| Shorttitle: | Post-9/11 GI Bill |
| Othershorttitles: | Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 |
| Longtitle: | An Act making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes |
| Enacted By: | 110th |
| Effective Date: | June 30, 2008 |
| Cite Public Law: | 110-252 |
| Cite Statutes At Large: | (2008) |
| Public Law Url: | https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-110publ252/html/PLAW-110publ252.htm |
| Leghisturl: | https://www.congress.gov/bill/110th-congress/house-bill/2642/text |
| Introducedin: | House of Representatives |
| Introducedby: | Chet Edwards (D–TX) |
| Introduceddate: | June 11, 2007 |
| Committees: | United States House Committee on Appropriations |
| Passedbody1: | House |
| Passeddate1: | June 15, 2007 |
| Passedvote1: | Yeas: 409; Nays: 2 |
| Passedbody2: | Senate |
| Passeddate2: | September 6, 2007 |
| Passedvote2: | Yeas: 92; Nays: 1 |
| Signedpresident: | George W. Bush |
| Signeddate: | June 30, 2008 |
| Scotus Cases: | Rudisill v. McDonough, |
The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 is Title V of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008,,, an Act of Congress which became law on June 30, 2008.[1] The act amended Part III of Title 38, United States Code to include a new Chapter 33, which expands the educational benefits for military veterans who have served since September 11, 2001. At various times the new education benefits have been referred to as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the 21st Century G.I. Bill of Rights, or the Webb G.I. Bill, with many current references calling it simply the new G.I. Bill. President George W. Bush signed into law on June 30, 2008.[2]
The law is an effort to pay for veterans' college expenses to a similar extent that the original G.I. Bill did after World War II. The main provisions of the act include funding 100% of a public four-year undergraduate education to a veteran who has served three years on active duty since September 11, 2001. The act also provides the ability for the veteran to transfer benefits to a spouse or children after serving (or agreeing to serve) ten years.
This bill was written, introduced and guided to passage by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, who introduced it on his first day in the Senate in January 2007. Webb's hope was that these benefits would help current veterans as much as the original G.I. Bill helped the Greatest Generation in shaping America.
The original Post-9/11 GI Bill's provisions went into effect on August 1, 2009.
In 2017, according to CBS News, approximately 40 percent of all GI Bill funds were distributed to for-profit colleges.[3]
The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 improves educational benefits for certain individuals serving on active duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 11, 2001.
The main benefits include:
The Department of Veterans Affairs maintains a website for veterans to compare colleges that use the GI Bill, in order to use their educational benefits wisely. [6] VA also has a GI Bill Feedback System for veterans to lodge their complaints about schools they are attending.[7]
In December 2010 Congress passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2010. The new law, often referred to as GI Bill 2.0, expands eligibility for members of the National Guard to include time served on Title 32 or in the full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR).
The new law also includes a new (reduced) housing stipend for online (distance) learners; enables active-duty servicemembers and their GI Bill eligible spouses to receive the annual $1,000 book stipend; adds several vocational, certification and OJT options and removes the state-by-state tuition caps for veterans enrolled at public (state-operated) colleges and universities.
In addition the so-called GI Bill 2.0 includes a new $17,500 a year cap on tuition and fees coverage for veterans attending private universities, prorates the housing stipend based on the student's rate of pursuit, and removes the "interval pay" which allowed veterans to continue to receive payments during scheduled school breaks (i.e. winter and spring breaks).
The bulk of these changes go into effect August and October 2011.[8]
The eligibility requirements include:
The transferability provisions may include, depending on final regulations currently being drafted by the DoD (in consultation with the VA and Coast Guard):
Beginning in August 2011. the Department of Veterans affairs would only cover up to $17,500 a year at private schools, and would only pay "the actual net cost for in-State tuition and fees assessed" by public schools. Due to the differing residency rules from state to state, this has caused some veterans who utilize the Post 9/11 GI Bill, to pay the difference.[10] Due to this discrepancy a bipartisan bill, the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act, has been introduced in the 113th Congress.[11]
Although the original Bill did not include National Guard state activation, effective October 1, 2011, the law was expanded to "include Active Service performed by National Guard members under title 32 U.S.C. for the purpose of organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training the National Guard; or under section 502(f) for the purpose of responding to a national emergency."[12]
On February 3, 2014, the United States House of Representatives passed the GI Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013 (H.R. 357; 113th Congress).[13] If enacted, the bill would require states to offer veterans the in-state tuition price instead of the out-of-state tuition price regardless of whether the veteran met the residency requirement. The bill would also make other changes to veterans' benefits.[14]
Students, regardless of whether Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits pay all or some of college costs, may obtain additional financial aid for education by preparing a federal student aid application (FAFSA). The amount of military aid a student receives for a college education does not defer eligibility or reduce the amount of student aid that student could receive from the four federal grant programs - Pell, SMART, ACG, and TEACH - and many of the state student aid programs.[15]
Although the bill is widely considered an important piece of legislation, some flaws in the new GI Bill have been noted.
Perhaps the largest controversy has been the distribution of GI Bill funds to for-profit colleges. In 2014, CBS News reported that eight of the top ten schools for GI Bill funding were for-profit colleges, including the collapsing Corinthian Colleges, which ceased operations the following year.[16]
In 2019, NBC News reported that reduced oversight of for-profit colleges would lead to greater power for for-profit schools to prey on veterans. The report highlighted abuses by Ashford University, Full Sail University, University of Phoenix, and Colorado Technical University.[17]
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, originally introduced the Senate bill the day after he was sworn in (on January 5, 2007) as . His principal co-sponsors included military veterans Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and John Warner (R-VA).[18] A House companion bill was introduced by Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA). On September 12, 2007, the bill became a bipartisan initiative when Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) cosponsored the bill.
After earlier passing the House and Senate in different forms in May 2008 mainly with support from Democrats and a few Republicans, a bipartisan deal was brokered and the bill passed as an amendment to H.R. 2642, the FY08 Supplemental Appropriations Bill, commonly referred to as the War Funding Bill.
On June 19, 2008 the veteran education assistance benefits, along with 13-week unemployment benefit extension, passed as an amendment with a vote of 416-12.[19] On June 26, the Senate voted 92-6 in favor of the final version of the bill.[20] President George W. Bush signed into law on June 30, 2008.[1]
Prior to passage, the bill received support from many Nationwide Organizations such as The American Legion, AMVETS, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), and the Student Veterans of America (SVA).
A Congressional Budget Office report that had been cited by opponents states that retention will drop by 16%, while proponents counter that the same study predicts recruitment will be up by 16% due to the new incentives this bill would create. Senator Webb also pointed out that currently, "recent studies show that 70% of all enlisted members get out at or before their initial enlistment."
While President Bush had initially threatened to veto the bill, in early June 2008 the White House signaled he might be willing to sign it along with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009. He wanted to see transferability between spouses and dependents added onto the new G.I. Bill, making it more valuable to career military personnel that would like to pay for their spouse or child's education.[21] On June 19, 2008 this provision was added to the war funding bill and President Bush indicated he would sign such a bill. This provision already existed with respect to the Montgomery GI Bill for regular servicemembers (the MGIB-AD).[22]
Among the bill's initial opponents was Republican presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who had introduced a competing bill. Sen. McCain's bill would have increased the basic education benefit by the current G.I. Bill by almost $3,000 a year and added another $4,200 a year for service members who stayed in the military for at least 12 years.[23] With the added transferability provisions for continued military service, Sen. McCain came to support the bill because it was changed to encourage additional service beyond three years, mitigating his earlier concerns.[24] Sen. McCain, who had not voted in the Senate since April 8, was campaigning in Ohio on June 26 and was not present for the final senate vote on the bill. The only other senator not voting was Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was recovering after surgery to remove a brain tumor.[25]
Then-United States Senator from Illinois and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who had expressed early support for the Webb version of the veteran education benefits,[24] voted for the final bill on June 26.[26]
In May 2008 the issue became a campaign issue with both candidates attacking the others' position.[27]
During Senate debate on the bill, Senator Obama made the following comment:
Senator McCain responded in a written statement:
A 2021 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicates that the post-911 GI Bill has had limited value, and in some cases may be less valuable for veterans than working after leaving military service. According to the authors "All veterans who were already enrolled in college at the time of bill passage increase their months of schooling, but only for those in public institutions did this translate into increases in bachelor’s degree attainment and longer-run earnings. For specific groups of students, large subsidies can modestly help degree completion but harm long run earnings due to lost labor market experience."[28] [29]