GI Bills Enacted Prior to 2008 and Related Veterans’ Educational Assistance Programs: A Primer

[Excerpt] This report describes the five GI Bills with the lowest participation numbers and related veterans’ educational assistance programs. It is organized into five sections. The first section provides an explanation of the rationale and impetus behind veterans’ educational assistance programs. The second section describes the eligibility requirements and benefits of the GI Bills enacted prior to 2008. The GI Bills are discussed in descending order based on the number of current participants. The third section reviews the linkages and commonalities between the programs. A summary of selected characteristics of the various programs is presented in Table 2. The fourth section provides a brief overview of related VA programs. The final section provides information on participation and expenditures for the programs. A detailed look at earlier GI Bills that are no longer available to participants and the lessons learned is available in the appendices