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The Educational Attainment
of Veterans: 2007
Kelly Ann Holder
Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division
Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch
Kelly.A.Holder@census.gov
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Background
•
In 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the original GI Bill into law. The legislation was
meant to ensure that returning combat veterans would be able to afford an education.
•
The success of the 1944 GI Bill prompted the government to offer similar programs to later
generations of veterans. These programs include the Veteran’s Adjustment Act of 1952, the
Veteran’s Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966, the Veteran’s Educational Assistance Program, and
the Montgomery GI Bill.
•
A new GI Bill was signed into law in June 2008. This new benefit will cover the full cost of education
at any public school in the country and many private schools. The benefits under the new GI Bill will
go into effect on August 1, 2009.
• With the passage of a new GI Bill, an analysis of the current school enrollment and educational
attainment of veterans is not only timely, but also relevant as a baseline for future studies of the
impact of such legislation. This short visual essay—bar charts, maps, and text—will include
comparisons of veterans and nonveterans as well as comparisons of male and female veterans.
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The ACS collects detailed
person-level data from a
national sample of 3 million
households each year.
Data for the ACS are collected
continuously throughout the
year.
The 2007 sample includes the
household population as well
as the population living in
group quarters.
The universe for this analysis is
the civilian population 18
years and older.
Active-duty military members
are excluded.
A veteran is defined as a man
or woman who served on
active duty in the U.S. Armed
Forces.
A nonveteran has never
served on active duty in the
U.S. Armed Forces.
Data Source : 2007 American Community Survey (ACS)
About the Data
Descriptive statistics only are
used in this analysis.
All comparative figure