The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-48), commonly known as the "Forever GI Bill", eliminated the 15-year use-it-or-lose-it constraint associated with the Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefit.
The bill, called the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2017, flew through both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the span of three weeks, passing both by unanimous votes.
[2] The Forever GI Bill includes 34 provisions, 15 of which have the most substantial impact on the greatest number of servicemen, veterans, their dependents, and their beneficiaries.
The most impactful 15 include: There are several lesser known changes that include: A 2021 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicates that the GI Bill has had limited value, and in some cases may be less valuable for veterans than working after leaving military service.
For specific groups of students, large subsidies can modestly help degree completion but harm long run earnings due to lost labor market experience.