Post-9/11 GI Bill

A NEW GI BILL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
“I want to personally thank Senator Jim Webb for his vision, his determination, his leadership, and for providing this opportunity for young veterans,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki. “This Post-9/11 GI Bill has every potential to equally impact the United States in resounding, positive ways in this new century. By 2011 we expect to have placed a quarter of a million Americans into colleges and universities through this most comprehensive veterans’ education benefits package since the original GI Bill after World War II.”


Monday, June 30, 2010, marked the one-year anniversary of implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.  I was privileged to introduce this landmark legislation on my first day in office.  We began with a simple concept: to provide those who have served since 9/11 with the most comprehensive educational benefits since World War II.  I take pride in saying that we have been able to provide a proper investment in the future of those who, since 9/11, have given so much to this country.  In the first year, more than 550,500 servicemembers and veterans have applied to receive their new benefits and more than 267,500 are now attending classes on the Post-9/11 GI Bill.



The United States has never erred when it has made sustained new investments in higher education and job training – and its veterans. Educated veterans not only have an easier transition and readjustment experience, but they boast higher income levels, which in the long run increase tax revenues.  For every dollar invested in the GI Bill for WWII veterans, seven dollars were generated. 



During World War II, the first GI Bill helped transform notions of equality in American society.  It paid for tuition, books, fees, a monthly stipend, and other training costs for a whole generation of Americans.  However, benefits awarded under subsequent GI bills have not been as expansive as our nation’s original GI Bill. The most recent Montgomery GI Bill was designed primarily as a recruiting benefit for a peacetime force – not as a true readjustment benefit following wartime service.



Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, increased educational benefits are available to all members of the military who have served on active duty since September 11, 2001, including activated reservists and National Guard.  To qualify, veterans must have served at least three to 36 months of qualified active duty, beginning on or after September 11, 2001.  Benefits provided under the bill allow 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, plus a monthly stipend equivalent to housing costs in their area.



Just as in the 1940s, this GI Bill represents more than just honoring and rewarding those who served.  When I ran for office, I spoke of the need to reclaim a measure of economic fairness in this country.  Particularly in such dire economic times, the health of our country and society is gauged by how the working people are able to make it through the different barriers — and achieve great things alongside those people who have had greater advantages.  Today, we are supporting hundreds of thousands of our veterans with a college education.  But, our reward is going to be 20 years from now when we can look around and see the successes that have been able to happen to people who are serving now because of this GI Bill.



I would like to remember the contributions of those who came together to help us pass this legislation: the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), the American Council on Education, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, among many others—and the nearly 60 U.S. Senators and over 300 U.S. Representatives signed on as cosponsors to this landmark effort to reward our veterans for their honorable service.



I think we can all take pride in saying that we have been able to provide a proper investment in the future of those who, since 9/11, have given so much to this country
For more information about the new GI Bill and eligibility, call 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551)
or visit the VA website: www.GIBILL.VA.gov


Materials & Resources

Timeline of Senator Webb's Efforts to pass the GI Bill and Materials from the GMU Event with President Obama
The Department of Veterans' Affairs Brochure on the new GI Bill
Fact Sheet on S.22
Complete press packet on S.22
List of Senate co-sponsors
List of House co-sponsors
Prominent GI Bill Beneficiaries (Edward Humes, Over Here: How the GI Bill Transformed the American Dream)
Chart on WWII Veterans in the Senate--How Much the GI Bill Would Cover Then & Now