Sure, you keep hearing about it, and you know it has something to do with benefits as a veteran. But, what is the GI Bill of rights, exactly? And why does it seem like there are many different GI Bills?
Well, you are on the right path. So, what is the GI Bill of rights?
Here’s the quick answer:
The GI Bill of Rights is a 1944 legislation designed to provide benefits for World War 2 veterans to help them successfully reintegrate into civilian life. These benefits include educational funds, home and business loans, and unemployment compensation, among others. The GI Bill of Rights was retired, and 3 GI Bills take it's place:
- The Montgomery GI Bill
- The Post 9/11 GI Bill
- The Forever GI Bill
This bill officially expired in 1956, after which, more legislations have been passed to revamp it, add stipulations, and enhance the offered benefits. The three current GI Bill programs in effect are the Montgomery GI Bill, the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and the Forever GI Bill.
Want to find out more about the GI Bill of Rights, its predecessors, and the current GI Bill programs? We’ll explain everything you need to know about the GI Bill down below, so keep reading!
An Overview: The GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act)
The GI Bill of Rights, otherwise known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, was a legislation authored by Harry W. Colmery in 1944, and signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in the same year. It aimed to provide benefits for veterans of the Second World War, who were popularly called the G.I.s (hence the name of the bill).
This legislation provided several benefits that were administered by the Veterans Administration (now called the Department of Veteran Affairs), and included education funds, home and business loans, job training and hiring preference, and unemployment compensation. It also later included more benefits such as VA hospitals, full disability coverage, life insurance, and vocational rehabilitation.
The History of the GI Bill of Rights
To better understand the GI Bill, it is important to look at how it was shaped through the decades worth of calls for action, trials and errors, and legislations, all geared towards providing assistance to everyone who served in the armed forces.
Below, we will highlight some of the most notable legislations that provided benefits for war veterans.
Before the GI Bill: The World War Adjusted Act
With the end of the first World War, soldiers were sent home with a train ticket and some pocket money of a little less than $100- a glaringly small amount to thank these fellow countrymen for risking their lives towards patriotic causes.
To address this, a legislation called the World War Adjusted Act was signed in 1924, which aimed to provide a bonus for war veterans based on the number of days they served.
Now, while this may sound like a good benefit, there was a huge problem-
The government was not able to release this bonus immediately, with some receiving their payments as late as 1945. It's important to remember that around this time was when the Great Depression occurred, and these veterans badly needed the money promised to them.
Inevitably, this culminated into a major standoff between the current troops and the war veterans. Around 20,000 protesters, called "Bonus Marchers" rallied in Washington DC in 1932, where then-president Herbert Hoover called the order to send the troops, further raising the tension and widening the divide between the administration and the veterans.
This Bonus March became a turning point in calling for better privileges for the members of the armed forces.
Where It All Began: The GI Bill of Rights
Succeeding president Franklin Roosevelt, who first took seat in 1933, was committed to changing this situation. Benefits for servicemen and veterans became a more important issue with the start of the second World War in 1939.
To prepare for the return of troops after the war ends, and make sure that they will be receiving due compensation and benefits, Roosevelt and the Congress played around with several ideas, but most of these features restricting limitations.
Then, come January 1944, Harry W. Colmery, who was at the time the American Legion National Commander and the Republican National Chairman, proposed the first ever GI Bill. Its aim was to provide many different benefits for the World War 2 troops that were soon to come home, and more importantly, it was inclusive of all genders and income brackets.
The GI Bill of Rights was signed into law by Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, and officially expired on July 25, 1956.
Benefits included in this act were:
- Educational funds of up to $500 in tuition costs at approved institutions
- Guaranteed home and business loans with low interest rates, which allowed a lot of people to leave the city and choose suburban life
- Unemployment compensation of $20 weekly for up to 1 year, as well as job training and hiring preference
The education and training benefits existed until 1956, and made higher education possible for these war veterans. Roughly 8 million veterans- almost 50% of the total World War 2 veteran head count- took advantage of this benefit and went to college.
On the other hand, the unemployment compensation provided 9 million veterans with almost $4 billion immediately after the act was signed in 1944 until sometime in 1949. Finally, the last benefit to expire were the government insured home loans, which were offered until 1962.
Later on in 1966, these benefits were extended to include those who served in the armed forces during peacetime, through the Readjustment of Benefits Act. Through the years, other benefits were also added, such as full disability coverage, life insurance, and vocational rehabilitation. Hospitals specifically for veterans were also built.
Problems with the GI Bill of Rights
One glaring problem with the GI Bill of Rights is on its actual utilization by the veterans who were the bill’s beneficiaries. While the GI Bill of Rights featured several key benefits, and many different benefits were added later on, most of these were not being utilized, except for the educational benefit. Take the unemployment assistance, for example. While 20% of the GI Bill of Rights’ overall budget was allocated to this particular benefit, it was rarely availed by the war veterans.
Another and more important issue is that while Colmery’s GI Bill was designed to be inclusive, it still was not able to address the problems of racial and gender discrimination, both of which were considerably worse in the southern states.
The then Veterans Administration who was in charge of distributing the benefits was an all white staff, and preference were given to fellow whites. Schools and other learning institutions were mostly still practicing segregation, meaning, there were limited options for non-white veterans to choose from, and schools admissions took preference over male students.
This profiling was also prevalent in veterans trying to apply for home loans. Banks rarely approved loans by African Americans, even though these applications came with government backing. And, in either case, a lot of the new suburban neighborhoods did not accept African American residents anyway. This all resulted in a majority of the whites moving into the suburbs, while the blacks remained in the cities- a state of affairs that shaped the nation’s socio economic development in the years to come.
What Takes It's Place Today: The Three GI Bill Programs
The end of the two World Wars should not mean that the veterans of the armed forces were going to stop receiving their due benefits. In fact, more and more legislations were written that were designed to enhance these benefits, whether the veteran served in peacetime or in war. (Although, it should be taken into account that major conflicts are usually what brings about new legislations.)
The most notable change in these legislations is that they are all focused on the educational aspect of the original GI Bill. Although the VA currently still administers other benefits for veterans, these are done so under different programs separate from the GI Bill.
As of this year, 2019, there are three GI Bill programs that are currently still in effect. These are:
- The Montgomery GI Bill
- The Post 9/11 GI Bill
- The Forever GI Bill
The benefits covered under these GI Bills are divided into the following categories:
- Institutions of higher learning (college, post-graduate, and second degrees)
-For public schools, the VA covers the full in-state cost of tuition, while for private schools, there is a set annual maximum amount payable, which changes per academic year and per GI Bill program. Eligible recipients can receive tuition and fees payments, as well as a monthly allowance for housing (MHA) and a stipend for books and supplies.
You can check the current payment rates on the VA Rate Tables.
- Non-college degree granting institutions (vocational and trade schools programs)
-The payment rates follow the ones for institutions of higher learning.
- Apprenticeships and on-the-job training
-A monthly stipend is provided to you equivalent to your applicable MHA, and rated depending on how far along you are in your training. There may also be an additional stipend for books and supplies, depending on your eligibility.
-The rates are exclusively for tuition costs, which varies per academic year and GI Bill program.
- Licensing and Certification Tests
-The VA pays up to $2,000 in actual test costs for all approved licensing and certification examinations. You can do a search of approved tests on the WEAMS Search Tool.
Other benefits are cooperative and entrepreneurship training, and independent and distance learning.
We will discuss each of these GI Bill programs below:
Montgomery GI Bill
Perhaps one of the driving forces towards improving the GI Bill of Rights was with the advent of the Vietnam War, which lasted from late 1955 to mid 1975. As more and more troops were deployed into war zones, it was essential that they came back to adequate and just compensation and benefits.
This is why, in 1984, former Mississippi Congressman Gillespie “Sonny” Montgomery proposed to revamp the GI Bill of Rights, and to make it permanent.
This legislation was signed on June 1st of 1984 by then-president Ronald Reagan as the GI Bill Continuation Act, but more commonly known as the Montgomery GI Bill, after its primary author Sonny Montgomery. Focusing on education, this bill provided educational funds for veterans who want to take up higher education at public institutions.
One key difference with the original GI Bill of Rights is that the Montgomery GI Bill is an opt-in program that active duty members of the armed forces and the Selected Reserves can sign up for during basic training.
In essence, the program works like this: you get a $100 monthly salary deduction on your first 12 months of active duty service, and in exchange, you get 36 months of fully funded educational benefits. There is also an added option, called the buy-up program, wherein you can pay an additional $600 to receive an extra $5,400 in educational funds.
The Montgomery GI Bill is divides into two programs- Active Duty (MGIB-AD) and Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR). Under the MGIB-AD, you can use your benefits at least 2 years after your pay was first deducted, and up to 10 years after you retire from the service. On the other hand, if you are under the MGIB-SR, you can use your benefits as long as you are in the reserves.
Your entitlement benefits also depends on whether your active duty enlistment lasted for three years or more. Furthermore, there are 4 eligibility categories under the Montgomery GI Bill- Active Duty, which you can check out on the VA website.
Post 9/11 GI Bill
With the turn of the century came 9/11- a terrorist attack on the twin towers on September 11, 2001, an event that would rock the nation, and live in infamy for the years to come. Along with the combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the pressure on lawmakers to increase and enhance benefits for servicemen strengthened.
This culminated in the creation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Officially called the Veterans Educational Assistance Act, it was introduced by former senator Jum Webb, and signed into law by then-president George W. Bush on June 30, 2008. (It’s also referred to as the 21st Century G.I. Bill of Rights, or the Webb G.I. Bill.)
It went into effect on August 1st of 2009, and can be used by service members who retired or separated from the service on or after September 10, 2001.
Here are some of the key differences between the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill:
- Rather than being an opt-in program, service members are qualified into the Post 9/11 GI Bill based on their length of active duty service, and they can start receiving benefits after applying at the VA.
The minimum requirement for eligibility for the Post 9/11 GI Bill is 90 days of active duty service on or after September 10, 2001 (or 30 consecutive days, if you were discharged due to a service connected disability).
Your eligibility percentage- meaning, how much benefits you are entitled to- goes up the longer you serve in the military. 90 days of service is equivalent to a 40% eligibility percentage, and goes up to 100% as you reach 36 months of service or more.
- The validity of the Post 9/11 GI Bill is 15 years after retirement from the service, unlike the Montgomery GI Bill’s 10-year limit...however read on because the Forever GI Bill changes this.
- The Post 9/11 GI Bill also added the long-awaited option to transfer benefits to spouse and children dependents
Forever GI Bill
Finally, the most recent legislation on veterans benefits is the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, more popularly known as the Forever GI Bill. It was signed into law in 2017 by current president Donald Trump.
Perhaps the most important highlight of this bill is the unlimited time frame to utilize the benefits that service members have earned during their service (hence the name Forever GI Bill). Much of the benefits structure is similar to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, with some changes and added benefits, and applies to those who left the armed forces on or after January 1, 2013.
Other highlights of the Forever GI Bill include:
- Spouses spouses dependents under the Fry Scholarship can now take advantage of the Yellow Ribbon program, which went into effect last August 1, 2018.
- There is a provision of an additional 9 months of educational benefits for those who are taking up a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) related program. This is provided that they have little or no entitlement benefits left to finish their education.
- Certain types of work-study programs have been permanently authorized without needing to be reviewed.
- Benefits can now be restored, and added relief provided, for veterans using the GI Bill whose benefits were terminated due to school closures or VA disapprovals. Additionally, Reservists who are using the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) and who lost benefits due to the "sunset provision" may use the Post 9/11 GI Bill instead, on the basis of their military service.
- Both veterans and dependents who want to take independent study programs- post-secondary level education or vocational training- can do so, provided that they are using Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, and are studying at accredited career and technical schools.
The GI Bill is a wonderful tool for all veterans to take advantage of in pursuing their education and advancing their careers after their time in the military.
To learn more about each of the current GI Bill programs, browse our other exhaustive GI Bill guides below on our blog.
