The University has granted its first tuition waivers to dependents of deceased or disabled Oregon veterans this spring term.
In February 2008, the Oregon Legislature approved the full tuition waiver for a bachelor’s or master’s degree at any of the public institutions of higher education in Oregon for either a child or spouse of a United States Armed Forces member who died while on active duty, died as a result of a service-connected disability, or is rated 100 percent disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The service-connected disability must be sustained after Sept. 11, 2001, according to the OUS Veterans’ Dependent Tuition Waiver Eligibility and Instructions form.
This term there are two University students who have taken advantage of the tuition waiver, which does not include University fees, said University Registrar Herb Chereck.
After the bill was passed, each of the OUS institutions’ collaborated on how to interpret and implement the bill so that it would be consistent.
“There were many conference calls between the OUS institutions,” Chereck said. “We did that so … all the schools would play by the same rules.”
Working together, the institutions developed an eligibility and instruction form and an application that each of the public universities uses.
Mary Earp, the veterans coordinator at the University, said, “The (Veterans’ Dependent Tuition Waiver) is still relatively new so we haven’t had much interest in it yet.”
Gov. Ted Kulongoski praised the initiative in a news release.
“Helping the surviving children and spouses of soldiers attend one of our public universities without the worry of tuition costs is an important benefit that lets Oregonians say, ‘Thank you’ to the men and women who gave their lives or their physical well-being serving our state and nation, and to acknowledge the sacrifices also made by their families,” Kulongoski said.
The Veterans’ Dependent Tuition Waiver was outlined in Senate Bill 1066, which was passed during the legislature’s special session on Feb. 22.
To be eligible for the waiver, the student – which include stepchildren, adopted children, spouses and spouses who haven’t remarried – must be admitted to a degree program at an OUS university and be a resident of Oregon, according to the OUS instructions form. For a bachelor’s degree program, the student must be 23 years old or younger. A student who is over 23 years old can apply for a waiver if they are in a master’s degree program.
The tuition waiver covers the cost of tuition up to the total number of attempted credit hours equal to four years of full-time attendance for a bachelor’s degree, or the total credit hours for two years of full time attendance for a master’s degree.
“All of Oregon’s public universities are proud to be able to offer this type of benefit to the Oregon families who have done so much for the state and this country,” said OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner. “There is no way to compensate for the sacrifices made by these soldiers, but this is at least one acknowledgment we can make to offer our respect and gratitude for their service.”
Eligible applicants must submit the two-page waiver application to the Veterans’ Coordinator no later than 14 days before the start of the term. The waiver cannot be used for terms that have already been completed.
The applicants must provide proof that the veteran was on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office.
This is “the snag in the application,” Chereck said. “We have to go outside the OUS system to certify (the tuition waiver).”
This legislation is one of a few benefits offered to veterans and their dependents and spouses, which include the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program, and Federal Employment Preference.
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