The Gi Bill And How It Helps Veterans Further Their Education

By Author: William Hauselberg
Total Articles: 816
Comment this article

WWII had ended and troops were returning home to the United States, ready to jump back in to civilian life. Something needed to be done to allow the troops to be reinstated into American life without flooding the job market. The government feared a breakdown of the economy causing another depression. A solution was found in the establishment of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944; more commonly called the GI Bill.

The GI Bill has evolved into the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Currently, veterans of the US Armed Forces have access to funding for postsecondary school through the for certificates programs, vocational schools and colleges.

The original GI Bill included provisions for education and training, guaranteed home, farm and business loans, and unemployment pay. The educational benefits of the bill are the most commonly known. Approximately one-half of the 16 million WWII and Korean War veterans used the educational benefits by the time the bill expired in 1956. The diversion of thousands of vets into college kept the influx of workers into the job market manageable.

In 1966, the ...
... GI Bill was re-instituted as the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act, later known as the Vietnam Era GI Bill. A higher percentage of this era's veterans used the educational benefits of this bill than any previous generation. However, with the onset of the all-volunteer military, the GI Bill ended for those entering the service after 1976.

Enactment of the Montgomery GI Bill

Education benefits remained an outstanding recruiting tool for the military and benefits were provided with the contributory Veterans Educational Assistance Program and the Montgomery GI Bill. The passage of these two programs ensured that veterans would be able to take out home loans and also provided veterans scholarships and matched educational contributions up to 8 times the amount the serviceman provided. The Montgomery GI Bill also allows benefits to be transferred to a spouse or children of the veteran.

Post September 11 GI Bill

In the summer of 2008, Congress passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, which expanded educational benefits for those serving after September 10, 2001. The new bill provides tuition payment, a stipend for books and supplies, a housing allowance and other benefits for vets attending college, vocational school, trade school, or pursuing a certificate program. The benefits are tier-based on the amount of active duty time served since 9/11 and vary from state to state based on the cost of attending a public college.

Without the GI Bill many veterans would be unable to continue their education. The GI Bill continues to help veterans eliminate or lower the cost of education and provides for enough living expenses to make an additional income unnecessary for most veterans.

This article carries the most wanted information about Montgomery GI Bill. The author has his expert in veterans scholarships as well.