- Jul 25, 2002
- 10,053
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You done been gone to Iraq too long . . .
Going to college after being in the service shouldn't have to be this hard:
<CLIP>
AUSTIN - Carl Basham was born in Beeville, registered to vote in Travis County in 1998, holds a Texas driver's license and does his banking in Austin.
So he was shocked when Austin Community College told him a few weeks ago that he didn't qualify as a Texas resident "for tuition purposes." Basham, a former Marine corporal, said he was even more shocked when officials told him why: After two tours of duty in Iraq, he's been out of the state too long to qualify.
"They told me that I have to physically live in the state of Texas for at least a year," Basham said in an interview Tuesday. "It kind of hurts." Austin Community College officials were unable to specify why Basham isn't considered a Texas resident, only that he didn't meet state requirements as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. A spokeswoman said privacy laws prevent a discussion of Basham's case.
An official at another college said the fact that he entered the military in another state nearly a decade ago, despite his deep Texas ties, might be the reason.
Either way, two state officials said bureaucratic technicalities should not prevent the decorated veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom from being considered a Texas resident -- and paying about $500 a semester in tuition instead of around $2,600.
"Mr. Basham has gone to war for us, and I intend to go to war for him!" said state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, in a letter to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. "We owe it to our returning service men and women to make it as easy and uncomplicated as possible for them to resume their normal lives."
Likewise, state Rep. Suzanna Hupp, R-Lampasas, who represents many veterans serving at Fort Hood, said she wants to investigate the matter.
"I think we need to look into it further. It doesn't make sense that people who have bullets flying over their head aren't treated properly when they get back," she said.
The higher education board is investigating the case, an official there said.
Basham, 27, said he has to come up with about $3,000 now to pay for tuition and books as he works toward a degree in emergency medical care. Although he expects to get his college paid for eventually by the federal government, he said those GI benefits won't kick in for several more months, so he's stuck with high out-of-pocket expenses for now.
Basham's wife, Jolie, said an admissions officer at the college kept asking for documents proving his Texas residency. He brought in his driver's license, car registration papers, voter registration card, bank records and tax returns -- all sporting a Texas address.
"She said, 'It's really your military service that's holding you back.' I couldn't believe that those words came out of her mouth," Jolie Basham, a California native, recalled.
She said it stung her husband badly to be told he was not a Texan.
"He's always Texas this and Texas that," she said. "It's always been his home."
Going to college after being in the service shouldn't have to be this hard:
<CLIP>
AUSTIN - Carl Basham was born in Beeville, registered to vote in Travis County in 1998, holds a Texas driver's license and does his banking in Austin.
So he was shocked when Austin Community College told him a few weeks ago that he didn't qualify as a Texas resident "for tuition purposes." Basham, a former Marine corporal, said he was even more shocked when officials told him why: After two tours of duty in Iraq, he's been out of the state too long to qualify.
"They told me that I have to physically live in the state of Texas for at least a year," Basham said in an interview Tuesday. "It kind of hurts." Austin Community College officials were unable to specify why Basham isn't considered a Texas resident, only that he didn't meet state requirements as determined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. A spokeswoman said privacy laws prevent a discussion of Basham's case.
An official at another college said the fact that he entered the military in another state nearly a decade ago, despite his deep Texas ties, might be the reason.
Either way, two state officials said bureaucratic technicalities should not prevent the decorated veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom from being considered a Texas resident -- and paying about $500 a semester in tuition instead of around $2,600.
"Mr. Basham has gone to war for us, and I intend to go to war for him!" said state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, in a letter to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. "We owe it to our returning service men and women to make it as easy and uncomplicated as possible for them to resume their normal lives."
Likewise, state Rep. Suzanna Hupp, R-Lampasas, who represents many veterans serving at Fort Hood, said she wants to investigate the matter.
"I think we need to look into it further. It doesn't make sense that people who have bullets flying over their head aren't treated properly when they get back," she said.
The higher education board is investigating the case, an official there said.
Basham, 27, said he has to come up with about $3,000 now to pay for tuition and books as he works toward a degree in emergency medical care. Although he expects to get his college paid for eventually by the federal government, he said those GI benefits won't kick in for several more months, so he's stuck with high out-of-pocket expenses for now.
Basham's wife, Jolie, said an admissions officer at the college kept asking for documents proving his Texas residency. He brought in his driver's license, car registration papers, voter registration card, bank records and tax returns -- all sporting a Texas address.
"She said, 'It's really your military service that's holding you back.' I couldn't believe that those words came out of her mouth," Jolie Basham, a California native, recalled.
She said it stung her husband badly to be told he was not a Texan.
"He's always Texas this and Texas that," she said. "It's always been his home."
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