They risked their lives for their country, but they?re still waiting for their college scholarships.
Five Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in Maryland are on a waiting list for state-funded tuition breaks.
But Gov. Martin O?Malley and elected officials hope the allocation of an additional $150,000 to the existing $600,000 annual pot of scholarship money will eliminate the wait.
“States are taking a leading role because the federal government has been AWOL in its obligation to servicemen and women,” said Sen. Robert Garagiola, D-Montgomery County, a former member of the U.S. Army Reserve.
“The funding goes quickly. Clearly, we would like to get more money for veterans and their families, but then again, the state is facing fiscal shortfalls. There?s not enough we could do for them.”
For the 2007-2008 school year, 122 vetsreceived state scholarships totaling $642,750. So far, 61 have been awarded money for the 2008-2009 year. Scholarships cover half of students? tuition and may be awarded for five years of full-time study or eight years of part-time study.
Laurissa Flowers, 23, served in Iraq for a year, testing water supplies to make sure they were safe for Army soldiers to drink and use for showers.
She returned from her tour and learned about the Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts Scholarship halfway through a semester at the University of Maryland, College Park.
With the federal Montgomery GI Bill falling short for veterans? education costs nationwide, Flowers was thrilled to hear about the state scholarship.
Except she was told the money had run out.
“For them to say they didn?t have any money, it felt like this scholarship was too good to be true, and I just was not going to get it,” said Flowers, a kinesiology major who wants to work as a physical therapist.
“It?s a hard transition going from working 9 to 5 and having a paycheck and then getting out, living off college money, trying to work and go to class.”
Fortunately for Flowers, the state came through with more scholarship funds and gave her priority on a list of veterans because her husband, David, also served in Iraq as an Army medic.
As the wars rage on, state lawmakers recently extended the deadline for veterans to apply for the scholarship from June 2012 to June 2016.
“The federal government has really shortchanged our veterans,” Garagiola said, “and we are seeing a lot of instances where the states have to fill in the gaps.”
