New GI Bill brings a crush of vets to schools
Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides a full government-funded ride to a college degree.
A signature legislative initiative of freshman U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., it’s the most generous taxpayer-funded program of higher-education benefits for veterans since the famed World War II-era GI Bill, which sent nearly 8 million vets to college.
Some college benefits were already available to modern-day veterans, but the new program expands them. It covers tuition and fees up to the maximum charged by the most expensive public college in the state, plus a monthly housing stipend and $1,000 a year for books and supplies.
“It’s so much better than the old one,” Boone said. “You can’t beat it.”
A full ride is even possible at most private schools. Private institutions can opt into the program by offering a discount off their normal tuition, which the government matches.
The maximum benefit - eight semesters of aid - is payable to veterans who served 36 months or more after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A vet se