Free College Education Left Arizona Veterans With Bill?

Veterans billed for VA aid fault Pima College 
Arizona Daily Star
By Carol Ann Alaimo
February 6, 2015

Spencer and Kinsey are among 400 or so veterans whose records were adjusted by PCC last year after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs found record-keeping errors dating to 2010.

Iraq war veteran Mikel Spencer has a Bronze Star, a bachelor’s degree and a $5,000 tab for an education that was supposed to be free.

James Kinsey, who also served in Iraq, said he recently faced a $19,000 bill after Pima Community College wrongly labeled him a dropout.

The former soldiers have been mired in red tape and red ink over PCC’s past failures to keep proper records for students who received veterans’ education benefits. As a result, some veterans were told they owe the federal government thousands of dollars.

Months after the school pledged to make things right for those affected, the veterans say PCC provided little help and left them on their own to fight off federal debt collection.

“I felt like a dog chasing its tail,” said Kinsey, 27, now a graduate student in international security with a 4.0 grade-point average at the University of Arizona. He attended PCC from 2010 to 2012.

So did Spencer, 47, who works at Tucson’s veterans hospital and graduated last year from Northern Arizona University with a 3.8 grade-point average.

The two don’t know each other and separately contacted the Arizona Daily Star about their cases.

Both say the college treated them poorly and gave questionable advice when they sought help.
read more here