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 updated bill was created with the intent of improving previous versions of the bill and the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) which is now defunct. 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. After the Senate's vote, the bill was signed into law by President Donald Trump .
4-550: The official name of the bill is for Harry W. Colmery who is credited with being the author of the original GI Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944). 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. Some of the changes were positive, although some changes reduced coverage and/or eligibility. The most impactful 15 include: There are several lesser known changes that include: A 2021 study published by
8-827: 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. According to the authors "All veterans who were already enrolled in college at the time of bill passage increase their months of schooling, but only for those in public institutions did this translate into increases in bachelor’s degree attainment and longer-run earnings. For specific groups of students, large subsidies can modestly help degree completion but harm long run earnings due to lost labor market experience." Harry W. Colmery Harry W. Colmery (December 11, 1890 – August 23, 1979)
12-724: The University of Pittsburgh in 1916, and was admitted to the Utah bar in 1917. Colmery served in the United States Army Air Service during World War I as an instructor and pursuit pilot. He was honorably discharged on April 24, 1919. Colmery married his college sweetheart, Minerva Harriet Hiserodt, on December 20, 1919. They had three children: Mary, Harry W., Jr., and Sarah Elizabeth. The Colmery-O'Neil Veterans Administration Hospital in Topeka, Kansas ,
16-675: Was an American attorney who served as the National Commander of The American Legion from 1936 to 1937. Considered an architect of the G.I. Bill , he was the first past national commander to earn the Legion's Distinguished Service Medal in 1975. Born in North Braddock, Pennsylvania to Walter and Flora Colmery, Harry Walter Colmery was one of four children. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1913, from law school at
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