The Norman Transcript

Editorials

Discussion

March 14, 2013

Tuition assistance cut harmful to U.S. military

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Help with college funding is a benefit earned by members of the U.S. armed forces. It was inevitable that the popular program would be cut as part of the federal spending cuts that took effect March 1. (The first rule of government budget cutting seems to be the elimination of popular programs that have constituencies.)

New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel should make it one of his first priorities to find a way to continue the tuition assistance program for the thousands of active-duty service members who are taking college classes.

The ban won’t impact students currently enrolled but will hit college campuses for the summer and fall semesters. Typically, tuition assistance pays service members an extra $250 per semester hour or up to $4,500 per year.

The Air Force announced this week that it has suspended the payments. The U.S. Army, Marine Corps and Coast Guard suspended their programs earlier this month, and the U.S. Navy is weighing its options.

Hundreds of service members take courses through the University of Oklahoma at its operations throughout the world. The ban will hurt service member morale as well as damage efforts to recruit those who have college hours as part of their career goals.

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Editorials
  • Degrees of progress

    Oklahoma higher education institutions have been challenged to increase the number of students who graduate. The 1,700 graduate increase goal was soon passed and officials reported about 3,000 more degrees awarded last year over the ...

    June 19, 2013

  • Make shelter plans before the storms

    The debate over public storm shelters reminds us that at one time in Norman, residents actually took shelter inside the cavernous Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. It was believed to be one of the safest structures in the city. Scientists now ...

    June 19, 2013

  • A short drought reprieve

    Oklahoma’s current respite from the drought may be short-lived. We’ve yet to reach 100-degree days where water use hits the peak and Norman turns the valve to buy water from Oklahoma City....

    June 18, 2013

  • Summertime warnings

    State and local health departments are sending out summer activity warnings. In recent weeks, we’ve received rabies, mosquito and teen driver warnings....

    June 18, 2013

  • Norman by the numbers

    Quick. What’s Norman’s current population? As of this week, city officials set the mark at 114,450. It seems like only months ago, we were passing 100,000 residents, including University of Oklahoma students....

    June 14, 2013

  • Court’s ruling ensures state has water access

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday, denying Texas access to Oklahoma water flowing within our state will help ensure the state’s water supply for generations to come....

    June 14, 2013

  • Live, die by sales tax

    Norman’s on-again, off-again love affair with the municipal sales tax has taken a hiatus. The numbers are up only slightly and less than what was projected in the city’s fiscal budget....

    June 13, 2013

  • A needed extension

    Gov. Mary Fallin took another walking tour of damaged Moore neighborhoods Wednesday. It comes as the governor requested and was approved for an extension of the federal major disaster declaration....

    June 13, 2013

  • Heat arrived suddenly

    The heat, which had stayed away from Oklahoma for most of May, has caught us by surprise this week....

    June 12, 2013

  • Meth addicts getting notice about law

    Oklahoma was one of the leaders in limiting sales of over-the-counter medicine containing pseudoephedrine. Meth cooks learned long ago that they could manufacture methamphetamine with cold pills and a few other ingredients....

    June 12, 2013