Lauren Cook waited and worked for her education.
She could not afford college, so she planned to return to school after a stint in the army.
Now, Cook, 30, a veteran and a mother, is attending Santa Fe College and plans to transfer to UF to pursue a career in teaching.
Cook, who works in the Santa Fe College Office of Veterans Affairs, benefits from the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, a modification of the older and less generous Montgomery GI Bill.
The Post-9/11 Bill, which went into effect Aug. 1, pays university tuition, fees and living expenses for disabled veterans and veterans who served for at least 90 days beginning on or after Sept. 11, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Web site.
According to a new study published by Alexandria Walton Radford, a research associate with MPR Associates Inc., this new bill could encourage more veterans to attend public four-year colleges like UF rather than public two-year colleges.
Radford said the Montgomery GI Bill only gives veterans about $1,300 per month to cover living expenses, books, tuition and fees. This insufficient amount may have encouraged veterans to attend community colleges or go to school part-time rather than attending four-year universities, she said.
But UF spokesman Steve Orlando said UF has yet to see an increase in the number of veterans applying as a result of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
He said about 450 veterans attend UF, and the university welcomes them because they offer positive examples for their fellow students.
"They come here with a mission, just as they might in the military," he said. "They come here with a mission to get an education,"
Justin Levine, 26, the president of UF's Collegiate Veterans Society, served 4 1/2 years in the army and now is working on an undergraduate finance degree and a master's degree in international business at UF.
He said the larger amount of money offered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill provides veterans with more incentive to leave the military and attend a university.
However, Levine said UF's strict admissions requirements limit the number of veterans who apply and attend. He said a high rate of veterans in Alachua County spend two years at Santa Fe before attending UF because they get out of the military with zero credit hours.
"In the case of UF, I think it's more dependent on the grades and the academic discipline of the student," he said.
He said he does not expect the number of veterans applying to UF to increase for another two years because veterans may choose to spend that time at Santa Fe.
Brian Sellers, who is completing a work-study in Santa Fe's Office of Veterans Affairs, said about 108 veterans are using the Post-9/11 GI bill at Santa Fe.
Carmelita Sellers, who is also completing a work-study at the office, says this represents an increase in the number of veteran applicants.
For Lauren Cook, who works with Sellers, the bill has other advantages as well.
The extra money it offers helps fund things like tutoring services, she said.
"It's just little factors, little factors like that they reimburse you for that just makes or breaks someone's success as a veteran," she said.
