US Military? Illinois? Get Your MBA FREE!!!

This is not a scam, I'm not on the take, and yes the title is true! If you want to get your MBA but have been hemmin'-N-hawin' about the cost, or the time, or which school, the answer is right here!: University of Illinois!

I was contacted by the Assistant Dean at the University of Illinois, Mr. Robert van der Hooning. They are actively recruiting for candidates to receive a FREE RIDE MBA! And, this offer is for US Military personnel. And, no, not from just today's active duty ranks but from Guard and Reserves as well. There is one hitch (uh-huh, you had that in the back of your head) and it is a small one: you must have been a resident of Illinois during your tour. That means you had to have lived in Illinois (like, you know, the IRS can find you in Illinois via an actual address!) six months prior and six months after your duty/tour.

Now, that really isn't a big deal, right?! That is YOUR BIGGEST OBSTACLE to getting an MBA! And, you don't have to pay for the MBA, it is already covered. Get it? Someone's got your six if you can say you had six-before and six-after!

Helll-oooo ... are you there ... ??? :)

Here is a link that provides the background on this program:

Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG) Program

Here is the quick version of eligibility:

To be a qualified applicant, you must:

• Have served at least one year of federal active duty service in the Armed Forces of the United States, unless you:
• served in a foreign country in a time of hostilities in that country, or
• were medically discharged and the medical reason for discharge was service related, or
• were discharged prior to August 11, 1967.
• Have received an honorable discharge for each period of federal active duty service, and/or be honorably serving.
• Not be a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
• Have resided in Illinois within six months before entering federal active duty service or within six months prior to entering the service.
• Have returned or plan to return to Illinois within six months after leaving federal active duty service unless you are residing with a spouse in continued military service and establish or plan to establish Illinois residency within six months of his/her leaving federal active duty service.
• Be enrolled at an Illinois public 2 or 4 year college.
• Reside in Illinois unless you are serving federal active duty service at the time of enrollment in college or residing with a spouse in continued military service who is currently stationed outside of Illinois.
• Not be in default on any student loan, nor owe a refund on any state or federal grant.
• Maintain the minimum grade point average (GPA) required by your college.

If you are currently serving in the Illinois National Guard you may also be eligible for the Illinois National Guard Grant Program.

If you receive benefits from the IVG Program while serving federal active duty service, upon discharge you will be required to verify that your service has been characterized as honorable.

Now some of you may be asking, "But, isn't this a statewide program?"

Yeah, but I was contacted directly to help spread the word, by two very dedicated gentlemen looking to help our brave fighting men and women. I believe that the University of Illinois deserves the bulk of this post for that alone. It took a cold call to me, a short conversation, and some exchanging of LinkedIn connecting to seal the deal. No other college or university has done that with me, until now. Lion's share goes to the one to execute and follow through.

Ya know the saying, "To the victor goes the spoils."

I have all the contact information for the Assistant Dean, Mr. Robert van der Hooning. I've provided his name in case you already have contact information for the university. Since web-bots are disgusting and snag e-mail addresses out of blog content, I'll refrain from dropping his e-mail in this post. Please contact me directly and I'll get you alllll the info!

Oh, the other reason University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign is gettin' all the press here is because my heart has two special places for this effort: this program helps all US Military personnel and my best friend growing up is an Illini.

My best friend, in 7th Grade, was taking advanced courses at Cal Berkeley during the regular school year as well on his summer vacation. And, to top it all off, he was holding down a job working at Lawrence Livermore Lab during the summer months. Yeah, during middle school he was far beyond folks actively enrolled as freshmen at Cal. He went on to get tons of offers after he graduated Cal - he went to U of I in Urbana/Champaign.

His field, you might ask? Nuclear Astrophysics. No small feat, wouldn't ya say? :)

I remember the day I was in the Reserves and went to visit him at U of I. He took me to his lab where he had a "small" program running on the Cray. It wasn't too complex, he said, just begins with the formation of a small planetary body from particulate matter in space, drawn together. After years that I cannot count on fingers and toes, the body that he had formed, a star, then goes through the "death cycle" to final implosion. No biggie, we just need to come back and check all is well later after dinner and a few beers.

Found out later, he kinda "whacked" the Cray with his analysis and needed to schedule a new run. Seems the Cray had a little trouble with, time and space? :) Or, maybe it was fact that the heat coefficient function was too aggressive - I forget. One Cray down, two more to go! (I think they had three back then, I need to check on that)

Well, get on over and make yourself an Illini! You sacrificed your time and put your life on the line, the Great State of Illinois wants to pay you back. And, from my seat here in front of my computer, the University of Illinois should be your first stop!

(sorry Illini - I hunted all over the UIUC for a column!
I "borrowed" and "modified" to get this one)

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