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GI BILL OF RIGHTS

Reason for Development

The GI Bill of Rights was established for two main reasons. First, it was considered appropriate to compensate veterans of World War II for their services and sacrifices. Second, it was absolutely necessary to reintegrate military personnel into the civilian economy. Even before servicemen had been sent to Europe and the Pacific during the war, it became obvious that some plan would have to be developed to absorb the sixteen million veterans after the war was over. Thus, the seventy-eighth U.S. Congress enacted the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, or the GI Bill of Rights, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law in June.

Options

Originally Congress desired simply to reward each veteran with a bonus payment, but a more ambitious plan emerged from debate: the establishment of a program to help veterans help themselves. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act provided for tuition, fees, books, and a monthly subsistence payment while veterans were in school; it also provided the vets with the opportunity to set up their own businesses, buy their own homes, and receive financial aid. The GI Bill was much more far-reaching than any other plan for veterans' benefits previously drafted by Congress. It benefited able-bodied veterans, and it used nonmilitary institutions throughout the country without federal intervention in admission or educational policies.

Provisions

The provisions of the bill were staggering: any veteran who had served at least ninety days after 16 September 1940 and had received anything other than a dishonorable discharge could take advantage of this benefit. Veterans were entitled to one full year of training plus a period equal to their time in the service, up to a maximum entitlement of forty-eight months. During this period the act was carried out by the Veterans Administration, which paid tuition, laboratory and library fees, and other school costs up to a maximum of $500 a year for the duration of a veteran's entitlement. Additionally, the bill provided a monthly stipend of $50 for single veterans and $75 for a veteran with dependents. In December 1945 Public Law 268 was passed to increase the allowances. Veterans without dependents who were receiving full-time training could receive $65; those with dependents could get $90 per month. These limits were raised again two years later.

Application

Millions of veterans participated, slightly more than half of those eligible, and the average length of time during which a veteran received support was nineteen months. Up to the entitlement cutoff date of 25 July 1947, the total cost of the program came to $14.5 billion. Historians have praised the GI Bill as one of the most enlightened pieces of legislation ever enacted by the U.S. Congress.

Difficulties

There were occasional abuses of the program. For instance, while 1947 was a record-setting year in terms of enrollment at American colleges and universities, tuition prices also reached record highs. The United States Office of Education reported that tuition had increased 27 percent in private schools, 29 percent in public schools, and 46 percent in law schools since 1939 and warned that once the government stopped doling out millions of dollars under the GI Bill, colleges and universities would have to slash their prices or admit only the affluent. Still, the greatest difficulty administering the GI Bill resulted from the sheer number of students it attracted. American colleges, universities, and vocational training institutions were in many instances unable to handle the enormous influx of new students. They did not have enough professors, nor did they have the variety of educational and training courses that were suddenly demanded. New programs were begun, including night classes and year round programs. The increased demand for higher education also spurred the growth of junior colleges and community colleges.

Junior Colleges

The first junior college was opened in Joliet, Illinois, in 1902. Subsequently, the idea spread, first to California, then to other states that saw the benefit of postsecondary schooling providing vocation-based training usually lasting two years. In 1940 there were 456 junior colleges in the United States among the 1,708 institutions of higher learning, and by the end of the decade another 52 junior colleges were established. They served some 217,000 students by 1950, about 10 percent as many students as were at four-year colleges and universities. Education at a junior college was less expensive than at a college or university, so they drew a wider variety of students than more expensive institutions.

Community Colleges

As they grew, the junior colleges began to add to their previous functions; while they continued to provide courses capable of being transferred for university credit, they also increased opportunities for training or retraining adults in the many technical jobs needed after the war—a purpose most have retained. Those schools that are publicly funded and have evolved into ends in themselves rather than stepping-stones to universities have tended since the late 1940s to be called community colleges.

Special High Schools

Many battle veterans of Europe and the Pacific were just a few credits short of a high-school diploma. So that they would not have to attend high school with teenagers, the Detroit School Board, with money allocated by the GI Bill, set up special classes at schools where vets could choose what courses they needed and move through them as quickly as possible. These servicemen were given condensed texts and teachers trained specifically for this purpose.

Investigation of Problems

Even with the rapid growth of institutions of higher education, however, difficulties with the GI Bill eventually became so numerous that on 28 August 1950 the Select Committee to Investigate the Educational and Training Program under the GI Bill was established. The Korean conflict and the need for more military personnel made this committee's task vital. The select committee was directed in January 1951 "to conduct a full and complete investigation, evaluation, and study of the alleged abuses in the education and training and loan guaranty programs of World War II veterans, and of action taken, or the lack of action taken…to prevent abuses.…"

Benefits of the Bill

Despite all of the problems, the GI Bill was still an important way for the government to compensate military personnel for their services. When veterans were able to further their educations, they became more marketable and received better-paying jobs, which resulted in more taxes to finance the government. The GI Bill created a massive socio-economic shift upward for the American working class.