The Surprising History of Military College Benefits
For decades, politicians have struggled to balance rewarding service against the expense of generosity
That growing gap is one reason many veterans' groups are pushing so hard for a new law that would guarantee veterans a benefit that would at least keep pace with the cost of their local public university. And the implication for the federal budget is one reason some influential veterans, including President Bush and Sen. John McCain, have opposed the new GI Bill plan proposed by Sen. Jim Webb, a Vietnam veteran.
Boulton says he sees historical parallels to McCain's opposition to a dramatic increase in education benefits. He compares McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, with Eisenhower, the commanding general of Allied forces in World War II: "Perhaps it is just a strict adherence to fiscal conservatism, but I wonder if their positions as decorated and revered warriors imbued them with an antipathy for soldiers or veterans that might only be serving in the military for the promise of future benefits and rewards," Boulton says.
Cornell's Mettler worries, however, that focusing too much on history may blind Americans to today's reality. People—including herself before she started her research on the GI Bill—"just assume we must be taking care of our veterans.... But when I learned what the current benefits were, I was incredulous."
Reader Comments
1st and 2nd class veterans
The government saves money by offering different coverage for veterans based on where and when they served. Two guys could have identical knee injuries from parachuting- one in combat, one in Texas- different coverage for each.
People don't control the assignments they have- the benefits should be equal across the board.
GI BILL Sham
Thank You Submariners Post!
I served onboard an Aircraft Carrier that was involved in Lebonese Civil War, The Iran-Iraq war, and The Libyan Crisis, yet our biggest challenge every single day was The Soviet Threat. 24 hours a day, seven days a week 365/366 days a year. But since my service was not sensationalized on the evening news, I have essentially ZERO dollars NONE ZILCH nada "No Money whatsoever" available to fund an increase in my EARNING POWER, all because my service was during that most neglected of all eras in funding - I served from 1979-1985. Pace University just announced a vile and repugnant discount - one in which millions of veterans are ignored - yet PACE is bragging about their commitment in shameless advertizing. They only offer this discount to those who have earned 1 of 3 expeditionary medals, effectively shaming all the veterans who have sacrificed so much, personally and economically, but failed to be sent to the 3 places where these medals are given just for showing up. I am appalled they are even legally allowed to call this a "VETERANS" benefit, because the massive majority of people who are VETERANS are not remotely eligible to save a single penny at PACE University. They should be sued in class action by veterans groups everywhere and assessed damages and penalties for false advertizing.
GI Bill
The federal and state governments need to think of more creative wasy to fund the GI Bill. On the national level,there exist alarge number of state colleges and universities that could discount tuition cost for vets by awarding grants. The feds and states could then subsidize the difference.
Most universities already award grants to athletes, national merit scholars, musicians etc.. Why not add veterans to the list of grant recipients.
So that private institutions are not left out, vets who elect to attend the more expensive privates would receive the average tuition benefit that is awarded in his or her state of residence.
The veterans that I attended college with were serious minded students and added greatly to the learning environment.
There is no reason that the federal government should fund this alone.
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