Even conducting counterinsurgency in Iraq, United States Marine Trevor Grant β10 showed his pride in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst.
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Service Oriented
Coming home to UMass on the new GI Bill
When United States Marine Trevor Grant β10 served in Iraq, he received care packages from classmates as well as faculty and staff of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. The mailings included a UMass Amherst mug, boxer shorts, Silly Putty, candy, even bird seed he requested for Iraqi wildlife.
The gifts were a welcome distraction from patrolling the streets, he says, wondering if βthat piece of trash was an IED [improvised explosive device] or if the next car was a bomb.β
When Grant, an arboriculture and forestry student, returned to Stockbridge this fall, he got an even better care package: 60 percent of his tuition, fees, and housing are covered under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill.
As a Marine reservist, Grant received minimal benefits of a few hundred dollars for his first year at Stockbridge, 2007-08. The new GI Bill, which went into effect in August, makes a huge difference in his financial picture. The program covers tuition and fees for veterans with active duty service since the September 11 attacks; benefits are tied to in-state public university rates. It also provides a housing allowance and a stipend for books and supplies. In effect, vets eligible for full benefits may now attend UMass Amherst essentially for free. Moreover, some vets may transfer unused educational benefits to their spouses and children.
The campus has also signed on to the Yellow Ribbon Program, a voluntary provision of the GI Bill under which UMass Amherst can provide greater support to eligible out-of-state vets, who pay higher rates.
The campus community is proud to welcome back Grant and other returning and newly enrolled vets this semester, says Eileen Stewart, associate dean of students and head of veterans affairs. βWe are serving the people who serve our country.β