Pomona recently became a participant in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program, making it the first of the 5Cs to embrace the new aid package for veterans.
The Yellow Ribbon program, effective Aug. 1, is a condition of the Post 9/11 GI bill that allows participating colleges to grant veterans up to 50 percent of tuition costs above the highest in-state college undergraduate tuition. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will match the contributions of a participating school.
The Post 9/11 GI bill also has other provisions that cover tuition up to the highest public institution rate. The Yellow Ribbon program is designed to assist veterans in paying for more expensive private institutions, more expensive public programs, or out-of-state applications to public institutions.
Oxtoby said the Yellow Ribbon Matching Program is beneficial because of the “type of student it would add to campus.”
“Some veterans have found us in the past,” Oxtoby said about admission of veterans in the past. “This program will attract more of them.”
Pomona will support up to five veterans through the program and has agreed to contribute the maximum aid possible.
“I’d love to see all of the Claremont Colleges in the program,” said Pomona President David Oxtoby.
Other participating schools include Dartmouth College, The George Washington University, and Rochester Institute of Technology. Many colleges that only offer need-based aid, like Princeton University, are not participating in the program because it conflicts with the need-based system.
The Yellow Ribbon program does not replace the Montgomery GI Bill, which also provides educational credit to veterans.
For more information on Pomona’s Yellow Ribbon Program, visit the Pomona College Financial Aid website or call (909) 621-8205.