Every year, the Fourth of July is an opportunity to reflect on our military members and veterans and the importance of their service to defend our democracy.
New this Fourth, the State of New York is stepping up to demonstrate our thanks with a law that took effect July 1 to expand the state Veterans Tuition Award program to cover not just combat veterans, but those who served in noncombat roles as well.
This is a crucial step in honoring the selflessness of New York’s military veterans, including more than 23,000 in our home borough of the Bronx alone, and empowering them to seek an education that will help them translate their skills to the workforce when they get home. This also is an opportunity for us to consider how we can go further to express our gratitude to the families of these American heroes by ensuring they too don’t face barriers to accessing a transformational education.
Military families demonstrate often overlooked patriotism as they fill the gaps left in daily life by their uniformed loved ones. During long deployments, they risk unimaginable loss while willingly accepting the challenge of running a household alone. They show remarkable resolve when required to pack up their lives and move to unfamiliar duty stations hundreds, if not thousands, of miles from home. They lovingly accept missed holidays, hockey games, and high school graduations and provide their family members with unfathomable mental support.
Through it all, these family members hold ambitions of their own and, like any other American, deserve the opportunity to pursue those aspirations to the fullest extent possible.
Higher education is one of the most reliable ways to achieve long-term economic stability and mobility. In fact, those with a bachelor’s degree are expected to have median earnings 86% higher than those with only a high school diploma and are 47% more likely to have health insurance through their job.
The issue is that rising costs of higher education still prevent far too many people from pursuing their dreams. A 2024 Gallup poll found that while 75% of Americans believe a bachelor’s degree is extremely or very valuable, 56% of those who never enrolled or didn’t finish their college studies said cost was a very important reason why.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill does allow eligible service members to request a transfer of some or all of their higher education benefits to a spouse, child or other dependent. This is a valuable tool for ensuring that hard-earned military benefits are not lost by those who served and the families who support them. And there’s every reason that New York should play a role in furthering higher education benefits at a state level as well.
For service members, the state Veterans Tuition Award program typically makes up the remaining difference between GI benefits and tuition and fees. But unlike the flexibility offered under the GI Bill, our state does not allow spouses or dependents to access this vital resource.
Before leaving Albany in June, we advanced legislation that would right this wrong and empower families to access higher education benefits they so rightly deserve for their sacrifices. We look forward to working with the governor in the months ahead to make New York a leader in ensuring military families — America’s hidden heroes — receive such common-sense support.
Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz represents parts of the Bronx. State Sen. Jamaal Bailey represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County
