“Veterans make awesome MBA students,” said Kevin Kiley, senior associate director of MBA admissions at Olin Business School.
He should know. Kiley actively recruits vets to consider Olin’s graduate business programs.
As of Aug. 1, the new Post-9/11 G.I. Bill offers additional matching tuition benefits under its Yellow Ribbon Program with participating private institutions such as Washington University.
The hope is that the new G.I. bill and its education benefits will attract even more veteran candidates to consider Washington University.
All WUSTL undergraduate programs and graduate programs except the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and the School of Medicine are helping fund tuition costs for veterans qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
“This is truly a terrific partnership,” said Evan Bouffides, assistant dean and director of MBA admissions and financial aid at Olin.
“Our veterans accrue the obvious economic value associated with Yellow Ribbon, while we, in turn, benefit from the existence of these superior candidates in our classrooms and in our MBA community,” Bouffides said.
Tod Stephens is among the first of Olin’s Yellow Ribbon veterans to enter the MBA program this semester. A Troy, Ill., native, Stephens is a captain of infantry, U.S. Army, IRR (Individual Ready Reserve).
A 2001 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Stephens completed three tours of duty in Iraq, including serving on an advisory team embedded within the Iraqi army.
“Veterans could not be more thankful for elected officials and citizens who fund the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill,” Stephens said.
“But as generous as it is, there is still a big gap between the basic tuition coverage and the expense of going to a world-class school like Washington University.
“That’s where the generosity of schools like Olin and the Yellow Ribbon Program make it possible to attend a private school,” Stephens said.
Stephens has volunteered to share his story and the benefits of the new G.I. bill with local media.
His photo accompanied a front-page article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and KTVI-TV featured him in a live interview on FOX News in the morning.
The number of veterans enrolled at WUSTL is up almost 50 percent this year, according to Bill Witbrodt, director of Student Financial Services.
“So far, the University has enrolled close to 100 this year,” Witbrodt said. “Of those veterans enrolled, about a half-dozen are qualified to receive the new Yellow Ribbon benefit.
“Due to the joint funding of the Yellow Ribbon Program by the University and the Department of Veterans Affairs, students who previously thought the University was out of their reach financially will be able to realize their dream to attend Washington University, and I think we’ll see an increase in applications from this group in years to come,” Witbrodt said.