Increasing GI Bill Awareness at 191 Miles per Hour

Marine Corps Times broke the story first: the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Post-9/11 GI Bill is sponsoring a race car driven by Landon Cassill in the Sept. 11 NASCAR "Air Guard 400" race in Richmond, VA. The Marine Corps Times reports that in regards to this $450,000 marketing move, VA spokesperson Nathan Naylor said, "We wanted to do more than just reach veterans and influencers that are thinking about school, we wanted to also reach those folks who could be going to school but may not be fully aware of the benefit." Reaching those who don't fully understand their benefits, it turns out, is a big priority for the VA -- and something that doesn't come cheap.

The Price of Awareness

The VA is specifically targeting veterans through the NASCAR campaign, also with the purpose of affecting education enrollment and raising awareness of the year-old, Post-9/11 GI Bill. The pre-race promotions cost around $200,000 and the official race sponsorship costs a quarter of a million dollars. In all, this single campaign blows almost half the $1 million marketing campaign budget, which is used in part to buy ads in college newspapers and online publications. The NASCAR event is highly-targeted, as marketing surveys are reported to show that one-third of NASCAR fans know veterans or are veterans.

Why Marketing May Be Necessary

What do veterans say? U.S. Army veteran and VetVoice.com Editor Richard Smith reported on the site's blog that the GI Bill NASCAR campaign is a "worthy expenditure" so that vets "know the GI Bill is there for them." Smith noted that since the Post-9/11 GI Bill was announced, there have been problems, particularly with retroactive stop-loss payments. "[The Department of Defense] asks you for information they already have which may be difficult for you to find, and they don't let any service members know they are eligible. Someone who doesn't pay much attention to legislation and has left their military community may never know about it," wrote Smith.

More changes to the GI Bill program are proposed. Though it may be impossible to determine the number of veterans who are unaware of educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (and the upcoming changes), the White House reported that 300,000 eligible veterans are taking advantage of this new benefit. The total number of eligible veterans under the Post-9/11 GI Bill has not been reported, though proposed changes to this legislation seek to include eligible members of the National Guard and Reserve, which would make the GI Bill available to another 45,000 veterans. The proposed changes would open benefits coverage to vocational training and apprenticeships--two types of education not currently covered under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Schools and Military Education Benefits

If marketing works and veterans need to brought up to speed on benefit changes, can they turn to schools for assistance?

According to Ariel "A.J." Luna, director of veteran services at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, his school distinguishes itself by being very knowledgeable about the educational benefits available to veterans and by helping each veteran individually. Luna and Fairleigh Dickson University are doing something right. Terry Harle of the American Council on Education recognized the school before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs in July 2010 for "allowing veterans to enroll in classes without the appropriate paperwork, understanding that it would arrive eventually." Fairleigh Dickinson University was also named a "Military Friendly School for 2011" by G.I. Jobs Magazine.

Luna markets his school through job fairs, media, and advertising. Of the veterans he helps, about half aren't familiar with the education benefits available to them. Veterans and counselors work together to determine the best use of their benefits based on their service situation and education goals. In a year, Luna has grown veteran enrollment from 84 to 213. "School is the cool thing to do right now. Financing isn't a problem, but you have to see what kind of commitment they can make to school," explained Luna, saying he always gives vets information first. Of the veterans enrolled, one-third get their educations completely paid for under the Yellow Ribbon Program, evidence of what Luna tells veterans: "I'll try to get you a degree with no debt."

As NASCAR and the VA team up to raise awareness about benefits under the GI Bill, veterans may also want to keep in mind that many schools have veteran services offices that are both helpful and knowledgeable and whose ultimate aim is to help veterans get education with a minimum amount of debt.

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