Jared Lyon, National President and CEO of Student Veterans of America (SVA) was here on April 16th, 2020 to answer questions.

PO2 Jared Lyon — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 12:22:33 -0400

Jared Lyon, National President and CEO of Student Veterans of America (SVA) will be here on April 16th at 4 p.m. ET to answer questions about COVID-19 and the GI Bill, student veterans’ concerns, and other related topics.

As the National President and CEO of Student Veterans of America (SVA), Jared Lyon leads the organization’s efforts to empower student veterans to, through, and beyond higher education.

Since his appointment in January 2016, Lyon has overseen SVA’s growth to now include a network of more than 1,500 chapters on campuses in all 50 states and four countries representing more than 750,000 student veterans. During his tenure, he co-authored the National Veteran Education Success Tracker (NVEST) research, a comprehensive study of the first 854,000 student veterans to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and in 2017 led SVA’s commitment to pass the “Forever GI Bill,” the largest expansion of college aid for military veterans in a decade.

Prior to becoming CEO, Lyon was SVA's Chief Development Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations where he implemented plans to ensure organizational sustainability.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Lyon served as a submariner and diver, taking part in multiple deployments in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Upon separating from the military with an honorable discharge in 2005, he became an electronic-systems administrator at Northrop Grumman, and went on to manage Florida operations for the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team while working on an Associate of Arts degree at night from Eastern Florida State College.

After five years in the private sector, Lyon returned to higher education full-time, earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University. As an undergraduate he served as president of the school’s SVA chapter and was recognized as the National Student Veteran of the Year by SVA in 2011. Lyon then served as National Program Manager for the Institute for Veterans and Military Family’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans and the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans’ Families programs.

Lyon holds a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he is an adjunct professor at the Whitman School of Management. In addition to serving on the SVA national board of directors, Lyon is the Vice Chair for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veteran’s Advisory Committee on Education, a commissioner for the American Council on Education’s Commission for Education Attainment and Innovation and sits on the Florida State University Veteran Advisory Board. Lyon is a 2018 Presidential Leadership Scholar, a bi-partisan effort to cultivate high-impact leaders applying the lessons in leadership learned from the presidential experiences of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

He is married to Chayla Lyon, and they live in Alexandria, VA.

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made Apr 14 at 2020 1:28 PM

SSG Carlos Madden — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 13:28:41 -0400

If veterans have recently found themselves out of work, is the GI Bill a reliable source of replacement income? How do we get more veterans to look at education as an option during this time?

Response by PVT Mark Zehner made Apr 14 at 2020 1:41 PM

PVT Mark Zehner — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 13:41:39 -0400

Thank you for the information!

Response by GySgt Gary Cordeiro made Apr 14 at 2020 11:02 PM

GySgt Gary Cordeiro — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 23:02:54 -0400

Lock and load swab jockey, my best friend was a submariner, nothing but respect sir

Response by SrA Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2020 10:03 AM

SrA Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 10:03:49 -0400

Can you explain how the STEM Act (Supporting Veterans in Stem Careers) that was recently signed into law impacts student veterans and is there anything else in the legislative pipeline the SVA is advocating for?

Response by COL David Turk made Apr 15 at 2020 12:23 PM

COL David Turk — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 12:23:04 -0400

Nice to see a more formal support system. Back when I was a student veteran, all we had was our informal school based club in which we leaned on each other for support.

Response by SPC Erich Guenther made Apr 15 at 2020 2:29 PM

SPC Erich Guenther — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 14:29:34 -0400

What is your organizations position on opening more well paying jobs to non college degree holders? I have seen more than once peers of mine that only have a GED or High School Diploma that are in IT coding or doing computer programming work. I have always wondered why companies are so strict about the college diploma but grant exceptions to High School Degree holders. Seriously think someone at the National Level in a Vets Organization should start asking the question on why more well paying white collar jobs are not open to non college degree holders. I think it would significantly lower student debt levels as well as result in a better society overall if we were more honest with ourselves on this question. Long ago computer programming relied heavily on advanced math skills and skill at understanding binary code, Hexidecimal, etc in order to read computer dumps. In large part those days are past us and the skill is only really required for mainframe programming. Other forms of programming such as Java and C have become easier and easier over the years to the point now where I don't think a college degree is needed for a good portion of the IT jobs out there. Certainly not needed for network support tasks. I am also sure this is true of other college degree required fields as well.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Apr 15 at 2020 5:21 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 17:21:37 -0400

No questions, just want to thank you for the help that you are giving to fellow veterans.

Response by SrA Syndester I. made Apr 15 at 2020 7:19 PM

SrA Syndester I. — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:19:58 -0400

Please share how Veterans can apply for additional funds if G.I. Bill runs out. I was told after the fact and left with a student loan.

Response by SP5 Masayuki Sumida made Apr 16 at 2020 12:34 AM

SP5 Masayuki Sumida — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 00:34:09 -0400

Dear Sir,
If I am a Veteran of the Vietnam Conflict and at present receiving Veteran's Disability of 100% rating do I qualify for the COVID-19 supplement?
Thank for your assistance.

Response by PO1 Jonathan Franklin made Apr 16 at 2020 12:57 AM

PO1 Jonathan Franklin — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 00:57:16 -0400

My eight years in the navy started in September of 1999 and ended in September of 2007. That means I signed up for the Montgomery GI Bill. I used it for OJT training when I went to commercial nuclear power, but I have not used it for actual college/university. I got told I could transfer to the 9/11 GI Bill and get another year of benefits, which I haven’t done yet. Is that the only option I have at this point? I have read that there are some pending legal problems about the Montgomery to post 9/11 transfers. Any insight on that?

Response by PFC Maria Sostre made Apr 16 at 2020 2:02 AM

PFC Maria Sostre — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 02:02:03 -0400

Excelent

Response by CPL Robert Solitro made Apr 16 at 2020 6:00 AM

CPL Robert Solitro — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 06:00:42 -0400

How about the old and dumb?I dont do facebook cause I dont no how. I travel 63 miles 1 way to w.p. b. Va. Love to get rid of some those trips, but no f.b.

Response by Cpl Esther Greene made Apr 16 at 2020 7:01 AM

Cpl Esther Greene — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 07:01:43 -0400

Planning to hop on at 4 but if classes remain online in the fall will students still be able to get full-time benefits?

Response by CPT David Gowel made Apr 16 at 2020 8:07 AM

CPT David Gowel — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 08:07:26 -0400

HI PO2 Jared Lyon, thanks for joining us on RallyPoint. What is the biggest impact that COVID 19 is already having on vets in school / applying to schools and what do you predict will be the biggest new related issue that emerges in the next six months?

Response by SGT Andrew Quamme made Apr 16 at 2020 9:18 AM

SGT Andrew Quamme — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 09:18:46 -0400

What's the status of the Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act Of 2020 for those of us who had hours left on our VA Work-Study when everything shut down?

Response by CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana made Apr 16 at 2020 1:43 PM

CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 13:43:48 -0400

Although I will not be able to connect during this Lockdown across India, I would like to know how I can get my Federal Student Loans forgiven. I have been informed tha due to the spread of Covid-19 across India, I have been laid off from my job and that I should not return to work, unless I

Response by CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana made Apr 16 at 2020 1:46 PM

CPT Gurinder (Gene) Rana — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 13:46:10 -0400

I should not return to work after the Lockdown due to loss of business. Does loss of ability to repay qualify for forgiveness?

Response by PO2 Jared Lyon made Apr 16 at 2020 4:04 PM

PO2 Jared Lyon — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:04:08 -0400

Hey everyone, Jared here - Looking forward to answering questions and engaging with y'all for the next hour!

Response by PFC Lisa Beatha made Apr 16 at 2020 4:20 PM

PFC Lisa Beatha — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:20:57 -0400

Good Afternoon PO2 Jared Lyon
Where can we find details of the Bill SVA recently created due to COVID?

Response by SPC MarQuita Gales made Apr 16 at 2020 4:26 PM

SPC MarQuita Gales — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:26:34 -0400

I currently attend both on campus and and online classes. My initial class start date was pushed back one week as well as my on site classes being conducted online for the time being. I know there is a pay differential between online and on site courses. My question is, because of the current state of emergency, is BAH going to be affected due to having to utilize the online classroom setting? If so, will we be reimbursed?
Thank you for your time.

Response by PO2 Jared Lyon made Apr 16 at 2020 5:10 PM

PO2 Jared Lyon — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 17:10:15 -0400

Thanks so much for the great questions, everyone - I'm signing off for now, but always feel free to contact me on RallyPoint or reach out to our SVA HQ team in DC via our contact form: https://studentveterans.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6GAAH0lPlCcNX2R

Response by Jack Powell made Apr 17 at 2020 7:50 PM

Jack Powell — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 19:50:26 -0400

madeintheusabyveterans.com needs one Veteran partner to roll....