Expansion (1945 - 1965)
The G.I. Bill
For decades after the bill was passed, [the G.I. Bill] was cited as a precedent for civilian, need-related student aid bills.
Rupert Wilkinson
"Plural Ends, Contested Means: Student Financial Aid in American History"
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 is commonly known as the G.I. Bill. The federal government designed the G.I. Bill as a way to avoid the massive unemployment that many perceived would occur once the 4 million veterans returned home from the war. The G.I. Bill included a number of benefits, including low-cost home mortgages and money for education.
The G.I. Bill changed higher education. The G.I. Bill gave veterans the opportunity and financial aid necessary to earn a higher education. At the peak of its coverage in 1947, 49% of all college students were veterans getting full tuition plus a stipend from the federal government. However, under 3% of the Bill's recipients were women.
A different type of student than previously on campus, veterans were vocationally-oriented and serious about their academic pursuits. Veterans wanted to pursue their studies and get jobs. This changed the climate on college campuses. Even the terrain of the campus changed as institutions erected family living quarters - some temporary, some permanent - to accommodate the married veterans and their spouses.
More than perhaps the temporary changes on college campuses that the G.I.'s brought, the G.I. Bill may have had its most lasting influence by changing societal attitudes about who goes to college and how college is afforded. The G.I. Bill also established the efficacy of the federal government's involvement in and funding of higher education.
