The Post 9/11 Veterans’ Educational Assistance Act of 2008, or more commonly known as the Post 9/11 GI Bill, was enacted on June 30, 2008, due to the passage of Public Law 110-252; it became effective on August 1, 2009. Unlike any previous GI Bills, what it did was provide up to 36 months of education benefits to individuals who served on active duty after September 10, 2001. The benefit included paid tuition at a public post-secondary education facility – usually a college or university (or a capped amount if attending a private or foreign school) – a monthly housing allowance and a yearly book stipend.
The Cost
And while Congress allocated $108 million for the program between 2009 and 2020, there never has been any hard data before on the effectiveness of the program. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is the largest of the GI Bills with it accounting for 70% of the total GI Bill participation and more than 80% of the spending since FY 2013. As far as participation, in FY 2022 alone, 600,000 veterans or family members using transferred benefits expended almost $10 billion (yes with a “b”) to attend some type of post-secondary education. But the question has always been is it the best bang for the buck? The report gives some insight into its effectiveness.
The Methodology
First, the report focused primarily on enlisted service members because 1) they represent the largest group of military members and 2) unlike officers, most enlisted members do not have post-secondary degrees and hence they are the group that can gain the most from using their Post 9/11 GI Bill.
Second, the report used the College List of Flagship Universities as part of their sample data. The list identifies one college per state as its flagship school.
Third, the report identified two samples of data which accounted for 1.3 million Post 9/11 GI Bill users for the information in the report:
- PGIB-Clearinghouse Users – Enlisted users who were eligible for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and received a payment from using their Post 9/11 GI Bill.
- PGIB-Clearinghouse Post-Separation Users – Enlisted veterans that had at least one enrollment record after getting out of the military.
Note: 96% of the eligible members came from the Post-Separation Users sample. While military members can use their Post 9/11 GI Bill while still serving, most use their Post 9/11 GI Bill after getting out.
Degree Completion Rates
Interestingly enough, veterans who used their Post 9/11 GI Bill and enrolled in a flagship college had a higher percentage of four-year degree completion than veterans who enrolled on non-flagship institutions. The data showed that for Post Separation group attending a flagship school, 60% completed their degrees within six years of separation vs 45% of non-flagship school attendees in the same sample group.
When the report looked at the financial information of the data, it found that of the non-veteran students who were financially dependent on their parents for their education funding, only 19% had earned a four-year bachelor’s degree after six years of starting college, vs the 60% and 45% respectively of veteran students using their Post 9/11 GI Bill. Thus, the data shows that Post 9/11 GI Bill students are completing their four-year degrees at a much higher rate than students who are either self-funding or financially dependent on their parents.
Earnings Difference
Next, the report looked at the difference in earnings of veterans using their Post 9/11 GI Bill at a flagship school vs those attending a non-flagship school. What it found from the 2019 W-2 earnings of that group were that Post 9/11 GI Bill users attending a flagship school earned 3% more than Post 9/11 GI Bill users attending non-flagship schools.
The report concluded that not only did enlisted veterans using their Post 9/11 GI Bill and attending a flagship school have a higher completion rate than their brethren attending a non-flagship school by 15%, but also a significantly higher completion rate that non-military students – 19% vs 45% and 60% respectively. The higher completion rate of flagship students in the Post Separation sample could be that flagship schools are generally funded at a higher rate than non-flagship schools and therefore can provide important services such as hands-on counseling and early intervention for struggling students, thus increasing the degree completion rate.
As far as earnings, flagship graduates in the Post Separation sample earned 3% more than others in the same group attending a non-flagship school. The additional earnings could be that employers perceive degrees from flagships schools as more valuable than ones from non-flagship schools and therefore pay employees more for having a degree from a flagship school.
The complete 25-page report has more interesting user data not covered in this article for readers wanting more statistics and information on the effectiveness of the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
