On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented piece of legislation designed to compensate members of the returning armed forces – called G.I.s – for their efforts during the Second World War.
As the last of its sweeping New Deal reforms, the Roosevelt administration created the GI Bill – officially the Military Readjustment Act of 1944 – in hopes of avoiding a relapse into the Great Depression after the end of the war. In particular, the FDR wanted to prevent a repeat of the bonus march of 1932, when 20,000 unemployed veterans and their families gathered to protest against Washington. The American Legion, a veterans organization, successfully fought for many of the provisions included in the bill, which provided returnees with access to unemployment benefits, housing and business loans at low interest rates and, above all, to education funding.
By giving veterans money for tuition, living expenses, books, supplies and equipment, the G.I. The bill has effectively transformed higher education in America. Before the war, college was only an option for 10 to 15 percent of young Americans, and college campuses had become a haven for the most privileged classes. In 1947, on the other hand, veterinarians represented half of the university workforce in the country; three years later, nearly 500,000 Americans graduated from college, up from 160,000 in 1939.
As educational institutions opened their doors to this diverse new group of students, overcrowded classrooms and residences resulted in widespread improvement and expansion of university facilities and teaching staff. A series of new professional courses have been developed across the country, including advanced training in education, agriculture, trade, mining and fishing – skills that had not previously been taught only informally.
The G.I. The bill became one of the main forces that led to economic expansion in America that lasted 30 years after the Second World War. Only 20 per cent of the money set aside for unemployment benefits under the bill was distributed because most veterans found jobs or pursued higher education. Low-interest home loans have enabled millions of American families to leave urban centers and buy or build homes outside the city, changing the face of the suburbs.
GI Impact Over 50 Years The Bill Was Huge, With 20 Million Veterans And Dependents Using Education Benefits And 14 Million Secured Home Loans For A Total Federal Investment Of $ 67 Billion . Among the millions of Americans who benefited from the bill are former presidents George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford, former vice-president Al Gore and artists Johnny Cash, Ed McMahon, Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood.
READ MORE: How One Million Black WWII Black Veterans Denied the Promise of GI Bill
