Since its inception, the GI Bill has disbursed multiplied billions of dollars in education benefits to millions of veterans and their families. Some elected leaders consider it the most important piece of federal legislation ever produced. After being signed by FDR in 1944, over the next seven years, the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act helped 2.3 million veterans attend universities, 3.5 million receive specialized training and 3.4 million obtain on-the-job training. By 1956, $14.5 billion was distributed in education benefits to veterans; adjusted for inflation, it equates to $150 billion today. In 2017 alone, the Post-9/11 GI Bill distributed $11 billion for higher education to veterans.
The GI Bill may represent the largest voucher program in the history of the world. Ed Humes, a journalist with a Pulitzer Prize in his back pocket, observed in a CBS News commentary: “Really, the cold warriors were educated on the GI Bill. They used different weapons. They had the drafting table instead of the draft board. They used their new skills to later take us to the moon. GI Bill guys were behind that. Same with the Internet, with the invention of computers. You can trace back much of what’s good in America today, to the skills and the prosperity that the GI Bill brought to this generation.” If you are reading this on a smartphone or tablet, you might want to thank a veteran who took advantage of the voucher program. While many question government spending on nearly everything, the…
