Poll: Troops using Post-9/11 GI Bill

While the Post-9/11 GI Bill allows eligible service members to transfer their education benefits to a spouse or children, most troops and veterans of every stripe plan to use the vast majority of the benefits for themselves, a new poll suggests.

Whether officers or enlisted personnel, high-ranking or low-ranking, male or female, soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines, a majority of those surveyed in every category said they have used, or will use, 70 percent or more of their Post-9/11 benefits for themselves.

The poll, conducted by Excelsior College, also underscored the importance of military tuition assistance, a benefit for active-duty service members that has faced an uncertain future since several branches of the military suspended it this spring, only to have Congress force its reinstatement for the rest of the fiscal year.
However it’s paid for, agreement about the importance of a college degree is near-universal: 93 percent among active duty and vets combined. Jerry Lindsley, president of the Center for Research and Public Policy, which conducted the Excelsior College Patriot Poll, said he’s glad to see such a high interest in education. But it also presents challenges.

“You’re downsizing the military, and you’ve got 96.3 percent [of active duty troops] suggesting that a college degree is important,” Lindsley said. “Are the colleges, like Excelsior, prepared and ready for a downsized military who’s going to be out there looking for an education?”

"The poll was conducted online between July 15 and Aug. 5, sampling the opinions of 864 current and former service members nationwide, according to officials who worked on the poll. Military Times assisted in developing some survey questions. It has a 3.5 percent margin of error."

The margin of error increases to 5 percent when veterans and active duty service members are considered separately, and it increases further with additional demographic breakdowns.

Ryan Gallucci, deputy legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, cautioned against drawing definitive conclusions on the data related to who uses Post-9/11 themselves and who passes the benefit to dependents.

Is word getting out?

Despite the array of education benefits available to service members, two-thirds identified cost as a “primary barrier” keeping them from achieving additional education.

Veterans service organizations reported hearing about such problems from their members, and the groups cited rising college costs and the lack of in-state tuition at some public schools as likely culprits.
In a written statement, VA spokesman Randy Noller touted the Post-9/11 GI Bill as offering “an outstanding opportunity for students, with generous benefits.”

The statement also detailed the department’s efforts to make vets aware of the educational benefits available to them, including the 888-GIBILL-1 hotline.