Navy resolves "bureaucratic failures," pays tuition for vets’ kids after Sun-Times investigation

University of Michigan student Paige Dotson on campus in Ann Arbor Wednesday, November 6, 2019. | Patricia Luiso / Sun-Times

In November of 2019, the Sun-Times published a story about Paige Dotson, the 22-year-old daughter of Russell Dotson, who served 22 years with the U.S. Navy, active duty and reserve. A decorated senior chief boatswain’s mate, he was deployed overseas six times, each for a year. In 2010, he saved two lives in a rocket attack and ground assault in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

When the Navy told Dotson that, if he would re-enlist for another four years, he could transfer his Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefit to Paige and her brother for college, he didn’t hesitate. His children each would get two years of schooling paid, giving them a shot to be the first college graduates in their family.

But the Dotsons were among more than 40 military families who found themselves on the hook for huge, unexpected bills for college they were promised would be covered by a government plan that for years has come under fire. Some children of veterans went to college, only to be told there was an error with their parents’ applications, and the funds would be cut off.

The Sun-Times’ initial report, published Nov. 10.

The Sun-Times report, and subsequent stories highlighting other veteran families facing a similar plight, prompted U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and 10 others in Congress to pen a letter to Acting Navy Secretary Thomas B. Modly asking him to erase Dotson’s debt, citing “bureaucratic failures.” Modly agreed, and refunding Dotson the money she paid for college and waiving her $20,000 debt.