Student veterans may lose stipends

Adam Argenti spent the first part of his 20s in the 25th Infantry Division of the US Army. Enlisting in 2005, his years of active duty included two deployments to Iraq.

Now 26 and a junior criminal justice major at IU, Argenti receives $2,000 a month through GI Bills he earned for his service.

As a married homeowner, he said he relies on the monthly stipend to pay many of his bills.

Come Nov. 1 , he may not get that check he depends on.

If Congress is unable to approve a budget by late October, Argenti is one of 463 IU students who won’t receive their monthly stipend, Margaret Baechtold, director of IU Veteran Support Services, said.

Federally funded through the Department of Veteran Affairs, students can qualify for GI Bills for their service or the service of certain family members.

In total IU students collect more than $451,000 a month from GI Bills, and without that money, Argenti said he would have to start using his savings to get by.

“It’s a little ridiculous that the government is acting like children,” he said. “It hurts a lot.”

Last week, the 463 IU students faced the reality of possibly losing their GI Bills when IU’s Veteran Support Service issued an email warning them to be prepared. Baechtold said she didn’t want to panic anyone unnecessarily, but the department just wanted to ensure students were informed.

Baechtold’s office has been updating all of their resources to help students find additional funds if they need it, she said, but currently many solutions won’t provide the money soon enough.

Baechtold said she is meeting with administration next week to explore further options for students who come under financial hardship.

Baechtold said she wanted to make sure students knew they are taking this
seriously.

“There is a lot of concern on what things we can do to support them through this,” she said.

Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs Eric Shinseki spoke before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on Oct. 9 about how the now 16-day shutdown is affecting our veterans. Nationally, he said, education benefits and living stipends from GI Bills for more than 500,000 students are at risk. Beyond students, more than 3.8 million November compensation payments for veterans will go unpaid, he said.

“This shutdown could end today if Congress would fully fund the government operations so that the VA and the rest of the federal government can get back to work,” he said before the committee. “There are those who have suggested a piecemeal approach, to pick and choose which part of the government to fund. This is not the best solution for our veterans and our nation.”

Students with VA benefits aren’t the only ones with connections to the military who are being affected by the shutdown.

Bi-weekly stipends for ROTC students were suspended as of Tuesday, and cadets have to sacrifice training opportunities, senior Ben Krebs said.

Krebs, the cadet battalion commander, said the stipends for contracted students range from $300 to $500 per month depending on their year in college.

Luckily, he said, many cadets don’t rely on that money alone. Cadets will also get everything they are owed from back pay because they are still serving, he said.  

What is most unfortunate, Krebs said, is the training the cadets will miss out on.

Every semester ROTC members spend a weekend at Camp Atterbury. The federally-funded camp offers training and pre-operational testing facilities for domestic and foreign military, governmental, law enforcement and first responder agencies.

Because of the federal shutdown, the ROTC’s new Camp Atterbury will be the IU cross country fields.

As a junior, cadet Ryan Lambert will go through a leadership and development assessment process. He said the weekend training did provide additional preparation, but he’s not worried.

Most of their training is on campus, he said, and moving to the cross country fields will provide other benefits.

“A lot of us are really excited to train on a military instillation,” Lambert said, “But staying on campus lets us train on adapting. I try to use this as an opportunity for more training.”

Soon after the shutdown began, President Barack Obama was able to pass funding for the military, but Krebs said most of that money is being used for those in active duty. Krebs said he understands.

Tuesday the House GOP was working to build support for a new funding and debt plan, which still included significant changes to the Affordable Care Act. Although it passed the House with a lack of support, the plan was turned down by the Senate. As funding continues to go unapproved, the effects of the government shutdown could worsen for IU students.

“We’ve been lucky that a lot of students haven’t really felt effects from the shutdown,” Baechtold said, “But this could be impacting students very personally and very soon.”

Follow reporter Jake Wright on Twitter at @fljwright.