New York state is poised to expand veteran tuition assistance programs to military servicemen and women, regardless of whether or not they saw combat.

For Lance Gunderson, higher education came later in life.

“I had planned on going to college right after I got out of the U.S. Navy but, of course, there is a cost factor,” he said.

So Gunderson began working in the power industry in the late 1990s.

“I had a family with four kids, and working was the priority,” he explained.

More than a decade after retiring from the Navy while clicking around online, Gunderson stumbled upon a veteran tuition assistance program.

“And I found that because I was a submariner in the Navy and was deployed and did special operations and what not, I actually qualified,” he recalled.

In addition to the combat prerequisite, Gunderson was surprised by the lack of awareness many veterans have of the assistance.

New York lawmakers in the Assembly and Senate have approved a measure to make all veterans, regardless of their combat experience, eligible for tuition assistance.

It has yet to be delivered to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk.

“If you want highly motivated people to complete degrees and work towards the betterment of their communities, then you can look no further than somebody who’s been in the military successfully,” Gunderson said.

Shortly after completing his bachelor’s degree, Gunderson, at age 60, jumped into a master’s degree program at the University at Albany.

“Retirement, that word has to find a new meaning,” he said jokingly of the new mission and continuation of service.

“I do what I do because this area needs more people who know urban and regional planning,” he said. “So, I’m looking at it from the give-back standpoint.”