SBU Joins Yellow Ribbon Program

St. Bonaventure University has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to help post-9/11 veterans attend SBU tuition free through the new Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program.

St. Bonaventure is among a sizeable number of private colleges and universities in New York state participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program, designed to help students pay for education programs not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition benefit.

The Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act, for veterans who were considered active duty during or after Sept. 11, 2001, caps educational benefits at the highest public in-state college or university undergraduate tuition rate. Under the Yellow Ribbon Program, the difference between that in-state rate and the tuition cost at a private college or university is split between the school and the VA.

If, for instance, the tuition bill at a participating university is $20,000 and the Post-9/11 GI Bill can pay only $15,000, the university and the VA will split the $5,000 difference.

Jim DiRisio, director of Admissions at St. Bonaventure, lauded the new program and the opportunity it affords post-9/11 veterans.

“As a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, I am proud that my university is among the colleges whose leaders have recognized the value that veterans provide to any organization. I am excited that veterans are now able to choose St. Bonaventure without regard to cost, and I am certain their experiences in our classrooms, and among our community, will be valuable,” said DiRisio.

Nearly 750 private, nonprofit colleges and universities in the U.S. have signed Yellow Ribbon participation agreements with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. More than 10 percent of the schools are from New York’s independent sector, where there is “a long history of service to veterans and non-traditional students,” said Laura L. Anglin, president of the Albany-based Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities.

“I applaud our congressional leaders for developing the Yellow Ribbon program, an idea that will ensure our returning veterans have necessary resources and choice in higher education today,” said Anglin.

Jim McDonough, director of the New York State Division of Veterans’ Affairs, commended the private institutions of higher learning in New York that are participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program. “By providing our nation’s returning veterans with an enhanced opportunity to attend some of the best institutions in the country, these schools are rewarding service to our nation with a greater educational opportunity,” he said.

From Tom Missel
SBU Director of Media Relations/Marketing

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