Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship

The Department of Veterans Affairs just announced it will begin accepting applications for the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship from surviving spouses of military personnel who die in the line of duty after September 10, 2001. Before this change only children of those who died in the line of duty were eligible for this benefit.

The Fry Scholarship will enable eligible spouses up to 36 months of the full Post-9/11 GI Bill which includes a tuition-and-fee payment and monthly housing allowance. Some spouses currently eligible for or already receiving benefits under the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program may now be eligible for the Fry Scholarship.

For more information regarding the Fry Scholarship, call 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551) or go to the VA GI Bill Website: http://gibill.va.gov

The Value of a College Education

Everyone attending college hears the quote “People with a bachelor’s degree earn a million more dollars over their lifetime” but what does this really mean. A recent nationwide analysis of degree data by Zaback & Crellin, (2012) shows that people who receive a bachelor’s make more than 71% than those with a HS diploma. That study also broke down the wage increase by field which is more helpful when considering what to major in. The two highest paying fields are Science/ Technology /Math (STEM) and Health care and this is true for both bachelor’s and associates degrees.

Another common myth is the Bill Gates story that if he doesn’t need college then you don’t either because college costs are rising. While, college cost have risen well over 200% so has the gap in income between those that attend college and those that don’t and the unemployment rate for college grads is significantly lower than those without college. In statistics, we measure things using the bell curve and it’s assumed that 95% of people fall into the same category. Bill Gates does not fall into the 95% of the population. Actually, a study by Wadhwa, Saxenian & Siciliano (2005) showed that of 500 startup companies founded those started by college graduates performed better than those started by someone with a HS diploma. The knowledge that a college education imparts is critical thinking and learning how to structure your thoughts along a proven framework based on hundreds of years of research by scholars and researchers.

Yes, college costs have risen dramatically and this is why researching the right major and school is so critical to transitioning to a college environment. If you’re planning on attending college and unsure of the economic value of a major then a good place to start researching is http://live.sheeo.gotpantheon.com/resources/publications/economic-benefit-postsecondary-degrees

Scholarships for Military Children Program

The Defense Commissary Agency business partners and others are in the 12th year of awarding scholarships and in 2012 more than 600 scholarships were awarded for a total of a million dollars.

Only dependent unmarried children under age 23 of active duty personnel, reserve/guard and retired military members, or survivors of service members who died while on active duty or survivors of individuals who died while receiving retired pay from the military, may apply for a scholarship.

Recipient must be enrolled or planning to enroll full-time in a four-year undergraduate college or university or students attending a community college must be enrolled in a program of studies designed to allow the student to transfer directly into a four-year program accredited in the U. S. They must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 basis. The minimum GPA requirement applies to both high school and college students.

The scholarship provides for payment of tuition, books, lab fees and other related expenses For more information please see: http://www.militaryscholar.org/sfmc/application.html

Scholarship for Military and veterans

The deadline of January 5th is rapidly approaching for the Department of Homeland Security’s Scholarship. The scholarship is for students who believe their degree program supports the DHS mission of securing the country and preserving our freedoms. The student must be enrolled in a major or concentration in any of the following areas:

Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization
Biological Threats and Countermeasures
Border Security
Chemical Threats and Countermeasures
Communications and Interoperability
Community, Commerce and Infrastructure Resilience
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response
Food and Agriculture Security
Human Factors
Immigration Studies
Infrastructure Protection
Maritime and Port Security
Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies
Risk, Economics, and Decision Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Transportation Security

For more information please go directly to the website at: http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/

Troops to Teachers

A recent study by the Georgetown Univer¬sity Center on Education and the Workforce illustrates that by the year 2018, the United States will require 22 million new college degrees to fill the next generation of jobs (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010). The economy has shifted from a manufacturing base of steel and Autos to Ipod’s and computer cubicles with workers employing increasingly complex skills that require constantly changing educational needs.

For veterans and servicemembers the need for postsecondary education has never been more critical. One path that many military members have used to earn degrees and find employment is the Troops to Teachers program. Troops to Teachers is a national program that helps qualified military personnel start a profession as a teacher and there is financial assistance and employment counseling for qualified servicemembers.

The Program Coordinator for N.Y.S Troops to Teachers, Rick Jackson, recommends that interested service members and veterans determine eligibility at http://www.proudtoserveagain.com/.

Each interested service member should review the requirements at the Troops to Teachers program however here is a basic overview of the requirements. To be eligible a person must meet one of the following criteria:

A. Retired from active duty or reserves,

B. Active duty member with approved date of retirement with one year or less remaining before retirement,

C. Currently serving in the Selected Reserve with 10 or more years of creditable service towards retirement and commit to serving an additional three years,

D. Separated for a service-determined physical disability on or after January 8, 2002. Must register within four years after separation.

For those qualified, financial assistance may be given one of a few ways;

1. A stipend of up to $5K for teacher certification expenses for which individuals must teach for three years at a public school within a “high-need” school district.

2. A bonus of $10K to teach for three years in a public school within a “high-need” school district in which the school also serves a high percentage of disadvantaged students.

There are a few routes to become a teacher for servicemembers. The first, is that a participant must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and be eligible on the state level to be a teacher. A second route that is particularly beneficial to military personnel is that if you have one year of academic coursework and six years of career and technical experience you could meet the requirements to be a vocational/technical teacher in your state of residence. According to Mr. Jackson interested veterans and servicemembers should contact their state office to discuss the options available for becoming a teacher in that state because their are many routes to certification.

Another route to certification is the State University of New York’s Empire State College that has a Master of Arts in Teaching Program that allows for provisional teacher certification after 15 semester hours are earned in the degree program.

Because each state regulates the licensing of teachers at the state level it is imperative to contact a Troops to Teachers representative at the state level. Troops to Teachers State offices can be found at: http://www.dantes.doded.mil/dantes_web/library/docs/ttt/state_office_listing.pdf



References:

Carnevale, A, P., Smith, N., & Strohl, J. (2010). Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education through 2018.
http://cew.georgetown.edu/jobs2018/
Troops to Teachers Program. (2010).http://www.proudtoserveagain.com/

DANTES Troops to Teachers State office listings. (2010). http://www.dantes.doded.mil/dantes_web/library/docs/ttt/state_office_listing.pdf
N.Y.S Troops to Teachers Office. (2010).http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/career/tttnys.html

The Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010

The Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 has been passed by congress and hopefully will be signed into law by the President. One important section that is pertinent to military post secondary education representatives is the Pat Tillman Scholarship Initiative. The V.A will be required from 2012-2014 to keep an updated list of scholarship available to military and veterans. The list would be required to be online by June 2011.

Hopefully, the term scholarship is defined appropriately because to often savvy market driven colleges will offer a “scholarship” that is nothing more than small reduction in an already high price tag.

There is a list of scholarship to the right of this article for military, veterans, and spouses. There are also links to scholarship programs in the articles on this website at:

http://elearnking.blogspot.com/2010/03/pat-tillman-american-hero-has.html#links

http://elearnking.blogspot.com/2010/02/free-college-for-ny-veterans-and-gaurd.html#links

http://elearnking.blogspot.com/2009/06/scholarships-for-military-children.html#links