The university will participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill which will team up private universities with the government to help veterans pay for college, said Associate Provost Michael Mills.

Under the new GI Bill, which was passed last year and will go into effect on Aug. 1, veterans who have served at least three years of active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, are qualified for the government to cover their tuition for an amount that meets the highest cost of the most expensive public school in the given state. That’s $5,126.50 per term in Illinois, according to provisional data from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Northwestern, of course, costs a lot more than that. But under the Yellow Ribbon Program, the university can pay for up to 50 percent of the remaining expenses, and the government will match the University’s contribution.

The program, created by the Department of Veterans Affairs, is voluntary for all private universities. The administration doesn’t yet know how much it will be giving each veteran, or if there will be a limit on the number of veterans who will receive money.

“It’s a very worthwhile program, and we are happy to take in as many veterans who qualify for admissions as there are out there,” Mills said.

Veteran students do get some money from the government under the old GI Bill still in effect. According to Mills, about 25 undergraduates at Northwestern receive veterans’ benefits. But there are more veterans in the graduate programs, law school and medical school.

Brian Skouse is a 13-year Marine veteran and first-year student at the Kellogg School of Management. He will begin receiving benefits from the post-9/11 GI Bill next fall. Skouse believes the program will draw more undergraduate veterans.

“When guys are in the military and they’re looking to use the GI Bill to go to school, they are going to look at schools where the GI Bill is going to cover most of the cost,” Skouse said. “Northwestern is expensive. It’s a private school, so that’s why there’s nobody here. They can’t afford it.”

“If Northwestern decides to help out with this Yellow Ribbon Program, then it really makes it more affordable,” Skouse added. “Depending on how much they contribute.”

In August, Northwestern met with then-Congressman Rahm Emanuel and other Chicago-area universities — including City Colleges of Chicago, the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Chicago, Loyola University and DePaul University — to talk about improving policies for veterans attending their schools under the new GI Bill.

“Rahm Emanuel is a real proponent of the new GI Bill,” Mills said. “We were there to talk about how excited we are about this.”

Skouse has been working with Kellogg to decide what approach the graduate school will take towards the Yellow Ribbon Program, since Kellogg (and the other graduate schools at Northwestern) will now be participating as separate entity from Northwestern.

“Kellogg’s endowment isn’t as large as Northwestern’s,” Skouse said. “But also, [the school] hadn’t budgeted for this at all. They hadn’t planned and set aside money for this. But anything helps.”

However, Kellogg remains interested since the Yellow Ribbon program has become a recruiting tool among schools.

“Kellogg is competing with other graduate programs like University of Chicago and Harvard who are trying to entice veteran MBA students with large sums, so Kellogg wants to be competitive with that,” Skouse said.

Some private institutions have chosen not to participate. Princeton University is among them. According to Cass Cliatt, spokesperson for Princeton, the university will not be participating due to their need-based financial aid program.

“We meet the full assessed need of all qualifying students through a generous no-loan program in which grants don’t have to be repaid,” Cliatt said. “This is a tremendous benefit to any student, including any veterans who might apply.”

Matt Dougherty, co-chair of Kellogg’s Veterans Association and a Marine Corps veteran, feels that Northwestern’s agreement to participate shows the school’s dedication to its veterans.

“In these economic times it is very encouraging for veterans to have schools step up financially,” Dougherty said. “This shows a commitment to veterans.”

Northwestern is meeting with the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities to answer legislative questions, including whether or not to cap the number of veterans who get money. All schools have been given until May 15 to confirm their participation in the program and until June 1 to have details confirmed including amount of contribution.

“If we want to get people with incredible leadership and different backgrounds into our classrooms, this new GI Bill is something that is going to make this happen,” Skouse said. “Depending on the degree of participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, it could really help make it happen if this will help offset the cost.”