon Program and a cap on the amount of money they were willing to contribute. The cap was set high, at 421 seats, with contribution caps well above the cost of Fordham. However, the existence of the cap created doubt among Yellow Ribbon beneficiaries. As there was no way to check seat availability, people worried about being the 422nd person and therefore unable to receive full benefits.
Butler stated that Military and Veterans’ Services have been advocating for a long time to remove the caps because of the barrier to entry they create and the fear they cause in beneficiaries considering Fordham. In the past year, they were finally able to achieve their goal. “President [Tania] Tetlow, in the fall, after we presented all the information to her about the Yellow Ribbon Program, agreed to eliminate caps in all of our programs and unlimited seats in all of our programs,” Butler commented.
The benefits of the Yellow Ribbon Program go beyond covering the tuition of the institution the beneficiary chooses to attend. Butler explained that they will also receive a housing stipend depending on the cost of living in the zip code of the institution, which will be $4,143 a month at both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses this fall and a $1,000 book stipend each year. Both stipends are paid directly to the beneficiary.
“Not every private school has unlimited seats or unlimited caps,” Butler stated. “They’ll determine how many they want to have, but Fordham has said we want to be able to offer this to anybody that has Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at 100% eligibility.” According to the Fordham website, the university was awarded the 2023-24 “Military Friendly” Designation.
Andrea Marais, director of Military and Veteran Higher Education, Engagement and Transition, explained that the university orchestrates a high number of initiatives for their military and veteran students, including veteran-specific job fairs, volunteer programs, internship opportunities and professional development events. “Having veterans and military-connected students really enriches the classroom experience,” Marais stated. “They are a diverse, interesting group with experience and perspectives that can enhance the learning environment.” She further explained that Fordham partners with other universities and veteran-focused nonprofit organizations to help all veterans understand and receive the full benefits available to them.
Fordham’s Military and Veterans’ Services are happy to hopefully see growth in enrollment of veterans using Yellow Ribbon benefits now that the cap has been removed. Butler stated, “The significant thing is [that] removing the caps will hopefully provide the doorway for more veterans to come to Fordham.”
According to Marais, Fordham has had military connections for over 175 years and is currently home to more than 400 military-connected students. Whether those students are veterans, military spouses and dependents, active duty personnel or Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets, Fordham aims to service them as much as they can.
