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GI Bill for a new era kicking in
Local vets among the half-million to get help furthering their education

By SCOTT WALDMAN, Staff writer
First published in print: Saturday, August 1, 2009

ALBANY -- P.J. Higgitt has not had much time for college in the last two decades.
     
After a full-time stint in the Army, he has continued his military service in the National Guard, 18 months of which he had to worry about staying alive during a tour in Tikrit, Iraq. The sergeant major ran a communications network the size of West Virginia on which people depended for their lives. He's also had a family, with three children at home whose education came first.

Now, it's his turn. This fall, the 46-year-old radio engineer for the state Office of Technology will pick up where he left off 19 years ago after he earned his associate's degree at the University of Maryland on the GI Bill.

He'll be one of nearly half a million veterans expected to start classes this fall under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill.

"The price is right," he said. "You're foolish if you don't. You have an opportunity to make more of yourself."

Passed by Congress last year, the program officially kicks in today. It's being hailed as the most extensive educational assistance program for veterans since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944. To receive full benefits, a veteran must have served 36 months of active duty since 9/11, or received an honorable discharge with a service-connected disability after 30 days.

For Higgitt, that means earning a bachelor's degree in political science from Excelsior College, the distance-learning institution headquartered in Albany...........>>>>.................>>>>............http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=826925