Proposal offers cheaper in-state tuition for vets

CARSON CITY – A Las Vegas assemblyman predicted Friday that Nevada would gain a more skilled workforce and boost revenue for colleges if it offered lower-cost in-state tuition to honorably discharged veterans from any state.

Assemblyman Elliot Anderson, a Democrat, said Friday that he and Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams, D-Las Vegas, are requesting a bill that would offer in-state tuition to veterans living anywhere in the country.

Now state law only guarantees lower-cost tuition to veterans discharged from Nellis Air Force Base, the Fallon Naval Air Station and bases near Nevada.

The GI Bill passed after the Sept. 11, 2011, attacks guarantees that the federal government will pay any state’s in-state tuition rates for all veterans who go on to college, Anderson said.

He said Nevada colleges and universities would gain rather than lose revenue because the veterans moving to Nevada for college would not have come here otherwise. And once here, some of them would decide to stay in the state after finishing their studies.

“These guys get a lot of training in the military,” said Anderson, a Marine. “Basically the idea is to get more veterans to stay in Nevada and provide the skilled and technology-trained leaders we need.”

Although Nevada tuition has been rising, it remains lower than most states. The University of Nevada, Reno, calculates that in-state undergraduate students pay $6,176 a year, while out-of-state students pay $19,770.

Anderson said many veterans who served at Nellis have stayed in the state.

The bill would be discussed at the legislative session, which starts in February.

Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.