American Council on Education Study Gauges Success of New GI Bill's Education Benefits

Since launching in August of 2009, the Post-9/11 GI Bill expanded educational opportunities for servicemembers and eligible spouses and their children. After a full year of its use, a recently conducted survey gauged the results and veteran satisfaction with the new GI Bill.

The study, released by the American Council on Education (ACE) and conducted by nonprofit research group RAND Corporation, concluded in November. It compiled the results of an online survey, as well as from focus group sessions held at colleges in multiple states. The emphasis of the ACE study was to determine the effects of the new GI Bill, to gauge the degree to which servicemembers are handling the transition from military service to classroom work, and lastly, the experiences of campus administrators with the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

New GI Bill: Working for Military Veterans?

The study, titled "Service Members in School: Military Veterans' Experiences Using the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Pursuing Postsecondary Education" revealed three interesting trends, including:

1. More than one-third of military students surveyed expressed difficulty in understanding the full scope of their military education benefits under the new GI Bill. Many were confused about what was the best option for their educational needs.
2. Almost 20 percent of survey and focus group respondents say that the new GI Bill and its entitlements directly impacted their decision to seek postsecondary education at a particular college or educational institution.
3. About one-quarter of respondents and a handful of focus group participants say that the Post-9/11 GI Bill was directly behind their decision to further their education.

It has been estimated that more than 300,000 student veterans are using the new GI Bill to attend college.

Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, says that the challenges of implementing the Post-9/11 GI Bill were clear from the outset, both for the Department of Veterans Affairs and administrators on college campuses--due to the large spike in veteran student enrollment, administrators at college campuses reported increased workloads anywhere from 50 to 200 percent.

"We felt it was important, after a full year of the new benefit, to go beyond anecdote and start to gather data about the impact of the Post-9/11 GI Bill," Corbett Broad says.

Post-9/11 GI Bill: Its First Year in Use

Focus group participants were happy with many aspects of the new GI Bill, including benefits that pay tuition and fees directly to the educational institution--a major shift from the Montgomery GI Bill, which paid veteran education benefits directly to servicemembers.

Other aspects of the Post-9/11 GI Bill that were looked upon favorably included a living allowance and book stipend, as well as the ability to use the Yellow Ribbon Program at private institutions or public graduate programs. The Yellow Ribbon Program, which can pay up to 50 percent of tuition costs not covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been enacted at colleges throughout the U.S. that promote postsecondary education for servicemembers.

Almost half of survey respondents had success transferring their military training into education credits. The average transfer was 18 credits--more than a full college semester.

Jennifer Steele, author of the study, says that despite early challenges implementing the program, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is helping more veterans pursue postsecondary education. However, Steele adds that higher education institutes can play a large role in assisting veterans' transition from military service to life as students.

"They can do this by ensuring that administrative staff understand the new GI Bill, by setting transparent and consistent rules for transferring military training to academic credits, and by providing information sessions aimed at veterans to help familiarize them with the resources available on campus," Steele says.

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