Soldier to Student

Hi everyone and welcome (or welcome back) to the blog “Soldier to Student”. In this post I want to talk about what would happen if the Illinois Veterans Grant went away. Now I just want to preface this by saying this is all hypothetical and I am only bringing this up because it would be interesting to analyze the impacts it would have. Unfortunately I was unable to find the number of veterans using this grant, which I was going to use to illustrate the number of veterans who would be affected, but regardless of how many it affects I am going to talk about what we would see. First of all, veterans would receive no state funding. The Illinois Veterans Grant pays tuition and mandatory fees at all Illinois state-supported colleges, universities and community colleges for veterans who served a minimum of two years and enlisted from and returned to Illinois. I personally use this grant and losing this money would mean solely relying on federal funding for school. Right now since I am using t...

Hi everyone and welcome (or welcome back) to the blog “Soldier to Student”. In this post I want to talk about the debate that is university or trades. When getting out of the military there are plenty of choices to make as to what you can do with your future. While getting out and working is very popular, if you plan on attending schooling the question is, schooling for a college degree or trade certification? I think there are many pros and cons for both. I also strongly believe that it is a personal choice. For me it was a no brainer to go to university, I am a good student and I have no desire to work in trades. But for many trades offer the opportunity to work with your hands and make very good money doing so. Popular trade jobs include electrician, plumber, welder, mechanic, carpenter, and more. Trade school can vary between six months and two years. So which is the better option? I would argue trades honestly, which may be shocking because this whole bog is dedicated to universit...

Hi everyone and welcome (or welcome back) to the blog “Soldier to Student”. In this post I want to talk about college, and my personal feeling on how being back in school after the military is. I want to start by saying any personal feelings you have through this transition are so valid and real. It is different for everyone and there is nothing wrong with feeling a specific way when there are major changes happening in your life. I was so terrified to get out of the Army, it was familiar and all I knew for the past three years. I had a gut feeling it was the time to get out and get my civilian education but that didn't mean I didn't have doubts about going to college. I got my associates degree online but I knew online school was not the same as in-person. I can now say after successfully completing one semester and beginning my second that college is great. Classes are demanding but manageable, and you will find that you have a lot of time to do assignments and that you can p...

Hi everyone and welcome (or welcome back) to the blog “Soldier to Student”. In this post I am going to compare the Post 9-11 GI Bill with the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). Both of these are federal education grants offered to qualifying veterans. To qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill you must have started your service on or after September 11, 2001, and one of these must be true: you served for at least 90 days total on active duty, you served for at least 30 days on active duty (without a break) and were honorably discharged with a service-connected disability, or you received a Purple Heart. To qualify for the MGIB, the required service start date depends on certain factors, like when you served on active duty and whether your military pay decreased. Y ou must have served between 2 and 4 years. The minimum amount of time you must have served depends on other factors. Both benefits provide 36 months of coverage but note, in certain situations, you may be eligible for more than 1 educa...

Did you apply for the Illinois National Guard Grant (ING)? Were you at all confused by the award dates? Did you have issues getting a clear answer from representatives on information your award letter stated? Then welcome (or welcome back) to the blog “Soldier to Student”. In this post I want to talk about a problem I encountered with the Illinois National Guard Grant. I applied for the grant in August when I switched from active-duty to the guard. It also was a little over a week before the first day of school so I figured the timing would work pretty good. My original plan was to use the Illinois National Guard Grant for my undergrad and save my Illinois Veterans Grant for my masters. Well when I received my Illinois National Guard Grant award letter, the date did not make any sense to me. The letter began by stating “The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) has determined that you are eligible for the 2024-25 Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant Program for a portion of the ...

Hi everyone and welcome (or welcome back) to the blog “Soldier to Student”. In this blog post I want to talk about positive things military friendly schools offer and what could make them even better! First of all, what is a military friendly college? What does that mean? Military friendly is the standard that measures an organization's commitment, effort and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefits for the military community. The website https://www.militaryfriendly.com/schools/ gives a rating of just how good schools are to veteran and military students. When I was applying to ISU I remember seeing they displayed the gold rank badge of Military Friendly on their website. ISU does have a Military and Veterans center on campus with many knowledgeable staff that can answer your questions. The military and veterans center does send out emails every once in a while with pertinent information as well as extracurricular opportunities like SVA (Student Veterans of America...