Will the military cover my education after my retirement? I'm disabled.

Question - Date: 2007

I am 42 yrs old and on active duty with the Air Force. I will be graduating from college in July '07 but want to attend Law School after my retirement (Sept '07). I am pretty confident I will qualify for Voc Rehab; from all sources, including my initial VA meeting, I'll probably be 80% disabled. I live in Texas and intend on retiring in San Antonio.

Will Voc. Rehab pay for Law School? How can I help my chances to justify the expense? What is the criteria Voc. Rehab uses to determine if Law School is the correct path for someone. I have already taken the LSAT and scored a 161, which will get me into many schools. I have have been interviewed by a local law school and I'm confidant that I'll get accepted.

Answer Paywizard:

First, thank you for your military service, and congratulations on your upcoming retirement and college graduation.  It sounds like you are already doing a terrific job of ensuring that your ducks will be aligned for when you are able to look ahead to enrolling in law school by scoring extremely well on your LSAT and beginning to consider options for financial aid. 

As for the specific criteria by which Vocational Rehabilitation will consider your particular transition from the Air Force to a successful rehabilitation and on to civilian training and employment, that is something that is best discussed direction with their staff.  Therefore, I have provided that link to them.  However, I would also suggest that you consider the full suite of veterans’ benefits available to you, and not only Voc. Rehab.  By spending some time on the VA site, you may find even more options for Federally-funded educational opportunities. 

There are other options available to you too.  Consider, for example, speaking with your “tour guide,” the service officer at your local American Legion in San Antonio, who specializes in navigating the various benefits available to veterans, as well as scholarship opportunities at sites such as Military.com, DodVets.com, and FinAid.org.  You may even find your local community spouses organization offers scholarships for which you are eligible.

Even if you do not receive scholarship or fellowship funds in advance of entering law school, remember that there are often opportunities for debt forgiveness for individuals who pursue public service careers after graduation.  When you are considering law schools, this may be something to discuss with admissions officers who will recognize that you are already an individual who has self-selected to pursue a career in the public service and therefore is likely to continue accordingly upon graduation, perhaps working in government by applying for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship, serving as a DOD civilian, or pursuing public interest law in your community.