With expanded education benefits for war veterans taking effect in August, public institutions anticipate having to cater to veterans’ unique needs.

U.S. Marine and first-generation college student Tess Banko says that college life was unpredictable and unnerving because each professor had different expectations, unlike the uniformity of the military

Tess Banko felt more scared when she began college in 2004 than in her three years as a Marine. She’d quickly learned what the military expected of her and developed routines.

By comparison, college life was unpredictable and unnerving. Each professor had different expectations that sometimes changed over the course of a semester. And the lives of her younger classmates differed dramatically from that of Banko, who was widowed by her mid-20s and sustained a career-ending injury in the Marines.

Yet she and other college-going veterans believe their higher education difficulties are worth the long-term gain. They hope that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, however intimidated they might feel, will join them in classrooms as improved financial incentives become available.

“Even though I’ve never been in combat, we’ve been through some of the same things,” says Banko, referring to troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. She’s majoring in social work at San Diego State University.

Beginning Aug. 1, many Afghanistan and Iraq veterans become eligible for expanded benefits under the post-Sept. 11 GI Bill. Veterans meeting government criteria essentially qualify for education at a fouryear public university at no cost. Some can transfer benefits to spouses and children. The legislation is the most recent update of the original GI Bill of 1944, which promised troops returning from World War II enough money for a bachelor’s degree plus living expenses. But over the years, rising tuition outpaced the amount of benefits, forcing veterans to take out loans.