Easing college costs for fallen troops' families

Nicole Smith's stepfather died in Iraq just three weeks before her 17th birthday, a loss that more than three years later carries both emotional and financial repercussions.

The 20-year-old still feels the void of losing a parent, but the frustration is compounded as she struggles to continue her schooling in a higher education system that has become increasingly expensive.

Smith has scrambled to pay tuition and fees at a community college for more than a year. Despite a $2,000 scholarship, she said she remains on the verge of not making it.


"It's to the point where I can't afford it," she said.

Her hardship could be eased by a proposal in Washington state that would provide free tuition for children and spouses of eligible veterans.

The bill by Sen. Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, would require state colleges and universities to waive costs for spouses and children of active-duty and National Guard members killed, disabled, captured or missing in action.

The only concern, said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, could be the financial impact when it's not clear how many people would benefit from the bill. "There's a lot of unknowns there."

The bill cleared the Senate easily and on Thursday unanimously passed the House. It now goes back to the Senate for concurrence on a minor amendment added by the House.

If it passes, Washington would join 28 other states with similar tuition waiver bills.

"It shouldn't matter how much it will cost, this is the right thing to do," Hewitt said.

For Smith, a tuition waiver would mean not having to borrow a couple hundred dollars from her mother every month or so. And she wouldn't have to depend entirely on her fiance to pay bills.

But for now, everything she makes from her part-time job at Old Navy in Puyallup goes to help pay for a 15-credit course load at Tacoma Community College.

The two-year school wasn't Smith's first choice.

She'd originally enrolled at Central Washington University, but the $15,000-per-year cost was too high for the family to bear since losing her dad, a Fort Lewis Stryker Brigade soldier who died in Iraq on Dec. 8, 2003.

With his salary, Smith said she probably would have been able to draw financial aid. But since her mom invested the money from her dad's life insurance, Smith was deemed ineligible for federal aid.

Smith said costs at her community college are almost $6,000 a year. Even with the $2,000 scholarship, it remains difficult.

"I barely, barely make it," she said.

The proposal would help Smith and an unknown number of others like her pay for school without the financial strain.

"I wouldn't have to worry ... 'Am I going to be able to pay for tuition? Am I going to be able to go this term?' " she said.

Smith wants people to understand that the sacrificing never stops for survivors, who are often left behind by the system. She has spoken in favor of the bill, hoping to reprove misconceptions that she's just looking for a handout.