"Thousands of veterans attending college on the new G.I. Bill are having to take out loans, put off buying textbooks or dig into savings because of delays by the Department of Veterans Affairs in issuing benefit checks, veterans groups and college officials say," The New York Times reports. "The new benefit enticed more than 277,000 veterans and their eligible relatives to apply for assistance. Such a flood of claims had been expected, but the veterans department, with its antiquated technology, has struggled to keep up with it. This week, the department reported that it had made tuition payments to colleges on just 20,000 of those applications, and had made an additional 13,000 payments directly to veterans for various expenses. The department said that it was taking an average of 35 days to process claims but that the wait could stretch to eight weeks and possibly longer."

You can read the complete Sept. 24, 2009 New York Times article on-line.

Additional Media Coverage

VA to issue emergency checks for GI benefits The Associated Press

$3000 Advances to Bridge GI Bill Backlog The Washington Post

The Tip of the 9/11 GI Bill Iceberg Nextgov

College vets to get emergency GI checks The Washington Times

GI Bill backlog hurting students News-Leader.com

VA to issue emergency GI Bill checks Stars and Stripes

Vets caught in red tape waiting for GI Bill benefits OCRegister

Veterans complain of GI Bill aid delay Philadelphia Inquirer

Vets wait in limbo for GI Bill benefits Florida Today

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