Evening star., 1952-12-18
Veterans
Guide
By Moi. Thomas M. Mol

By Maj. Thomas M. Mol
With the new CT bill tucked
under their arms, thousands of /
Korean veterans will move on to |
college campuses in the next few
months. The Veterans Admin
istration figures about one out of |
every 10 Korean vets will be inH
college by spring.
IF you've been thinking about
going to college under the bill
and aren't sure how to get the
wheels rolling, here's the story: \
Your first move should be to
get an application for education
at the nearest VA regional Office.
These Offices are located in every
State. In the larger and more
populated States, there are two or
three. You can find out where
the Office is in your area by call
ing the Red Cross.
After you get the Application
for Program of Education and
Training" you'll find you have five
sections which you must complete:
/. Your identification.
2. The program of education
you want to apply for.
3. Education and training you
got while on active duty.
4. Your civilian education.
S. Your employment experience.
Can Change Once.
You should give careful thought
to your choice of program, for
you'll be allowed to change your
course only once. The purpose
of the new law is to help you
reach a definite goal-becoming a
doctor, for instance. Congress
felt when it wrote the bill that if
you started switching your goal
you would be defeating the pur-
pose of the program.
If you're not sure about your
goal, or about the type of training
needed to reach it, talk over your
problems with an educator, a
businessman or somebody else who
can give you good advice. If you
wish, you may apply to the VA for
tests and thorough interviews by
trained vocational counselors.
After you've made up your mind
about your program of education,
I'LL in the application and attach
it to photostatic copy of your
separation papers.
Your local veterans organiza-
ton probably can suggest the
best and cheapest place to get this
done. Be sure that both sides of
your papers are copied because
the VA must have all this infor-
nation in order to complete your
application.
Regional Offices Handle 1t.
Then mail the photostats and
your application to your nearest
VA regional Office. Many vets
have been sending their COM
pleted application to VA head
quarters in Washington. This
merely delays things since the
central Office must then forward
the papers to the proper VA
regional Office.
When the VA gets your COM
pleted application it will go over
your service record and other rec
ords to check your education
rights. If everything is in order
it will approve your application
and issue you a certificate for
Education and Training" Among
other things. it will show how
much education you have COM
ing.
With this certificate you may
start your college education. All
you have to do is present it with
your admittance application to
the college you want to attend.
The only limitation on where you
may attend is that the school must
be approved by your State or the
VA for the GI education program.
OF course, whether you get into
a specific school will depend also
on whether the school will accept
your previous scholastic record
and so on. The VA has nothing |
to do with this. It's a matter be-
tween you and the school.
you may Write to Maj. Mai
in care of The Star about your
own seruice- connected problem.
Please inclose a stamped, SELF
addressed enUelOpe)