New GI Bill budgets $78 billion for college tuition
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
President Obama on Monday called a new GI Bill offering college tuition assistance to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “an investment in our own country.”
The new law is expected to offer veterans $78 billion in benefits over the coming decade. It is the most comprehensive education benefit offered to veterans since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the original GI Bill for World War II veterans in 1944…
The maximum benefit available under a law that took effect Saturday will cover the full tuition at a public college or university for four years for each eligible veteran, reservist and National Guard member. It also offers a monthly housing stipend and as much as $1,000 a year for books.
For those attending a private institution or graduate school, about 1,100 schools are offering additional scholarships matched by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Under the Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the new GI Bill, support is available for tuition that exceeds the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition…
“While our discourse often produced more heat than light, especially here in Washington, they have put their very lives on the line for America. They have borne the responsibility of war,” Obama said.
“And now, with this policy, we are making it clear that the United States of America must reward responsibility, and not irresponsibility. Now, with this policy, we are letting those who have borne the heaviest burden lead us into the 21st century.”
Blue Dog Dems, Republicans, chickenhawks, beancounters and other blivets gasped in dismay.
