YES! Under President Trump Veterans Will Get Expanded College Assistance

17 Aug, 2017 by Cassy Fiano

Print this article Font size -16+

The GI Bill was originally passed in 1944 to provide benefits, including paying for veterans’ college tuition. Fast-forward a few decades and the Post-9/11 GI Bill expanded these benefits. Now, Donald Trump is helping to expand the benefits for veterans again, with the brand new Forever GI Bill.

A 2008 law originally guaranteed veterans a full scholarship to any in-state public university, or a similar amount for any private college. The Forever GI Bill will further build on the 2008 law and also removes the 15-year time limit that veterans had to use their GI Bill benefits.

In addition to helping veterans, the new bill also expands benefits for spouses receiving the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship for family members of service members killed in the line of duty. Purple Heart recipients will also get more benefits, when previously, Purple Heart recipients who didn’t reach 36 months of service were not eligible for full benefits.

Also being expanded is the Yellow Ribbon Program, an agreement between universities and the Department of Veterans Affairs to split any costs not covered by the GI Bill. Eligibility will now also be given to surviving spouses or children of service members, as well as active duty service members starting in 2022. Surviving family members will also get more money to go towards completing their education, although they will have less time. Benefits can also be transferred to another dependent if the dependent originally using the benefits died before they were able to use them all.

Extra incentives will also be given for veterans to go into STEM careers, with scholarships of up to $30,000 made available starting in August of 2018.

The Forever GI Bill had strong support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and Trump followed that up by signing the legislation into law.

Do you support the new Forever GI Bill?