Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008

Post-9/11 GI Bill

Other short titles	Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008
Long title	An Act making appropriations for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes
Enacted by	the 110th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	110-252
Statutes at Large	122 Stat. 2323 (2008)
Legislative history
Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 2642 by Chet Edwards (D–TX) on June 11, 2007 Committee consideration by United States House Committee on Appropriations Passed the House on June 15, 2007 (Yeas: 409; Nays: 2) Passed the Senate on September 6, 2007 (Yeas: 92; Nays: 1) Signed into law by President George W. Bush on June 30, 2008
United States Supreme Court cases
Rudisill v. McDonough, No. 22-888, 601 U.S. ___ (2024)

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 is Title V of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110–252 (text) (PDF), H.R. 2642, an Act of Congress which became law on June 30, 2008.^[1] The act amended Part III of Title 38, United States Code to include a new Chapter 33, which expands the educational benefits for military veterans who have served since September 11, 2001. At various times the new education benefits have been referred to as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the 21st Century G.I. Bill of Rights, or the Webb G.I. Bill, with many current references calling it simply the new G.I. Bill. President George W. Bush signed H.R. 2642 into law on June 30, 2008.^[2]

The law is an effort to pay for veterans' college expenses to a similar extent that the original G.I. Bill did after World War II. The main provisions of the act include funding 100% of a public four-year undergraduate education to a veteran who has served three years on active duty since September 11, 2001. The act also provides the ability for the veteran to transfer benefits to a spouse or children after serving (or agreeing to serve) ten years.

This bill was written, introduced and guided to passage by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, who introduced it on his first day in the Senate in January 2007. Webb's hope was that these benefits would help current veterans as much as the original G.I. Bill helped the Greatest Generation in shaping America.

The original Post-9/11 GI Bill's provisions went into effect on August 1, 2009.

In 2017, according to CBS News, approximately 40 percent of all GI Bill funds were distributed to for-profit colleges.^[3]