Filner: Pay living stipend for online courses

Filner: Pay living stipend for online courses
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 4, 2009 16:12:38 EST

The question of whether the new Post-9/11 GI Bill should pay living stipends to people who take online college classes through distance learning programs pits the Veterans Affairs Department against a key lawmaker — and also has divided two major veterans groups.

It is a disagreement that poses a challenge for Congress as it considers whether to change the law in advance of the program’s Aug. 1 launch date.

Under current law, the new GI Bill will not pay living stipends to distance-learning students. To qualify for the stipend, a person must have at least one class in a regular classroom and carry a credit load that makes him at least a half-time student.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said that approach “penalizes hard-working veterans.”

Filner is sponsoring a bill, HR 950, that would make distance learning students eligible for the stipend, just like other college students.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/03/military_gibill_online_housing_030409w/%2e