Veteran Students Pinched by Aid Delay

From Fox News Politics:

Mangler said he needs the extra benefits the new bill provides, however, because it pays 100 percent of his tuition.

"The way the original bill worked, we only had a flat rate of $40,000, which doesn't cover four years of tuition at the UI," he said.

In addition, the new program includes a monthly living allowance and book stipend of $1,000 per year.

But with classes underway, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs telling school officials there will be a six- to eight-week delay, most students who signed up for the new bill don't know when to expect their money.

On Monday, the Veterans Affairs Web site showed 211,251 veteran applications for financial aid still pending. At this time last year, there were 43,522.

Veterans began applying for the new bill on May 1, but the schools couldn't send the requests to the veterans department until July 7.

Why has education become such a low priority in our nation lately? At least some administrations are helping veteran students get through this rough time. The really crazy part is here:

Mangler, like roughly 60 other UI students, applied for financial aid for the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. But, to the veterans' dismay, only three have been processed.

Three have been processed? I think we found the reason for the cash for clunkers program taking so long - they used the same department. Obviously, something isn't being done right. If applications were processed that slowly at my company, there would be people looking for work shortly there after.