More veterans eligible for help from state Veterans Tuition Award program

During Suffolk County Community College’s graduation ceremony in May, Arthur Olson, who had been chosen to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sat on the stage. He remembers seeing fellow graduating veterans wearing red, white and blue sashes filling the first few rows of seats in front of him.

“I am the first person in my family to, other than my kids, ... get a college degree in my family,” said Olson, 57, of Port Jefferson. “So it was a proud moment for me.”

Olson completed three combat tours in the Middle East. He served on active duty in the Army for three years, and then for five years in the Army Reserves.

“When I got out of the military, they gave me my last check and a bus ticket home, and that was it,” Olson said. “The guys now they get the same thing, they get their last check, they get a bus ticket home, but they also get an appointment to see … a counselor to help them transition into the civilian world. It's [still] probably not enough.”

At Suffolk County Community College, however, Olson said, veterans are supported by the school — and each other.

“I felt like as soon as I walked in there, like I was home, like it was set up for everybody to help each other, all the veterans to help each other,” Olson said of Suffolk, where he received his associate degree.

 Olson, like many veterans, relies on state and federal funding to pay for his higher education. More milita ry veterans living in New York now have access to college financial aid for postsecondary education programs, after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation a few days before Memorial Day in 2024, broadening eligibility for New York’s Veterans Tuition Award program to include vets who did not serve in combat.  

The rule changes were included in the 2024-25 state budget package approved by the State Legislature earlier that spring. They became effective July 1 of this year.

The award pays for some or all of eligible veterans’ undergraduate and graduate degrees, and certain vocational training programs in New York State.

It is estimated that there are over 5.5 million veterans in New York State with a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to 2023 census data. Almost 3.25 million veterans have attained an associate degree or some college courseworkk, the same data showed.

Before, only veterans who served in combat or specific combat theaters were eligible for financial aid from the Veterans Tuition Award.  

Eligibility requirements

Now, veterans can apply if they served at least four years on active duty, which is full-time military work. The tuition award is available to both full- and part-time students.

As of July 1, veterans “with a minimum of four years of active-duty service or those who served in combat or the combat theaters of Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, or Afghanistan” who were not dishonorably discharged can qualify, according to the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation website.

The award covers the cost of tuition, not exceeding the cost of undergraduate tuition at a SUNY school, according to the same website. For 2025, tuition for in-state students at a SUNY is $7,070, according to the SUNY website.

To be eligible for assistance, veterans must have been legal New York State residents and have lived in the state for 12 continuous months before the start of the school term.

Long Island’s veterans

Census data for 2023 shows that Suffolk County has more military veterans — estimated to be about 49,650 — than any other county statewide. Across Long Island, there are more than 81,000 veterans, as previously reported by Newsday.

Patrick Nealon, 62, of Malverne, said college financial aid was always available to combat veterans like himself. Nealon said the award's eligibility expansion is a long time coming, but he is glad it got passed.

Nealon heads the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Lynbrook post, which hosts events and fundraisers for veterans, and connects them with other local organizations for services like shelter and food assistance.

“You join the military and … you're actually signing a contract to defend the country against all enemies, foreign and domestic, with everything you have, up to and including your life,” Nealon said.

 

Nealon served in the Navy on active duty from 1981 to 1984, and then in the Navy Reserves for two years. He was involved in the 1983 American invasion of Grenada. The mission was code-named “Operation Urgent Fury”, and Nealon said he was sent to help transport American college students safely back to the United States during a military coup. Nealon also served in the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon in the 1980s, he said.

Nealon said he has already attended Nassau Community College and does not plan on going back to school. He said the expansion of the program makes him happy because veterans are afforded more opportunities than they had before.

“There is the GI Bill, but it goes only so far, and this is huge,” Nealon said. “This [VTA expansion] will really, really help them out.”

Sheana Morris, 40, of Manorville, works in the Veteran Services department at SCCC.

Morris was a sergeant in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

Morris served for six years, including in Iraq and Kuwait. She said when she served, most soldiers went into combat overseas.

“[The award] opened up to so many more veterans,” Morris said. “Before it was only dedicated to combat veterans, but now you serve four years or more active duty, that's opened up to tons of veterans now, especially in Suffolk County.”

Morris said she first applied for the VTA several years ago, and reapplied about a month ago. Morris is currently studying part time for her bachelor’s degree at SUNY Empire State University in Saratoga Springs. She received an email saying she would get VTA college aid around three weeks ago. Morris plans to use her degree to continue working to help other veterans.

Helping veterans at SCCC

Shannon O’Neill, 48, of Medford, is the director of Veteran Services at SCCC and works with Morris. The organization helps military-connected students, meaning veterans, active duty service members and their families. Veteran Services helped more than 600 military-connected students last year, O’Neill said, across the school’s three campuses.

O’Neill said the VTA eligibility expansion was well overdue.

“I believe it's our responsibility to continue to provide all of those services, anything that is necessary to help our military service members to transition back into the civilian population, and I think the best way to do that is through education.”

Olson, the Army veteran who graduated from SCCC in May, referred to O’Neill as the “mayor” because she runs Veteran Services at the school and is well-connected within the veteran community.

Olson starts his bachelor’s degree in August at Stony Brook University. He will study accounting, and then plans to get his certified public accountant degree.

Olson said he started getting VTA funds about three years ago for his associate degree. He said applying online for the financial aid was simple, and that he needed his DD Form 214, also known as discharge papers, to prove he served in the military.

“I think it's a home run that New York State put the tuition assistance program in place for all veterans, instead of just combat veterans like myself,” Olson said. “For me, I always had it [available], for them, just because they didn't go overseas somewhere, doesn't mean that they don't need the help.”