GI Bill

GI Bill (GI: Government (or General) Issue, a term used of US soldiers). The GI Bill was US federal legislation which created a comprehensive package of benefits, particularly financial assistance for entering higher education, for veterans of US military service. This has proved highly successful.

The first GI Bill was proposed during WW II in an attempt to avoid the recession that followed WW I when millions of veterans returned home to face unemployment. Pres Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Bill, officially known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act, on 22 June 1944. It offered to veterans a proportion of college tuition fees and other educational costs. Other benefits included mortgage subsidies, helping veterans to buy homes with relative ease.

The programme was used by 2.2 million to enter higher education. The Bill made a college education attainable by veterans of any class, race, or religion—something that had previously been the preserve of America's upper classes. Following the end of the Vietnam war and the cessation of the military draft in 1973, the number of volunteers for the military declined. In 1984 Sonny Montgomery proposed a GI Bill to encourage military service even in times of peace. The Montgomery GI Bill allows servicemen and -women to contribute to a programme which allows them educational benefits after they are discharged.

— Chris Mann

Also G.I. Bill the series of benefits granted by the U.S. Congress under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 and extended by later legislation to the present day. Initially for World War II veterans, it included grants for higher education or vocational training, mortgage loan guarantees for home buying, and cash payments for those unemployed after discharge. By providing help for more than 3.5 million home mortgages, the bill was instrumental in encouraging the rapid growth of suburbia after 1945; at the peak, in 1947, about 40 percent of all housing starts in the nation were funded by the guarantee. In addition, over half of the nearly 16 million eligible veterans used the bill's educational benefits from 1945 to 1956. College enrollments increased by 70 percent over prewar levels. In 1947 almost half of all college students had served in the military.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

For more information on GI Bill (of Rights), visit Britannica.com.

The initials "GI" originally stood for anything of "government issue." Eventually, they came to designate an enlisted soldier in the U. S. armed forces. In 1944 Congress passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, the so-called GI Bill of Rights, which provided government aid for veterans' hospitals and vocational rehabilitation; for the purchase by veterans of houses, farms, and businesses; and for four years of college education for veterans. Later, the act extended to veterans of the Korean War. The Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 gave similar rights to all veterans of service in the U. S. armed forces, whether during wartime or peacetime. Subsequent acts provided for additional benefits. With the abolition of the draft in 1973, benefits were tied to length of service.

Bibliography

Hyman, Harold M. American Singularity: The 1787 Northwest Ordinance, the 1862 Homestead and Morrill Acts, and the 1944 GI Bill. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986.

—Christopher Lasch/A. E.

On June 22, 1944, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. The purpose of the act was to help the nation reabsorb millions of veterans returning from overseas who had been fighting in World War II. During the decades since its enactment, the law and its amendments have made possible the investment of millions of dollars in education and training for a vast number of veterans. The nation has earned many times its investment in return, through increased tax revenues and a dramatically changed society.

A myriad of forces converged to bring about the successful passage of the G.I. Bill. The end of the war brought reduced demand for the production of wartime goods and fueled fears of the type of economic slowdown that followed previous wars. The influx of potential laborers created apprehension regarding job security and economic stability. The bill addressed these and other problems by providing six benefits, the first three of which were administered by the Veterans Administration (VA).

• Education and training
• Loan guarantees for a home, farm, or business
• Unemployment pay of $20 per week for up to fifty-two weeks
• Job-location assistance
• Building materials for VA hospitals as a priority
• Military review of dishonorable discharges

In enacting the legislation, lawmakers demonstrated that they had learned from the mistakes made by the United States government during the period following the World War I, when war veterans marched on the nation's capital in a crusade for increased compensation from the government. During the last years of World War II, the federal government began a period of activity designed to smooth the transition of society as a whole, and individual veterans in particular, to the postwar era. The economic stability provided by these federal efforts, the centerpiece of which was the G.I. Bill of Rights, boosted Americans' confidence and changed the way individuals lived, worked, and learned.

Initial expectations for the number of veterans who would utilize the educational benefits offered by the G.I. Bill were quite inaccurate. Projections of a total of several hundred thousand veterans were revised, as more than 1 million veterans were enrolled in higher education during each of 1946 and 1947, and well over 900,000 during 1948. Veterans represented between 40 and 50 percent of all higher education students during this period.

The increasing numbers of veterans in higher education created several changes on American college and university campuses. New facilities were constructed to accommodate the surging enrollments. New programs evolved, ones that were geared to the vocational and professional emphases that veterans sought from the classroom. The veteran was among the most successful of all college students academically, and this phenomenon generated a psychological shift for many within American society: no longer was the college campus seen as the exclusive preserve of elite sons and daughters. Once veterans were welcomed inside the college classroom, the irreversible trend began of more and more people, from all groups within society, being able to secure a stable and successful future through the pursuit of higher education and training.

Out of more than 15 million American veterans from World War II, more than 7,800,000 used the G.I. Bill to receive education in the years after the war. One primary reason for the program's success is the flexibility that it gave to veterans, who were able to spend their annual tuition stipend on a wide range of options, ranging from training in specific vocations to enrollment on Ivy League campuses.

This younger generation of Americans aspired to a way of life that was considerably different from that of their parents. Coupled with assistance for housing costs, the educational benefits of the G.I. Bill made possible a middle-class lifestyle that was characterized by white-collar work, home ownership, and life in the suburbs. War-weary citizens were finished with the sacrifices that had been necessary during both depression and wartime; the savings that had accumulated during the war could be spent without reservation, for the financial stability offered by the G.I. Bill's provisions allayed fears of postwar economic disruptions.

The empowerment of the individual veteran by the G.I. Bill helped to create the expectation that all Americans can and must have an opportunity to share in the dreams of a college education and a successful, middle-class lifestyle. In the decades following World War II, the federal government pursued initiatives designed to extend this opportunity to minorities, to women, and to the disabled within American society. The successes of the G.I. Bill encouraged legislators to create educational opportunities for individuals in these groups as a means of redressing past social and economic inequities.

This emphasis on advanced education and training for the masses has facilitated the development of America's knowledge-based economy and society. More than ever, Americans see knowledge and training as vital to each individual's future economic success and position within society. Though not entirely eradicated, barriers to accessing this knowledge and training have diminished in many areas of American society, due in large part to the efforts of the federal government. The G.I. Bill proved the ability of the federal government to promote social and economic advancement through educational attainment and training, and millions of veterans can attest to the importance in their own lives of the opportunities that welcomed them following the completion of their military service.

Subsequent legislation includes the following.

• The Veterans Readjustment Act of 1952, approved by President Truman on July 16, 1952, for those serving in the Korean War
• The Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on March 3, 1966, for post - Korean War veterans and Vietnam-era veterans
• The Post - Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance program (VEAP) for individuals that entered active duty between December 31, 1976, and July 1, 1985
• The Montgomery G.I. Bill for individuals initially entering active duty after June 30, 1985
• The Montgomery G.I. Bill: Selected Reserve Educational Assistance Program for members of the Selected Reserve, including the national guard
• The Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program, the only VA educational assistance program for spouses and children of living veterans

Bibliography

Bennett, Michael J. 1994. "The Law That Worked." Educational Record (fall):7 - 14.

Bennett, Michael J. 1996. When Dreams Came True. Washington, DC: Brasseys.

Clark, Daniel A. 1998. "The Two Joes Meet: Joe College, Joe Veteran." History of Education Quarterly (summer):165 - 189.

Olson, Keith W. 1974. The G.I. Bill, the Veterans, and the Colleges. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.

Olson, Keith W. 1994. "The Astonishing Story." Educational Record (fall):16 - 26.

Urban, Wayne J., and Wagoner, Jennings L., Jr. 1996. American Education: A History. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Internet Resource

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Education Service. 2001. "The GI Bill: From Roosevelt To Montgomery." www.gibill.va.gov/education/GI_Bill.htm.

— DEBORAH A. VERSTEGEN, CHRISTOPHER WILSON

Federal legislation that created a comprehensive package of benefits, including financial assistance for higher education, for veterans of U.S. military service.

The benefits of the GI Bill are intended to help veterans readjust to civilian life following service to their country, and to encourage bright, motivated men and women to volunteer for military duty. This legislation came in two parts: the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 and the Montgomery GI Bill.

Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944

The first GI Bill was proposed and drafted by the American Legion, led by former Illinois governor John Stelle, during World War II. The public remembered a post-World War I recession, when millions of veterans returned to face unemployment and homelessness. Twice as many veterans would return from World War II, and widespread economic hardship was a real concern. A healthy postwar economy, it seemed, would depend on providing soldiers with a means to support themselves once they were back home.

Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst became the bill's most ardent and vocal supporter. Hearst and his nationwide string of newspapers lobbied the public and members of Congress to support those who served their country, and his effort was a success. The bill unanimously passed both chambers of Congress in the spring of 1944. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill into law on June 22, 1944, just days after the D day invasion of Normandy (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, ch. 268, 58 Stat. 284).

The original GI Bill offered veterans up to $500 a year for college tuition and other educational costs—ample funding at the time. An unmarried veteran also received a $50-a-month allowance for each month spent in uniform; a married veteran received slightly more. Other benefits included mortgage subsidies, enabling veterans to purchase homes with relative ease.

Despite initial misgivings over its success, the GI Bill proved to be enormously effective. Prior to its passage, detractors feared that paying the education expenses of veterans would lead to overcrowding at colleges, which before World War II were accessible predominantly to members of society's upper class. Critics were concerned that veterans would wreak havoc on educational standards and overburden campuses with their lack of preparation for the rigors of higher learning.

College campuses did become grossly overcrowded in the postwar years: approximately 7.8 million World War II veterans received benefits under the original GI Bill, and 2.2 million of those used the program for higher education. By 1947 half of all college students were veterans. Prefabricated buildings and Quonset huts were used as classrooms, and military barracks were often converted into dormitories. However, having spent a large part of their youth engaged in battle, World War II veterans were highly motivated. GIs in their late twenties and early thirties returned to the United States in droves, anxious to catch up with their nonmilitary peers, marry, settle down, and support a family. The benefits provided by the GI Bill facilitated these goals.

Veterans were not the only beneficiaries of the GI Bill. Colleges, with increased enrollments, received years of financial security following its enactment. Veterans demanded more practical college course work, and this led to a changed concept of higher education, with more emphasis on degree programs like business and engineering. The lines of race, class, and religion blurred as higher education became attainable for all veterans. No longer was a college degree—and the higher paying jobs that normally follow it—limited to members of the upper class. Federal income increased as the average income of taxpayers in the United States increased, and as the veterans graduated from colleges, women and members of minorities enrolled to fill the gaps they left. The GI Bill's mortgage subsidies led to an escalated demand for housing and the development of suburbs. One-fifth of all single-family homes built in the twenty years following World War II were financed with help from the GI Bill's loan guarantee program, symbolizing the emergence of a new middle class.

Montgomery GI Bill

Following the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War and the end of the military draft in 1973, the number of qualified young adults willing to voluntarily serve in the military declined. In 1984 Representative G. V. ("Sonny") Montgomery (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, proposed a new GI Bill to encourage military service, even in times of peace. That year President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Montgomery GI Bill (38 U.S.C.A. § 1401), which continues to provide optional benefits for qualified U.S. veterans.

The Montgomery GI Bill is a voluntary plan that requires a contribution from the soldier who chooses to take part. Upon entry into the armed services, including the National Guard and military reserves, participants may elect to have their military pay reduced by $100 each month of the first twelve months of service. This sacrifice makes them eligible to receive up to $400 a month for thirty-six months toward tuition and other educational expenses. To receive these benefits, soldiers must receive an honorable discharge, earn a high school diploma or its equivalent, and serve in active duty for the length of their enlistment. The federal government supplies funding but does not set standards or administer the plan; the Veterans Administration determines whether a veteran is eligible, and the colleges and universities (including religious and vocational schools) make admissions policies and keep track of expenditures.

Effects of the GI Bill

The GI Bill, in both its versions, is widely regarded as a success. Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D-Haw.) has called it the most significant legislation passed by Congress in the twentieth century. Over the years the program has cost $70 billion; Senator Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) considers it to be the best single investment the federal government has ever made. Military recruiters routinely promote its benefits as a way to attract and enlist the best and brightest young adults: in 1996, 95 percent of new armed services recruits were high school graduates, and in 1995, 95 percent of eligible recruits chose to enroll in the education program. And the GI Bill more than pays for itself: a 1986 Congressional Research Office study indicated that for every dollar invested in the GI Bill, the country recoups between $5.00 and $12.50, the result of increased taxes paid by veterans who have achieved higher incomes made possible by a college education.

Beneficiaries of the GI Bill include Presidents George Bush and Gerald R. Ford; Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.; Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice John Paul Stevens, both of the Supreme Court; Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher; journalists David Brinkley and John Chancellor; actors Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, and Jason Robards, Jr.; and former Dallas Cowboys football coach Tom Landry.

A law passed in 1944 that provided educational and other benefits for people who had served in the armed forces in World War II. Benefits are still available to persons honorably discharged from the armed forces.

Originally GI Bill of Rights. Financial assistance provided to people who have or are serving in the military for educational and home purchasing purposes. Administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.