When I entered the Navy in late 1999, the GI Bill seemed like a good deal. Back then, $18,000 for college seemed like a great deal of money. Surely, this must be enough to pay for even a very expensive school. But I was merely 19, and naïve. Even in 1999, $18,000 was a pitifully small sum for school. Especially when considering books, living expenses and tuition. It would never have been enough.
I opted in to the Montgomery GI Bill program during my first month of service. I initially thought about passing on the buy in, as Illinois pays tuition and books for veterans who complete six years of active duty service. A Petty Officer Augustine convinced me that it would be a good idea to opt in to the GI Bill anyway. I am certainly glad that I did. The cost of the GI Bill was $100 per month for 12 months, only $1,200 to receive $18,000 worth of education. I have never made, nor will I ever make, an investment with that kind of return.
After the decades long degradation of all veterans benefits that peaked during the late 1970’s, Congress finally began to pay attention to veterans’ educations. In 1984, Gillespie Montgomery was lead sponsor on a new GI Bill. The Montgomery GI Bill was a major improvement over the previous generations of veteran’s education benefits. For a brief time, the GI Bill would again pay for an entire four years of college. Also included in the new Bill were improvements to VA health care and loan benefits. The major negative in the new Bill was a time limit. Inserted as a compromise to win support for the Bill, the time limit would cause the benefits to expire if they were not used by the veteran within ten years of their discharge. This clause has been a small and misunderstood detriment to this benefit, and many a soldier has been talked out of signing up for the GI Bill because of it.
Initially signed into law as a temporary measure, the Montgomery GI Bill has the distinction of being the first GI Bill to be issued during peacetime. In 1987, Montgomery’s bill became permanent. For over 20 years, the Montgomery GI Bill was a major recruiting enticement across all branches of the military. This gave rise to a generation of veterans who joined the military for an education. This did not prove to be detrimental for readiness, as was an initial fear. These veterans had the same rates of discipline problems as previous generations, proving detractors wrong.
While the Montgomery GI Bill has had several benefit increases, the rising cost of college made the benefit less and less effective. Over time, less and less veterans began taking advantage of benefits they had paid for. The system was in need of a major overhaul once again. In 2008, veterans would once again have a program of benefits they could be proud of. Soon, the post 9/11 GI Bill would begin changing lives.
Shankar, R. (2009). Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. Harvard Journal on Legislation, 46(1), 303-321. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Cartoon retrieved from http://www.bluestemprairie.com on 11/29/2010
No comments:
Post a Comment