Is the New GI Bill Benefitting For-Profit Colleges Instead of Veterans?
Few public programs have become as iconic as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 — the G.I. Bill. It offered returning World War II veterans educational opportunities, unemployment benefits and cheap loans to start businesses or purchase homes or farms. It’s widely credited with helping to build a large and vibrant American middle class.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, “By the time the original GI Bill ended on July 25, 1956, 7.8 million of 16 million World War II Veterans had participated in an education or training program.”
In 2008, Congress passed a new G.I. Bill for veterans who had served at least three years during the post-9/11 “War on Terror.” The new bill focused on education — it lacked the other provisions of its World War II predecessor.
But it’s unlikely that the new G.I. Bill’s investment in educating today’s vets will have the same impact as the 1944 version. That’s because a lot has changed in America’s higher education system since the post-war years. Over the past four decades, there has been exponential growth in for-profit colleges, which are marketing their programs to veterans and grabbing an outsized share of the $10 billion dollars that the government spends educating veterans each year.
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http://billmoyers.com/2014/07/08/is-the-new-gi-bill-benefitting-for-profit-colleges-instead-of-veterans/
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