In State Tuition Fiasco

Jim Fausone
Veteran Disability Lawyer

At times we make the simple things too hard. Here is an example. A veteran is denied in state tuition status in North Carolina. She lived in the state for years and has paid taxes and owned a home. What caused the inability to qualify for the lower in state college tuition rate was because she was out of state in Iraq and in Texas. Both moves were necessitated because of active duty orders for herself or her husband.

Army Sgt. Perez believes her treatment demonstrates that University of North Carolina does not value military service. She finds it ironic that the administration at UNC at one time considered granting in state tuition status to illegal immigrants. It is reported that more than 5000 veterans are in the UNC system.

Perez appealed the decision to a 15-member panel at the school's vice chancellor's office, where her request was denied. She said she later learned that the denial was based on the fact that she had not paid income tax in North Carolina in the years in which she was in Iraq and Texas.

She said that her family could not afford the out of state tuition rates at UNC because the GI Bill only paid the in state rate, so she has enrolled at a private college instead.

The UNC appeal board wins the knucklehead award of the week. The decision makers at the University of North Carolina system failed to use any common sense.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/16/university-north-carolina-denies-iraq-vet-in-state-tuition-while-considering/