On June 19, 2008, the House passed the final GI Bill for the 21st Century as part of Amendment #2 on the Iraq/Domestic Priorities Appropriations bill by a vote of 416 to 12. The bill was signed into law on June 30.
Speaker Pelosi on President Bush Signing into Law the GI Bill and Extension of Unemployment Insurance>>
The GI Bill for the 21st Century fully restores full, four-year college scholarships for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans – on a par with the educational benefits available after World War II.
This bill will make Iraq and Afghanistan veterans part of an American economic recovery, just as the veterans of World War II helped grow and strengthen the American middle class.
The original GI bill of 1944 launched millions of families on a course to achieving the American dream – and set the American economy on the right course after a draining war. It returned $7 to the economy for every $1 spent on it.
Current GI educational benefits pay only about 70 percent of a public college education and 30 percent of a private college education.
The GI Bill for the 21st Century, when fully implemented, will cost about $5 billion a year – which is what we spend in two weeks in Iraq.
The GI Bill for the 21st Century is fully paid for by a one-half-of-one-percent surtax on couples who earn more than $1 million per year.
Watch Speaker Pelosi and other Members of Congress at a rally to support the GI Bill for the 21st Century>>
Background
The original GI bill sparked economic growth and expansion for a whole generation of Americans. It made a free college education available to more than 15 million war veterans after World War II. The original GI bill paid the full cost of tuition at any public or private college or university, including room, board, books, and a living stipend. Veterans with 90 days of military service qualified. By 1956, about 8 million World War II veterans had taken advantage of the GI bill education and training benefit, including some of our nation’s greatest leaders. According to a congressional study, the original GI bill returned $7 to the economy for every $1 spent.
The GI Bill for the 21st Century will spark another American economic recovery. The GI Bill for the 21st Century will make America’s veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan part of a new American economic recovery. The United States has never erred when it has made sustained new investments in higher education and job training. Educated veterans have higher income levels, which increases our national prosperity.
In recent decades, educational benefits for veterans have not been as expansive as the original GI bill – and no longer provide a full, four-year scholarship. Over the last several decades, Congress has passed a number of other GI bills that also provided educational benefits to veterans. However, benefits awarded under these subsequent bills have not been as expansive as our nation’s original GI bill.
Currently, veterans’ educational benefits are administered under the Montgomery GI Bill – a program designed primarily for peacetime – not wartime – service. Indeed, current educational benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill pay only about 70 percent of a public college education and 30 percent of a private college education. Furthermore, Reservists and National Guardsmen, who have made an unprecedented commitment with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, get only a fraction of that. In addition, under the current Montgomery GI bill, servicemen and women must have served at least two consecutive years of active duty before qualifying for any educational benefit. With many of our troops having served two, three, or more tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is past time to enact a new veterans’ education program modeled on the World War II era GI bill.
The education of our nation’s veterans should be considered a cost of war. A very small percentage of Americans have stepped forward to serve our country through military service; they have earned the right to a bright future when they have completed their service. A new GI bill that properly rewards honorable service is the right thing to do. The cost of about $5 billion a year needed for the program equals what we spend in Iraq in two weeks.
This measure will strengthen our military. Not only will the GI Bill for the 21st Century give our returning troops the tools to succeed after military service, it will make military service more attractive and improve the quality of military recruits as we work to strengthen and rebuild our military stretched thin by the Iraq War. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the measure will result in a 16 percent increase in military recruits.
The GI Bill for the 21st Century has been endorsed by all of the major veterans’ groups, as well as many other organizations. The GI Bill for the 21st Century has been endorsed by dozens of organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America, Student Veterans of America, National Association of Black Veterans, Military Officers Association of America, Non-Commissioned Officers Association, and National Guard Association of the United States.
Key Provisions
Increases education benefits for those who have served at least 3 months on active duty since 9/11. Under the bill, increased educational benefits would be available to all members of the military who have served for at least three months on active duty since September 11, 2001, including activated reservists and National Guard.
Links educational benefits to amount of active duty served since 9/11. Under the GI Bill for the 21st Century, those who have served on active-duty for three years or more would qualify for the full educational benefit – i.e., the costs of a four-year education up to the level of the most expensive in-state public school. Those who have served between three months and three years of active duty would qualify for a proportion of that full benefit – e.g., those serving on active duty for at least three months would receive 40 percent of that benefit and those serving on active duty for at least 12 months would receive 60 percent of that benefit. This scale rewards all active service, whether by regular component troops or by National Guard and Reservists.
Covers up to the cost of the most expensive in-state public school. The GI Bill for the 21st Century allows veterans pursuing an approved program of education to receive payments covering the established charges of their program, up to the cost of the most expensive in-state public school – covering 100 percent of tuition, fees and books. The bill also provides a monthly stipend equivalent to housing costs in their area. It would allow additional payments for tutorial assistance, as well as licensure and certification tests.
Matches voluntary contributions for more expensive schools. The GI Bill for the 21st Century also creates a new program in which the government will agree to match, dollar for dollar, any voluntary additional contributions from institutions whose tuition is more expensive than the maximum educational assistance provided under this legislation.
Provides veterans more time to use educational benefit. The GI Bill for the 21st Century also provides veterans up to 15 years – instead of the current 10 – after they leave active duty to use their education assistance entitlement.
