Military and Veterans Benefits Programs at Cornell College
Cornell College honors members of the military and welcomes them as students pursuing a four-year bachelor's degree and as transfer students from other institutions. The flexibility of the block plan can be an asset if you are deployed or activated for part of the academic year, as you can schedule your coursework around those dates. You might also find the daily structure and rigor of One Course At A Time fits well with your recent military experience.
Veterans and military program support
We support a number of programs organized by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Iowa National Guard.
- Montgomery GI Bill® - Active Duty (Chapter 30)
- Montgomery GI Bill® - Selected Reserve (Chapter 1606)
- Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33)
- Post-9/11 GI Bill® Yellow Ribbon Program (Chapter 33)
- Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance Program (Chapter 35)
- Reserve Educational Assistance Program (Chapter 1607)
- Vocational Rehabilitation - Veterans with Disabilities (Chapter 31)
- The National Guard Scholarship (NG)
Student military leave
We firmly support your need to take military leave and will work with you to minimize any disruption to your degree completion.
If you are called to active duty, or if you have a dependent child and your spouse is called to active duty, during a term you have the following options:
- Withdraw from the current block course and receive a full refund of tuition and fees. If you received federal financial aid, the Financial Aid Office will calculate the amount of earned and unearned federal aid according to the standard federal Return of Title IV Funds as published in the Financial Aid Handbook.
- Make arrangements with an individual faculty member for the final course grade, or for an incomplete grade that shall be completed upon release from active duty. If such arrangements are made, your registration will remain intact and tuition and fees will be assessed in full.
Readmission from active service
Cornell College complies with Readmission Requirements for Service Members as outlined in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) Section 487. The HEOA provides that prompt readmission of a previously enrolled or admitted student may not be denied to a service member of the uniformed services for reasons relating to that service. This applies to active duty in the Armed Forces; whether voluntary or involuntary, including service under federal authority as a member of the National Guard or Reserve, for a period of more than 30 days.
A qualifying service member will be readmitted:
- To the same program, unless the service member requests or agrees to admission to another program;
- At the same enrollment status (for example, full-time), unless the service member requests or agrees to a different enrollment status;
- With the same number of course credits completed, unless the service member is admitted to a different program and the credits are not transferable;
- With same academic standing (for example, satisfactory academic progress status);
- For the first academic year, with the same tuition and fee charges as when the service member left, unless military benefits will pay the increase, but never more than the college is charging other students.
If you have additional questions about entering Cornell College please contact your admission counselor or Cornell College Director of Financial Assistance and VA Certifying Official, Pam Perry at financial_assistance@cornellcollege.edu or call 319.895.4216.
A veteran's point of view
“I think if you are a veteran, you can apply your work ethic to an academic setting that is much more 9–5. The atmosphere and intensity you get at Cornell has parallels to the military. It’s just, obviously, academic versus a military setting.”