Forever GI Bill
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The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-48), commonly known as the "Forever GI Bill", eliminated the 15-year use-it-or-lose-it constraint associated with the Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefit. The updated bill was created with the intent of improving previous versions of the bill and the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) which is now defunct. The bill, called the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017, flew through both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the span of three weeks, passing both by unanimous votes. After the Senate's vote, the bill was signed into law by President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. The official name of the bill is for Harry W. Colmery who is credited with being the author of the original
GI Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, but the te ...
(Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944).


Overview

The Forever GI Bill includes 34 provisions, 15 of which have the most substantial impact on the greatest number of servicemen, veterans, their dependents, and their beneficiaries. Some of the changes were positive, although some changes reduced coverage and/or eligibility. The most impactful 15 include: # Elimination of the 15-year limitation on the use of the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. # Restoration of lost GI Bill entitlement due to school closures. # Expansion of benefits to Purple Heart recipients. # Added Yellow Ribbon Program coverage to Fry Scholarship and Purple Heart recipients. # Expanded Yellow Ribbon Program coverage for Active Duty members. # Changed the entitlement use for licensing and certification tests. # Reduced the amount authorized for Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). # Changed how the Basic Allowance for Housing is calculated. # Changed Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility tiering for
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and Reservists. # Increased GI Bill eligibility for National Guard and Reservists. # Changed the transfer of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. # Reduced the number of months of coverage under the Survivors’ and Dependents Educational Assistance Program (DEA). # Increased DEA payment structure. # Creation of a
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scholarship program. # Creation of a High Technology pilot program. There are several lesser known changes that include: * Permanent work study program approval. * Mandatory training for school certifying officials. * VetSuccess program expansion. * GI Bill usage data. * VA automation. * Priority enrollment expansion.


Summary of Changes


Effectiveness of the GI Bill

A 2021 study published by the
National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic co ...
(NBER) indicates that the GI Bill has had limited value, and in some cases may be less valuable for veterans than working after leaving military service. According to the authors "All veterans who were already enrolled in college at the time of bill passage increase their months of schooling, but only for those in public institutions did this translate into increases in bachelor’s degree attainment and longer-run earnings. For specific groups of students, large subsidies can modestly help degree completion but harm long run earnings due to lost labor market experience."


Additional Resources

* https://www.militarytimes.com/education-transition/education/2017/08/16/trump-signed-the-forever-gi-bill-here-are-11-things-you-should-know/ * https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/02/veterans-defense-gi-bill-241266 * https://nvest.studentveterans.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Things-to-Know-About-the-Forever-GI-Bill_SVA-1.pdf * https://taskandpurpose.com/gi-bill-forever-budget-resources * https://www.benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/docs/fgib/FGIB_Veteran_Webinar.pdf


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forever GI Bill History of veterans' affairs in the United States United States federal education legislation United States federal legislation articles needing infoboxes First presidency of Donald Trump