G.I. Bill Failing Veterans?

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G.I. Bill Failing Veterans?

Posted May 13th 2008 9:08AM by Ada Calhoun
Filed under: Iraq, Military, Education

Congress is voting this week on expanding the G.I. Bill dramatically, reports the AP. As you can see in this MTV News report, the costs of education have risen so sharply that a lot of soldiers wind up only getting a small portion of their tuition covered. One Marine reservist got just $282 a month toward his community college education when he returned from Iraq. According to MTV:

The current GI Bill pays out a maximum of $1,101 per month, with most vets receiving benefits for 36 months. That's a total of $39,636. Since the average four-year public college costs more than $54,356, including room, board, fees and books, according to the College Board, there is a lot of ground to make up. Private schools, for the record, can total more than $129,000 for the full package.

Obama and Clinton support the expansion of benefits that would make school much more affordable for returning soldiers. McCain doesn't, and has proposed a much more modest bill. Bush has said he'll veto the expansive package sponsored by Jim Webb, because of the cost (an estimated $51.8 billion in the next 10 years).

But one of the soldiers in this video has this message that Bush should really have considered and that McCain may want to take to heart: "Veterans' benefits should be counted toward the costs of war."

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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)

1. Ada,
I went to college on the GI Bill. Back then, it was called a "supplement". As I recall. I got a monthly check for $380. I was married, so I got a little more than a single vet.

There were a few guideline vets had to follow. For one, you had to go to the Veteran's Office on campus, declare a major and give them the curriculum. At the end of each semester, you had to go back, show them what you took and they'd cross off completed classes. If you took a class that wasn't on the curriculum, they didn't pay for it. They were up front about this too. You always had to show progress towards graduating and the curriculum was the yard stick.

$380 didn't go far in Southern Califonia in the mid 1970's. Mrs. Willet worked as a bank teller and I unloaded produce trucks for a grocery store between the hours of 5AM and 10AM.

The GI Bill should keep up with college tuition expenses. But since it's provided by the Government, I wouldn't put to much stock in it.

Willet at 11:23AM on May 13th 2008

2. I have tried to go back to school many times using the GI Bill, it is very difficult. Unless you take full time classes, it actually costs to use it, instead of cover college costs. In basic training service members allow the gov to take 100$ a month out of their paychecks for a year, so my questions are where is this money going? Also, why is McCain worried about funding it, we all can't marry into money like he did.

alleycat01 at 12:01PM on May 13th 2008

3. I think it's enough that taxpayers pay their salary, room, board, and benefits during their service. Why should we pay for them to have a full ride through college because they chose to go fight instead of pursuing an education? Not fair to the taxpayers, not fair to those students who work so hard to just get into college. They have a great amount of FREE AID. Why cry about it?

Strados at 7:24AM on May 14th 2008

4. alleycat....$100 a month for a year is only $1200...where do you think it's going?

Strados at 7:25AM on May 14th 2008

5. Strados, aid to vets is hardly free. Volunteering to participate in this war takes a certain kind of person. They risk their futures everyday. No matter your view on the war, that is a fact. It is a small price to pay to help them with their futures when and if they return. I grew up watching people with draft cards in their wallets, people who wanted to go to college instead, worried they were going to get the call. With no volunteers, the draft is a real possibility. Bush let the word draft slip into his speak a couple of times. Perspectives can change so easily when you try and walk in someone else's shoes.

Another Thing at 10:03AM on May 14th 2008

6. They should recieve the best benefits possible BECAUSE they chose to be soldiers. I'd much rather give soldiers lifetime medical and educational benefits that to supplement all those former congressmen for life!
If we had a draft, we'd see moreof our illustrious leader's spawn on the fields and coming home in boxes. Oddly enough, that just might make them look at things a bit differently...when their own blood is involved, only then will they have empathy for the misuse of our troops.

whoops at 11:15AM on May 14th 2008

7. Of course there is not enough if they want room and board. The GI Bill is meant to pay for education.

Returning from service means going back to civilian life: getting a job, place to live, buying groceries, etc. THEN if a vet wants
an education the GI Bill can pay for books and college courses.

Full time(12hrs) is only 4 college courses.
OF COURSE they should declare a major and follow
the curriculum, the money would be gone used on aimless courses.

Full time at my Texas community college is about $1200-$1500 a semester. (5 mos) Even the guy that said he only got $282 a month for school has enough.($1410)
Geting the used books, borrow programs, planning courses, and comparing schools migh leave him a little bit left over.

womensan at 4:28PM on May 16th 2008

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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.