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I think the first thing we must do here is distinguish between giving a discount and giving favor. There should be absolutely no favoritism towards any class or occupation or whatever for any American, and all people are to be considered equally upon their merit. Giving someone a financial step to aid them in their search of self-improvement is not giving favor.

It is true that, even with inflation considered, the current military member makes a salary much greater and with a greater array of benefits than anything else available to the common man at that same bar of acceptance. I should know. I was able to provide stable housing and health care for my growing family of four when I hadn't even gotten past my undergraduate requirements for a bachelor's. Where else, without finishing my degree, could I be making the crude equivalent of a 30-40K annual salary (see note below) within two years? And all the while, working my way there, there were several community and federally led programs in place to ease the turbulent times of someone lacking a decent income. Frankly I think anyone without the money to travel home for the death of a loved one should be able to get a communally subsidized loan and/or grant in order to make the trip. It is a shame that services such as that are rarely afforded outside of the military.

Regardless, there is still a great amount of hardship thrust upon the entire military family. Especially the children. How many people do you know who have rarely, if ever, lived outside of a 5 hour radius of their hometown? I'd care to wager that it is most the people you know. Surprise yourself and find out. A military child is lucky if they get to come back to another town they left years ago for another stint of learning the ropes and not getting too attached.

It is also possible that this lack of stability could greatly influence their actual academic achievements. All openings should be given on the basis of merit, and it would be doubly wrong if a fairly qualified military child was unable to attend the school of their choice on financing alone. Additionally, it is not uncommon for high secondary education achievements to give you access to a larger number of grants and scholarships. I wouldn't be surprised if the education gap and the financial gap sort of balanced each other out.

Life should not be made more difficult for any particular person. It does not matter who or what we are - as long as the person is what is considered, we can do no wrong. If we can ensure that this part of the acceptance process maintains its integrity, we again can do no wrong by offering our children of military families discounts in college tuition.

*Note: Finances explained -
E-4 pay with two years in - 21.5K annual
Earned income credit tax benefit - 3K annual
Hefty enlistment bonus paid over 3 payments - 7.5K
This is already over 30K a year and it does not include the money allotted for housing (which varies depending upon the location), food (3K annual), nor secondary benefits (the prior two sums are tax-free and you pay nothing for general health care). You can even adjust mildly for the generally low cost of living in many North American military towns (places like Washington D.C. being the exception)

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