Military Enrollment Jumps at Kaplan University Iowa

Kaplan University is a major provider of online degree programs and also operates campuses in several states. Mason City, one of their six Iowa campuses, has seen a spike in enrollment due to their ability to deliver both online and on campus courses. The small campus has doubled its military attendance, drawing on a group of potential students who usually cannot schedule a traditional, full time campus commitment.

One National Guard member who has returned from overseas duty in Kosovo is using his GI Bill education benefits to pursue a criminal justice degree there. A recent news report on television station KIMT noted that many of the military members today are not of traditional college age, in part because they are National Guard members rather than Army recruits who often join right out of high school.

The Guard member who is working on his criminal justice degree describes Kaplan’s program as, “… a great deal and it’s a no fail deal you do it and the government helps, it’s a great package.” His wife also received a ten percent discount from Kaplan when she enrolled in their nursing school. Both of these adult students are benefitting from the new GI Bill that became law last August, which provides education benefits for both military members and their spouses.

The new GI Bill has in fact led to an increase in college enrollment by active service members and by veterans. It has also led to gridlock in the Veterans Administration office that approves applications for tuition support. According to USA Today over half of the 50,000 veterans that have applied for benefits have yet to be reimbursed. Because the requests for payment come from the colleges via a certificate provided by the veteran enrollee, the VA is putting some of these college enrollments at risk. It’s not the soldiers who are getting stiffed, it’s the schools.

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