Beginning in the fall of 2011, changes were imposed to the Post 9-11 GI Bill, the legislation that previously paid the full tuition of veterans.  This bill was amended to force out-of-state veterans attending North Carolina colleges to pay the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition.

This meant that approximately 70 out-of-state veterans at UNCW who relied on the GI Bill would have to pay up to $12,000 a year when they had expected the GI Bill to pay in full for their education.

“The change came as a big surprise and left some veterans floundering as far as how they were going to pay the difference,” said Shannon Miles, UNCW Assistant Director of Financial Aid and Veterans Services.

In response, several UNC Wilmington students started the Student Veterans Advocacy Group, or SVAG. They believe the GI Bill change resulted in inadequate services, facilities, and assistance available for student veterans attending North Carolina public universities.

And they’re suing the UNC-system board of governors for their money back.

The SVAG worked for almost two years to try to reverse the effects of the GI Bill change. They proposed state and federal legislation, and even testified in front of Congress. Fifteen other states created legislation in order to reduce the newfound financial hardship on student veterans.

North Carolina, which has the third largest student veteran population of any U.S. state, has not made policy changes to adapt to the new GI Bill.

“Many states consider all active and retired members of the military to be in-state residents,” said Michael Haas, a former army lawyer and UNCW political science professor. “However North Carolina is not one of them.”

 

What the suit says

In order to resolve the issues facing student veterans, including those that seem to have resulted from the GI Bill changes, two board members of the SVAG are fighting in court.

Jason Thigpen from UNCW and Hayleigh Perez from UNC filed the lawsuit against the UNC-system board of governors Nov. 8, 2012 at the federal courthouse in Raleigh.

Thigpen, a Purple Heart recipient, was one of the group’s founders and has been at the forefront of the SVAG’s efforts to support student veterans.

“It is extremely disappointing to realize that the school system, state, and national government, which have always said that they are there for you, really aren’t,” said Thigpen.  

The lawsuit claims that the UNC Board of Governors is discriminating against veterans, has been negligent, and has violated Perez’s privacy rights. Thigpen and Perez are seeking injunctive relief and damages in the amount of $10 million and are demanding a jury trial.

A plaintiff’s story

On multiple occasions there have been veterans who were granted in-state tuition to one North Carolina public school, but were considered out-of-state residents at other state schools.

“North Carolina has inconsistent guidelines on how to classify a veteran’s residency,” said Thigpen.

This was the case with Hayleigh Perez, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Perez is an Iraq veteran and North Carolina native, and had lived in Texas for several years while her husband was on active duty at a military base.  When Perez returned to North Carolina, she was denied in-state tuition at UNC Pembroke despite the fact that she had been paying property tax on her home in this state and maintained a North Carolina driver’s license.  However, when she applied to Fayetteville State University she was granted in-state tuition.

According to the lawsuit, when Perez appealed her residency, she “…was denied after being treated with malice and contempt by UNC Pembroke officials, and was denied without ever receiving any just cause or reason for such.”

Soon after her appeal was denied, Perez joined forces with the SVAG to shed light on the residency issues that face veterans. Perez sought out media attention and used her case as an example to display the inconsistencies with the residency regulations.  The UNC system responded by discussing Perez’s case and releasing her personal information to the media.  In doing so, Perez claims that they violated the Family Educational Rights and the Privacy Act.

Behind the decision to sue

The SVAG’s first major action to combat the increase in tuition was the proposal of the Veterans Education Equity Act of 2011 to members of the U.S. House of Representatives.  This piece of legislation would reinstate full tuition to all veterans and was supported by 59 members of Congress.

“Although the bill received a decent amount of support, it is not the most popular piece of legislation,” said Thigpen.  He believes that the bill is unpopular because of its financial ramifications for the UNC-system.

“One factor that has caused us to reach this point is that the school system refuses to settle out of court,” said Thigpen.

On November 1, the SVAG delivered a petition signed by 147,000 people over the span of two weeks, to the UNC school system.  This petition called for the UNC board of governors to stop discriminating against student veterans.  

In addition to delivering the petition, the group gave the school system a final notice of the imminent lawsuit.

“Although a lawsuit was not our ideal course of action, it is the only option remaining,” said Thigpen. “If we didn’t do it, everything that we have said and done would be discounted.”

A shortage in resources

The lack of services, resources and assistance available for student veterans is another factor that Thigpen and Perez address in the lawsuit.  The lawsuit claims that veterans are not provided the resources that are given to other minority groups.

“Other minority groups like African-Americans, LGBT, Hispanics and women all have facilities and resources available on campus, which is great.” said Thigpen. “But UNC has not done this for veterans even though we represent such a large portion of their student base.”

At UNCW, the Seahawk Perch was a desk located in Fisher Student Center that was dedicated to veterans services. This year, the services previously offered at the Perch have been consolidated to the assistant dean of students office.  

The university has plans to put a Starbucks where the Seahawk Perch once was.

Other options

Shannon Miles, who serves on the UNCW Military Task Force, says that the university did consider adopting the Yellow Ribbon Program, which would reduce the amount that out-of-state veterans had to pay for tuition.

“At the time of the change the university was facing budget cuts,” said Miles. They did not feel that taking on another program where the university would be spending money would be in their best interest.”

The SVAG has corresponded with the board of governors for the UNC system, and with North Carolina representatives.

Congressman Mike McIntyre had supported the Equity act.

“In North Carolina we tout our state as being the most military friendly,” said McIntyre. “We need to make sure our tuition is friendly and that we fulfill what was intended under the GI bill.”

While the battle on the national front has proved unsuccessful thus far, the group has seen more victory in assisting individual veterans appeal their residency. The SVAG has successfully helped 32 veterans who were classified as out-of-state establish residency in North Carolina.

Andrew Sammons, an SVAG board member, successfully appealed his residency decision at UNCW earlier this year, with the help of the group.

“Despite our efforts, the school board has been unwilling to work with us, Sammons said, “We did not want to file a lawsuit; that is an effort of last resort.”