‘I have 0 student loans’: Gov. Tom Wolf visits Penn State to celebrate ‘PA G.I. Bill’
Behind a backdrop of 11 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard — all Penn Staters — Gov. Tom Wolf celebrated the success of what he termed the “PA G.I. Bill,” a bipartisan piece of legislation passed three years ago that has helped make higher education more affordable for thousands of military members and their families.
Playing host to the governor and other officials Tuesday was Penn State, ranked No. 33 nationally in “Best Colleges for Veterans” by U.S. News and World. University President Neeli Bendapudi introduced Wolf from inside Old Main, the administrative center at the flagship campus, and Wolf made it a point to extend his gratitude toward military families.
“Our commonwealth and our nation owe a great debt of gratitude to all of our Guard members and all their families,” Wolf said from a podium positioned in front of the building’s main staircase. “The least we can do is to help those Guard members and, again, their families to follow their dreams without the pain of education debt.”
The PA G.I. Bill, formally known as the Military Family Education Program, was signed into state law in July 2019 to provide no-cost — or at least significantly reduced-cost — education for National Guard members and their families, if the member reenlists for an additional six years of service. Some 10 semesters of free (or reduced-cost) education at in-state institutions can be taken by the National Guard member, or transferred to a spouse or child.
According to the commonwealth, more than 3,300 Pennsylvania Army and Air Guard members — and their family members — have so far taken advantage of the program. That includes more than 30 current Penn State students.
Count Tech. Sgt. Chelsea Coia, a soon-to-be Penn State (World Campus) grad, among them.
Coia, who was on-hand Tuesday, grew up a Nittany Lions fan in the Philadelphia area. Because she’s married to a fellow Guard member, Kiara Rivera-Coia, their 1-year-old son will also have his future education taken care of. And, because Coia will graduate debt-free in August with a degree in Security Risk Analysis, she’s now seriously considering pursuing a master’s.
“I have zero student loans,” she said with a smile. “So just to know, when I graduate, I don’t have to worry about paying student loans six months later, it just makes it easier to go back and pursue my master’s. I mean, I don’t have any debt from my bachelor’s. I might as well.”
Said Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs: “In my opinion, there is no finer show of support of military families in the nation.”
Wolf often referred to the PA G.I. Bill as the first of its kind in the nation. While Minnesota offers a similar program, and did so before Pennsylvania, its benefits are capped at $10,000. Pennsylvania boasts no such cap, although the benefit must be used at a Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) approved educational institution.
State Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, and State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny County, flanked Wolf on Tuesday. Williams, the prime sponsor of the bill, previously called it the “kind of legislation that made me want to serve in the Senate.”
“It’s pro-education, it’s pro-working families, it has it all,” she added Tuesday. “And it just brings everything together for me.”
Bendapudi opened the 30-minute celebration with a brief and playful introduction, pointing out that Wolf is the only governor she’s met that has visited her hometown in India. He spent two years in the country while serving in the Peace Corps during his time as a Dartmouth undergrad.
“And embarrassing to me, I left 35-plus years ago, he knows more about the politics of what’s happening there than I do,” Bendapudi said, smiling.
Added Wolf: “So the President has been to my hometown (York) twice. So she has a few more to go before she’s in my hometown as many times as I’ve been to hers.”
After Tuesday’s gathering, Wolf took several questions from the media — and fielded several about increasing education costs for civilians around the commonwealth. Penn State announced last week it would raise the price of tuition 5% for in-state students at the main campus, with exceptions for those most in-need, on the heels of Temple’s 3.9% and Pitt’s 3.5% increases.
The three state-related universities are among the top-10 most-expensive non-private schools in the nation, per U.S. News. Penn State’s average undergrad will pay $19,286 in tuition and fees for the 2022-2023 academic year.
“We still have work to do,” Wolf acknowledged.
But Tuesday’s spotlight remained on the Pennsylvania National Guard, the second-largest national guard in the nation with about 18,000 soldiers and airmen. Speaker after speaker Tuesday emphasized the importance of family — and Bendapudi was no different.
“Penn State recognizes fully that when a service member steps up in any of our branches, that individual — as Gen. Schindler was saying — you get the ‘Thank you,’” she said, adding the university has more than 50 scholarships to support military-connected individuals. “But we forget sometimes to thank the entire family because those sacrifices, the support they need, it’s not just the individual. It’s that whole family that steps up to service.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 5:08 PM.
