Georgetown University will increase its undergraduate Yellow Ribbon Program (YRP) benefits for military-connected students from $8,000 to $20,000 at the Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences, Walsh School of Foreign Service, School of Nursing, School of Health, and McDonough School of Business, according to a recent announcement. The School of Continuing Studies currently offers $20,678 in undergraduate YRP benefits.
YRP is an agreement between higher education institutions and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to cover all or a portion of tuition and fees not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill®, which offers educational benefits for military members who served after Sept. 10, 2001. For Georgetown military students who qualify for both the Post-9/11 GI Bill® and YRP, the scholarship will cover annual full-time undergraduate tuition—the university’s largest undergraduate YRP increase to date.
“Our commitment to the military community dates back to the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was a student veteran before the term existed,” says Wesley Wilson, director of the university’s Military and Veterans’ Resource Center. “I am proud that Georgetown will be more financially accessible to those who have served, and I know Georgetown will benefit immensely from having more military-connected students as members of our campus community.”
Expanding affordability for military-connected students
The increase follows the university’s expansion of YRP funding in July 2022, and December announcement that the McDonough School of Business will expand its YRP scholarships in August 2023. A spring 2022 assessment from Georgetown’s MAVRC found that 63% of military-connected students reported that Georgetown’s participation in YRP was a critical factor in choosing to attend the university.
“I come from a low-income family so the YRP was a major component in my path of becoming a first-generation Latino college graduate from a private university,” says Oswaldo Pazmino (C’22), a first-generation college student and U.S Marine Corps veteran. “I was able to attend with zero out-of-pocket cost which allowed me to graduate debt-free.”
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Explore more information provided by the U.S. government about education benefits offered through the VA.