Some soldiers who head to college after leaving the Armed Forces help defray the costs by working part-time at the Veterans Administration (VA). However, a growing number of them are becoming frustrated due to late payments that can make it difficult for them to manage their expenses, The Associated Press reports.
The paychecks, which usually are for about $360, are part of the VA's work study program, which lets veterans work for about 25 hours a week if they're going to school full-time or three-quarters time. Though a helpful program, a pair of vets found that nearly half of VA work-study students said it takes between two-to-four weeks for them to get their check, while 13 percent said it takes more than a month. Advocates say the VA needs to a better job of getting vets their payment.
"It shouldn't fall on the backs of the student veterans," Cheyne Worley, who works at a Kansas VA office. "They've done their duty."
The need for timely pay may become especially great in the coming months and years, as many of the 1.4 million veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan separate from service and head back to school using the post-9/11 GI Bill.