Problems with the Post-9/11 GI Bill

By Rohan Gupta

The original GI Bill or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 provided college education for returning WWII veterans and a year of unemployment compensation. Over time, the bill was amended to accommodate economic and political changes. Most recently in 2008, Congress approved additional benefits for servicemen who had been in the military since September 11, 2009 and renamed the bill to the "Post-9/11 GI Bill." These benefits include: full coverage of tuition, allowances, and other "perks." Though veterans were keen to reap the benefits of the newly amended bill, there have been major issues during the 2009 fall semester concerning the allocation of the bill's benefits.

Since May, about 275,000 veterans applied for benefits and roughly 213,000 were eligible. Of those 213,000 veterans, roughly 82,500 actually enrolled in courses for the fall semester and only 52,500 received the bill's benefits. The veterans that did not receive payments appealed to the Veterans Affairs department which is responsible for the allocation of the benefits. The department states that there were several delays in getting help out to those that did not receive the benefits.

The department claims that it expected many veterans who applied for benefits to enroll at a college this fall and believes that publicity forced the veterans to apply for the bill's benefits even though they did not intend to enroll. The department states that another reason for the delay is the failure of colleges and universities to reveal tuition costs in a timely manner, but it affirms that its main reason is actually technological issues. The department claims that it has to process each appeal or claim by the veterans individually and therefore is overburdened with processing the thousands of claims.

This bill is a major source of aid if not the only source of aid that servicemen use to pay for school and many individuals join the military to receive an economical college education. These problems must be solved quickly in order to avoid allegations from veterans and other groups for not properly distributing funds.