Financial Tools Help Veterans Gain Education

by Chuck N. Baker

Veterans seeking a college education at UNLV have several tools at their disposal to help them pay for their education. To begin the process, the College of Education Student Services Center provides academic advising. It also coordinates field placement for undergraduates, second baccalaureates, as well as students that have completed the Alternate Route to Licensure, Troops to Teachers, and Teach for America programs. The Academic Advising Unit, in the Academic Success Center (ASC), is the home for those exploring majors, non-degree seeking students, and Major Pathways’ students.  

UNLV provides the opportunity to educate and serve veterans through its Military and Veteran Services Center. It strives to provide responsive academic, social, and administrative support to student veterans, as well as active-duty military members. At the Military and Veteran Services Center, it’s understood that veterans and their families have unique needs and responsibilities. The center works to support academic efforts by providing one-stop, integrated resources.   

Rayshawn Williams is an example of how veterans seeking direction can find an easier road to transitioning. He was Marine initially assigned on a Navy carrier, “as a means of transportation for deployment,” he explained. Then in a second deployment he was a field radio operator in Fallujah. He admittedly was not focused on academics. With no plan on what he was going to do after high school, one day happened to wander into a recruitment office. “I had no expectations of what was ahead, I just went for it,” he said.   

After his honorable service, he found that old negative patterns from his previous civilian life, somehow had never left him. Although he married and his wife gave birth to a son, he became involved in illegal activities and began substance abuse. The law intervened and changed his life once more. “I did time in the penitentiary and when I got paroled, I decided that I had to turn my life around. I looked to see what VA benefits I had earned. “The word “penitentiary” comes from the Latin paenitentia, meaning “repentance." It’s a place one is sent to make repentance for crimes committed. It did help Williams repent and being a veteran at UNLV also helped him to do so.  

“I got into a different mindset,” he said. Although he qualified for and received educational benefits from the VA, his finances were still slim. He enrolled at UNLV in the Criminal Justice curriculum and to help pay for books and fees, “I lived at my mother’s to save money,” he explained. “And I rode the bus for transportation every day and applied for a Pell Grant.” The Pell Grant is a form of need-based federal financial aid that does not have to be repaid. Awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to help eligible low-income students pay for college costs, it includes tuition, fees, room and board, and other educational expenses.   

The Pell Grant helped Williams survive, along with other local scholarships awarded by veteran’s service organizations. One such scholarship was awarded to Williams through the combined efforts of the Veterans of Foreign Wars partnership with Sport Clips Salons based on merit and need. “I got into networking,” Williams explained. “Altogether it helped me to focus my vision and improve my dialogue, to create a work environment for myself and locate things that are helpful to veterans.” At the university he joined the Rebel Vets and the Student Veterans of America.  Both student groups provide emotional support. “UNLV is a very friendly campus,” he said. “Overall student veterans are taken care of in a very open climate.” Recently, the school entered into a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer a program called VITAL, the Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership. The collaboration provides financial assistance as well as student resources that veterans would normally get at a VA hospital, like therapy, health care programs or counseling. 

UNLV reports its student veteran enrollment is growing. The school's six-year graduation rate is about 70 percent. As this information indicates, veterans who enroll in UNLV and put in strong efforts can succeed in their educational pursuit.   

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