In Bell County, officials at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Temple College and Central Texas College have witnessed the increase.
Also known as the New GI Bill and the Post 9/11 Bill, the bipartisan legislation was passed by Congress in 2008 and became effective August 2009. It gives opportunities to spouses and children of veterans to attend college, too.
Ron Brown, associate vice president for enrollment management at UMHB, said 66 veterans registered for the fall semester under Chapter 33.
"What the bill says is that any serviceman who has completed 36 months of service since the 9/11 event is eligible to receive up to 100 percent of tuition and fees for college attendance," Brown said.
Brown said any veteran not wanting to use that benefit can transfer it to a spouse or a child under age 25.
For veterans who have served less than 36 months there is a percentage the VA will pay in increments, from 40 to 90 percent, depending on the number of months served.
The reimbursement is good for state and private schools, Brown said.
"We think this is going to be a real enrollment grower but it may be only the tip of the iceberg," Brown said. "This has been the first semester for the bill since it became effective Aug. 1 - just three weeks prior to our classes. We expect to see this grow in January and in the fall semester 2010."
Amy McGilvray, registrar for UMHB, said 63 percent of the 66 veterans enrolled under Chapter 33 are new students - not former students who switched from an older GI bill.
Ms. McGilvray said the most critical thing a veteran can do today is to start applying for benefits through the VA's online application site.
"The site opened in August and it has been flooded," she said. "The key is to start an application now because of the bulk of processing taking place."
She said after applying the VA would issue a certificate of eligibility.
"We want that and a DD-214 and any military transcripts," Ms. McGilvray said." Anyone hoping to enroll for the spring semester had better move fast."
Jimmy Roberts, director of institutional effectiveness, research and planning at Temple College, said the figures aren't in yet on the increase in veterans' enrollments for the fall semester.
"It's something we report to the state and we will know in two weeks what those numbers are," Roberts said. "I've heard anecdotally there are more students enrolled under the New GI Bill."
Tammy Smith, veterans liaison officer for Temple College, said from what she's seen the last two semesters, she believes the increase in veteran enrollment is up possibly 40 percent as a direct result of the bill.
"I'm getting students registering early for the spring," she said. "I'm allowing them to come to register in October."
Ms. Smith said with Chapter 33 she is seeing not just more veterans enrolling but their spouses and children as well.
"Coupling that to the New Military Spouse Advancement Program it has added to the increase, which is phenomenal," she said.
Ms. Smith said TC has veterans under legislative Chapters 30, 31 and 35 as well and from the Combat Exemption Reimbursement Program.
That program, passed by the Texas Legislature in the last session, allows the children of servicemen and veterans who have served in a combat zone to have tuition waived.
Carol Menlo, director of marketing for Central Temple College in Killeen, said there are 1,200 veterans enrolled under various GI Bill chapters. She said 339 are enrolled in Chapter 33.
"The largest number are still enrolled in Chapter 30, the Montgomery GI Bill," she said.
Ms. Merlo said the college has not completed tracking each veteran to see how many were enrolled already under another program before applying under Chapter 33. But a large portion is likely new students and family members responding to the new benefits, she said. It may be as many as 318.
Ms. Merlo said CTC would have an event explaining veterans' benefits from 10 a.m. until noon Oct. 27 in the Mayborn Planetarium. The VA Waco Regional Office and the Muskogee, Okla., service office will sponsor it.
