(Army Times)-- Congress has passed emergency legislation to prevent thousands of Post-9/11 GI Bill students from a drop in tuition payments next week when new policies will simplify the popular education program.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill, and Veterans Affairs Department officials are trying to work out a way to apply the change to the GI Bill without delaying processing of claims for the fall term. Most Post-9/11 GI Bill claims are supposed to be calculated and paid using a new, fully automated system, but passage of the new tuition rate protection will require some claims to be processed by hand.

The House passed the bill on Tuesday by a 422-0 vote. The Senate had approved the measure by voice vote on July 21, so it now heads to the White House. It is not clear whether Obama will receive the bill in time for it to be signed by Aug. 1, when the GI Bill changes are to take effect, but the tuition fix will be effective Aug. 1 even if it is signed into law after that date.

The bill, HR 1383, protects about 30,000 students in seven states - Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas - from the effects of a new nationwide tuition and fee cap of $17,500 that could leave some students paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to remain in school.

To read the entire story, click here.