College Education

With the termination of World War II in 1945, millions of military veterans flooded the United States with hopes and ambitions for the future. However, these veterans required assistance in order to achieve their goals of returning to their pre-war lives. Long before the end of the war, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his advisors were already planning post wartime programs to assist veterans in an attempt to correct the mistreatment of military members throughout history. Over the course of the one hundred and fifty years between 1780 and 1930, governmental assistance provided to veterans was limited to pensions awarded to Union soldiers after the Civil War, land grants bestowed on Revolutionary War veterans, and cash bonuses endowed on World
However, after World War II, the GI Bill provided tuition as well as living stipends, among other components, for any veteran who had served in the United States armed forces for ninety days or more after September 16, 1940 (Reagan “Roosevelt Signs”). This made higher education accessible to a wide variety of people. Veterans recognized the importance of college education and, as a result, the number of veterans who took advantage of the educational benefits of the GI Bill exceeded all expectations (Olson 597). More specifically, 7.8 million veterans out of the 15.6 million eligible veterans gained a higher education because of GI Bill benefits (Reagan “Roosevelt Signs”). The massive amount of veterans who took advantage of the GI Bill’s provisions on education reinforces the idea that they saw college as a stepping stone to success. After achieving a college degree, veterans could then move on to finding a job, wife, and family, ultimately moving closer to the desire of attaining the American Dream. This term is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as “the belief that everyone in the US has the chance to be successful and happy if they work hard” (Cambridge English Dictionary “Definition of ‘the American Dream’...”). The veterans also recognized that the opportunity to succeed was because they had risked their life fighting
They used different weapons. They had the drafting table instead of the draft board. They used their new skills to later take us to the moon. GI Bill guys were behind that. Same with the Internet, with the invention of computers.” Veterans educated under the GI Bill took more risks and were more ambitious in their lives and career goals than other students that previously dominated college campuses. After veterans graduated from college and entered the workforce, they were not afraid of taking risks. This was because whatever economic challenge they faced was nothing compared to the life and death situations faced in war. Compared to veterans, the elites who dominated higher education before the war may not have taken as big risks because they did not have as many global experiences as the veterans. Veterans tend to be more disciplined, due to their military experience and training, than their non-veteran counterparts and, therefore, have strong time management skills (Kness “A Guide to Master’s”). Time management skills are highly desirable in the public sector and made veterans appealing applicants for a wide variety of jobs. Veterans also had an advantage over their peers due to their diverse perspectives. Instead of one perspective from one group of people, as the