Early Christmas present for 9/11 GI bill students

Tuition payments for vets attending private colleges and universities will go up by $1,120 in 2013.

The Veterans Affairs Department plans to increase tuition fee payments for veterans attending private colleges and universities by $1,120 -- but they will have to wait until the start of the next academic year in August 2013.

The VA, in a notice that will be published in the Federal Register Dec. 24, said vets attending private colleges and universities next year will see their tuition payments jump 6.2 percent from $18,077.50 in 2012 to $19,198.31 in 2013. The VA pays the full cost of tuition at publicly owned schools.

The increase is mandated by the Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act President Obama signed on Jan 4, 2011.

This seems quite bulletproof from any budget balancing exercise over the next few weeks.