The Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program, which makes college nearly free for injured vets and their family members, faced controversial cuts earlier this year. But after public outcry, those cuts were reversed, and now legislators must figure out what to do to keep the program viable amidst rising costs.
About $90 million was thrown at the program in the short term to cover more than 8,000 VMSDEP beneficiaries this year. But the state’s nonpartisan watchdog, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or JLARC, offered a few long-term solutions.
Among the options is adding a good academic standing requirement or applying VMSDEP waiver funds only after federal benefits have been exhausted. But both options would have only a small impact on the total costs.
Bigger changes could include not covering graduate-level degrees as the program does now, setting a standard coverage rate instead of covering full costs or increasing disability requirements. These options would have larger impacts on the program's costs.
And JLARC’s final option increases the existing residency requirement from five to 15 years. This would lead to the most dramatic cost savings.
Senator Bryce Reeves is himself a veteran but doesn’t qualify for VMSDEP. And while he’s open to finding some ways to wrangle costs, he also doesn’t want to renege on promises the state has already made.
“We do need to look at those costs, and we can look at resident requirements and some of those things," the Fredericksburg-area Republican told Radio IQ. "I don’t know that anything's off the table, but we have to hold true to the promises that we made to these folks.”
Legislators now have until early January to draft legislation that will need to be voted on, or they could pass a budget amendment to add additional funding. Both steps would still require approval by Governor Glenn Youngkin.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
