April 11, 2008

Norm to Cosponsor the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act

Our country has a tradition – since World War II – of offering educational assistance to returning veterans.  In the 1940s, the first G.I. Bill helped transform notions of equality in American society.  The Post-World War II G.I. Bill paid for veterans’ tuition, books, fees, a monthly stipend, and other training costs.  Approximately 7.8 million veterans used the benefits given under the original G.I. Bill in some form, out of a wartime veteran population of 15 million.  For every dollar we invested in veterans, seven dollars was generated.

Over the last several decades, Congress passed a number of other G.I. Bills that also provided educational assistance to our veterans.  However, benefits awarded under those subsequent G.I. Bills have not been as expansive as our nation’s original Post-World War II G.I. Bill.  Currently, veterans’ educational benefits are administered under the Montgomery G.I. Bill.  This program was designed for peacetime – not wartime – service.

Major provisions of the reintroduced Post-9/11 G.I. Bill (H.R. 5740) include:

• Increased educational benefits would be 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 thirty-six months of qualified active duty, beginning on or after September 11, 2001.
• The bill provides for educational benefits to be paid in amounts linked to the amount of active duty served in the military after 9/11.  Generally, veterans would receive some amount of assistance proportional to their service for 36 months, which equals four academic years.  Veterans would still be eligible to receive any incentive-based supplemental educational assistance from their military branch for which they qualify.
• Benefits provided under the bill would 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.  The bill would allow additional payments for tutorial assistance, as well as licensure and certification tests. 
• The bill would create a new program in which the government will agree to match, dollar for dollar, any voluntary additional contributions to veterans from institutions whose tuition is more expensive than the maximum educational assistance provided under the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.
• Veterans would have up to fifteen years, compared to ten years under the Montgomery G.I. Bill, after they leave active duty to use their educational assistance entitlement.  Veterans would be barred from receiving concurrent assistance from this program and another similar program.

Related Items

• H.R. 5740 - Current status, bill text, and latest congressional action provided by the Library of Congress.
• H.R. 5740 Fact Sheet (PDF)

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