Schools throughout the UNC system should focus on helping veterans by providing more financial support to them, as well as by increasing outreach efforts.
UNC-CH is one of a handful of schools in the UNC system that has chosen to be a part of the Yellow Ribbon Program, which offers financial support for eligible veterans or dependents of veterans.
Schools that participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program provide additional financial support to veterans beyond that normally covered by the GI Bill. The Department of Veterans Affairs then matches that additional amount provided by the school.
East Carolina University, UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Greensboro are a few of the other system schools that have chosen to take part in the program.
Individuals can qualify for benefits from the program if they have either served in the military for an aggregate period of 36 months after 9/11, were honorably discharged for disability after at least 30 days of post-9/11 service or are a dependent of a veteran who qualifies for Transfer of Entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Supporting the educational goals of our veterans should be one of the priorities of the UNC system. In order to reflect this, more system schools should take part in the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The funding for the Yellow Ribbon Program comes from each school’s own institutional funding. Therefore, each system school that chooses to participate in the program will need to allocate its own funds from its budget.
Obviously, money is already tight. However, UNC-system schools should prioritize providing financial support for their veterans through efforts like the Yellow Ribbon Program.
