More and more states are adopting policies to cut the tuition that recent military veterans must pay at public colleges, according to today’s USA Today.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the number of states offering tuition discounts to recent veterans has more than tripled, to 19, according to the newspaper. A separate article provides a roundup of states’ actions and policies.

Most of the policies were enacted to honor veterans for their service, the newspaper said, but some also seek to ease disparities between the treatment of members of the regular U.S. military branches — the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines — and of National Guard troops.

States have jurisdiction over National Guard units, which had rarely seen lengthy deployments to combat zones before the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many Guard members are college students. —Sara Hebel