The GI Bill Transformed America: Will it happen again?

Thanks to the Post 9/11 GI Bill , Modern Veterans will can receive an education from virtually any educational institute in the world.  Previous Veterans who took advantage of this program succeeded in transforming America.  Can the Modern Veterans transform America again?

    During World War II 617,817 veterans were wounded and 405,399 men and women sacrificed their lives.  Hundreds of thousands of dependents were in need of assistance because of these losses.   Furthermore, millions of returning service members had spent four or more years engaged in brutal conflict.  With broad support of the American public sweeping reforms were made to the VA system.  The post WWII “Servicemen’s Read Adjustment Act of 1944,” better known as the GI Bill of Rights, or just the GI Bill transformed veteran benefits.  This bill defined who a veteran was.  It established the VA hospital system, disability compensation, loan guarantees and education benefits.

 The education benefit proved to be the most controversial of the provisions for numerous reasons.  College administrators objected because many felt the education system could not handle the sudden influx of returning veterans.  James Conant, President of Harvard University, objected because the education benefit was that it was open to all veterans and it did not “distinguish between those who can profit most by advanced education and those who cannot.”  President Conant later changed his position saying “The veterans are the most mature and promising students Harvard has ever had”.   

Once the educational benefits were enacted, American society would be forever altered.  In 1940 fewer than 1.5 million Americans were enrolled in college.  Most of these students were from the wealthy or upper-middle class families.  By 1947 that number jumped by more than a million enrollments.  At Stanford, veteran students were calls the “DARs,” for “Damn Average Raisers.  Over 2 million veterans went to college and another 3.5 million went to vocational schools because of the GI Bill.  Considering prior to the GI Bill less than 25 percent of Americans finished high school, the numbers are remarkable.  Veterans of the Korean War and the Vietnam War were offered educational assistance through GI Bill benefits.  The participation rate among Vietnam veterans was a 76 percent, which is about 25 percent more than the participation rate among WWII veterans.  It is too early to tell what effect the new Post 9/11 GI Bill will have on the current generation of veterans.  Investing in the education of veterans has proven to be good investment in the past.  
8 Easy Steps To Apply for college.  http://stuck-middle.blogspot.com/p/gi-bill-and-college-how-to-apply.html