APUSH+G.I.+Bill

Education and Aid to Veterans.

First signed as law- June 22, 1944 by President Roosevelt Last edited- August, 2009

Franklin D. Roosevelt

During and after WWI the veterans came back to little more than the $60.00 "allowance". Realizing a need for greater compensation congress tried to help by creating the Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924, more commonly known as the "Bonus Act". Sadly none of the veterans received anything until nearly twenty years later. After WWII the realization of a need for help of the returning veterans to transgress back into civilian life. In 1943 the commander of the American Legion wrote to a WWI veteran to ask him to join a comity searching for ways to assist other returning veterans. Later that year the veteran, Harry Colmery, drafted the GI bill of rights. The bill was signed into a law by Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944. The original bill stated gave the returning veterans $300 pay, a weekly unemployment allowance of $20 a week for 52 weeks, financial assistance for higher education and training, as well as up to $20,000 in loans. This greatly increased the number of veterans and military persona in the colleges, and by 1947 veterans accounted for 49% of the admissions to colleges.

Over the years the law has been effected, changed, and evolved. The Veterans Adjustment Act of 1952 stated the government no longer payed the colleges directly. Instead veterans received a monthly due of approximately $110 which they were expected to use to pay their educational fees. This greatly affected the returning veterans from Korea and later Vietnam. By the end of the Vietnam war in the 1960's the tuition costs far outpaced the decreasing payments. In 1984 Mississippi congressman Montgomery reintroduced the GI bill which was called the "Montgomery Bill" ever after. After 9/11 the need for a "21st century GI bill" was realized. The Post- 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act went into effect in August, 2009. Now veterans receive up to free 100% tuition, with an added $1,000 for supplies and books and the option to transfer it to a direct relative or family member. The GI bill was originally added as assistance and compensation to the veterans back from war, and has been formed around those same ideals ever since.