Ensuring Guard members get promised education benefits

Senator Amanda Ragan met with Dan Tallon of Iowa City, an Iowa National Guard infantry specialist who returned from Afghanistan this summer. He's now in his third year at the University of Iowa. Dan watched as the Senate approved an additional investment in college tuition assistance for returning soldiers like himself.

The first bill approved by the Iowa Senate this year will help our National Guard soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan get the college tuition assistance they were promised. Senate File 2007 invests an additional $1.3 million in the Iowa National Guard tuition assistance program.

Helping Iowa’s returning soldiers attend college and improve their skills makes a lot of sense. We want these young people to qualify for good jobs at good wages and help build a stronger Iowa economy.

Last month, the Guard told us that the dollars available for tuition assistance would fall short due increased demand among returning soldiers hoping to get a college education. In fact, the average grant fell from 90 percent of tuition to 50 percent. The cuts went into effect for the spring semester, which meant that Guard members currently enrolled in college classes had to find other sources of assistance to pay their bills.

If the Iowa House also approves the legislation and Governor Branstad signs it, the benefit to soldiers at Iowa’s universities would be up to $1,300 per semester in additional aid.

Ensuring our soldiers get to go to college was a good start to what hopefully will be a productive session focused on training a skilled workforce and creating jobs for all Iowans.