'Yellow Ribbon’ Program Provides Free Education for Veterans

SACRAMENTO (OBSNews.com) – The Drexel University Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento will hold a special information session on Tuesday, Aug. 25 for veterans interested in the new GI Bill’s Yellow Ribbon Program.

The program allows eligible veterans to take Drexel courses and receive Drexel degrees without paying any tuition or fees, while also receiving a living stipend of approximately $1,700 per month. The program is done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The special veterans’ session will begin at 5 p.m. with information about the nine graduate degree programs being offered this fall at Drexel available in a general information session that begins at 6 p.m.

Unlike many institutions participating in the new program, Drexel is among a small group of universities with no cap on the number of veterans who may enroll, and no cap on the cost of the academic program.

The University’s contribution allows veterans who meet government and University admissions requirements to receive a top-ranked education completely free at the Drexel’s Center for Graduate Studies, located at One Capitol Mall in Sacramento, in any one of the eight master’s and one doctoral degree programs being offered this fall.

“We are proud to be able to give back to those who have served our country so well,” said Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III, Dean of Drexel’s Sacramento campus. “A graduate education at Drexel will help our veterans master the substantive knowledge and practical skills they need to succeed in careers that are at the heart of this region’s economic engine.”

This program also benefits veterans wishing to attend Drexel’s main campus in Philadelphia for undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as those who prefer to pursue their educations entirely on-line, where Drexel offers more than 80 different programs.

The Yellow Ribbon program was authorized by Congress under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 and became effective Aug. 1, 2009. It is the most extensive educational assistance program authorized since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944 and paved the way for nearly 8 million veterans to receive training or higher education.

The Department of Veterans Affairs expects 460,000 veterans to participate during the first year of the program. VA officials anticipate a 20 to 25 percent increase in the total number of applications for veteran’s educational programs.

Drexel opened its doors to students in Sacramento on January 5, 2009 and is offering eight master’s and one doctoral program in careers at the heart of Greater Sacramento’s growth and economic development initiatives – entrepreneurial business, knowledge management and information science, engineering, health care, and education.

For information on the new GI Bill and specific benefit questions, visit http://www.gibill.va.gov/ or contact the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-888-GIBILL-1.

To attend an Information Session, register online at www.drexel.edu/sacramento or call (888) 389-3781 or (916) 325-4600.