Treat our soldiers fairly Roughly 20 percent of the nation’s colleges and universities don’t have policies covering students who withdraw for military service.

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Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 | midnight

Veterans and reservists fresh off their military duty are finding one of the key benefits of their service -- the GI Bill -- difficult to use.

USA Today reported last week that an increasing number of former and current military members are running into trouble trying to use the GI Bill, which pays some of the costs of a college education for those who have served.

Created in 1944 to help veterans, the law has since been expanded to include active-duty members of the military, reservists and members of the National Guard. The law, however, doesn't do enough to help students who are deployed or called up for active duty.

The Government Accountability Office reports that roughly 20 percent of the nation's colleges and universities don't have policies covering students who withdraw for military service. Some universities treat students ordered overseas as if they simply walked away: The student-soldiers forfeit their tuition, are not allowed to complete work when they return and lose their academic standing on their return.

Some soldiers have also found problems with their student loans being called in default while they were deployed because they withdrew from school, triggering the repayment clause.

That is what happened to Patrick Campbell, who left law school to serve as a combat medic in Iraq. He was told the only way to change things was to change the law. He set out to do so and is now legislative director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

A bill the group is championing is set to be heard this month in Congress and it deserves support. It would require colleges to refund a deployed soldier's tuition and fees and restore the student's academic standing. It would also protect soldiers from falling into default as Campbell did.

The GI Bill should be changed. The way it is now, these students are punished for serving, and that is wrong.