Remembering the GI Bulge:
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 – The GI Bill
I realized that if a veteran didn't go to college as soon as he came back, he'd never have another chance. It was now or never. Now was not the time to shut the doors. Our doors opened wide in 1946.
~ Chancellor William Pearson Tolley
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, more commonly known as the GI Bill, provided one free year of higher education for each ninety days of service and one additional month of paid education for each month of service up to forty-eight months. This supplement to the 1948-9 Bulletin shows what the non-veterans paid for their education, and just how much the GI Bill education was truly worth.
GI Bill Facts:
- In 1947, veterans accounted for 49% of US college enrollments.
- The cost of the World War II education program totaled 14.5 billion.
- In the late 1930s about 160,000 US citizens graduated from college each year. By 1950 that number had increased to 500,000.