Literature Review #3

Dissent: A GI Bill For Everybody, by Adolph Reed Jr.
 
 In his article, Adolph Reed Jr. discuses how the GI Bill has benefited America. While it has helped veterans attend college it also benefited the economy as a whole. " The report also found that each dollar spent educating that 40 percent produced a $6.90 return (more than $267 billion in 1994 dollars) in national output due to extra education and increased federal tax revenues from the extra income the beneficiaries earned.” (Reed 54).


With the high returns coming from the GI Bill, one would expect the government to give more money towards higher education. Adolph Reed goes onto state that although the price of higher education has been rising, government aid has not been following suit. "By 1980, increasing concerns about rising costs had prompted increased government aid—covering more than 23 percent of tuition and fees nationally, though this increase hardly kept pace with increased costs. By 1996, such grants had declined and covered less than 12 percent of total tuition and fees.” (Reed 56).

He goes on to question why the government has done so little for the common citizen that it has done for its soldiers. "
A 1999 report from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics indicates that in 1996 tuition and fee revenues at all two-year and four-year degree-awarding public educational institutions totaled just over $23 billion.” (Reed 56). Although the government has been helping citizens its very little compared to the amount spent on veterans. "By 1952, the federal government had spent $7 billion (nearly $39 billion in 1994 dollars) on sending veterans to college.” (Reed 54)
This article helps support the research in my project by proving that although the government has been helping its citizens pay for higher education, it cannot be compared to the amount being put in for veterans.

Adolph Reed Jr. is a professor of political science at University of Pennsylvania and specializes in American politics. He has taught and written about economical inequality in the United States.  

Reed, Adolph Jr. "A GI Bill For Everybody." Dissent (00123846) 48.4 (2001): 53-58. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Literature Review #2

Making Higher Education Affordable: Policy Design in Postwar America, by Patricia Strach

In her article, Patricia Strach discuses different policies which have been passed by congress to help make higher education affordable. She goes on to talk about the GI Bill, Work-Study program, Pell Grants and Hope and Lifetime credit.

She introduces when the need of these policies were first created. In 1943 due to the selective service act, which lowered the draft age to 19, many students had to enlist into the military causing them to drop out of college. When congress decided to raise the issue of helping its citizens attend college they were given the option of either helping everybody or only a portion of its population. “But faced with the opportunity to make higher education affordable to Americans generally or to please a specialized constituency, policymakers chose to provide very generous benefits to a narrow range of people. This decision would create a pattern of constituency-based aid that characterizes federal higher education programs still today.”(Strach 70)

Later in her article she states that by congress deciding to help only a select few, it set the limits for all future policies regarding affordable higher education. "In large part, what policymakers would propose in the years following the GI Bill was limited by the capacities already in place. Although policymakers looked to the GI Bill for inspiration, at no point was there any discussion of extending, modifying, or combining the GI benefits with the Higher Education Act, Pell Grants, or later tax expenditures.” (Strach 71)

All future policies that were created were new and based off of the GI Bill that it only targeted a select group of citizens, instead of helping the total population. "Respectively, the 1944 GI Bill effectively ended the possibility of a GI Bill for everyone. Creating aid for higher education for a particular group (veterans) administered by a specialized agency (VA) contributed to a patchwork quilt for educational aid, where future programs (like work-study. Pell Grants, and the Hope Scholarship) were added one piece at a time for a particular group administered by a specialized agency rather than expanding existing programs or formulating a comprehensive plan.”(Strach 70)
 
This article helps my research as it shows the several policies that have been passed by congress to help make higher education affordable. It helps me compare the GI Bill to several other policies and how over the years that only members who qualify for the GI Bill are helped more than those benefiting from other programs. 
Patricia Strach is an associate professor at University of Albany. She specializes in American politics and public policy. Her research examines the relationship between social and political institutions in American public policy

STRACH, PATRICIA. "Making Higher Education Affordable: Policy Design In Postwar America." Journal Of Policy History 21.1 (2009): 61-88. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Bibliography

Bibliography Cited:

 

McGrevey, Michael, et al. "Chapter 15. 1987-Present Effect Of The Montgomery GI Bill: Creating A Recruiting And Educational Incentive." Across the Aisle : The Seven-Year Journey of the Historic Montgomery GI Bill. 154. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2011. Project MUSE. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Moon, Tracey L., and Geraldine A. Schma. 2011. A proactive approach to

serving military and veteran students. New Directions for Higher Education, no.

153. Wiley Online Library. Accessed May 10, 2012.

Reed, Adolph Jr. "A GI Bill For Everybody." Dissent (00123846) 48.4 (2001): 53-58. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 23 Oct. 2014

STRACH, PATRICIA. "Making Higher Education Affordable: Policy Design In Postwar America." Journal Of Policy History 21.1 (2009): 61-88. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=44122934&site=eds-live

Vacchi, David. "Considering Student Veterans on the Twenty-first-century College Campus." About Campus, 18 June 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/abc.21075/citedby.

 Vacchi, David T., and Joseph B. Berger. "Student Veterans In Higher Education." Higher Education: Handbook Of Theory & Research: Volume 29 (2014): 93. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Literature Review Blog #1 Post #3

About Campus "Considering Student Veterans on the Twenty First Century College Campus" written by David T. Vacchi.


In this article, David Vacchi explains who veteran students are and their transitions from soldier to student. He states that there is confusion about classifying who a student veteran is and goes on to give his classification of a student veteran “A student veteran is any student who is a current or former member of the active duty military, the National Guard or Reserves, regardless of deployment status, combat experience, legal veteran status or GI Bill use” (Page 17, Vacchi 17).

Veteran students don't have the same financial struggles that plague other traditional students. With the help of the government, veterans are covered by the GI Bill when its come to paying for college. Some colleges though haven't made the proper accommodations when it comes to accepting GI Bill tuition money. Most traditional student are required to pay for classes before the beginning of the semester, which isn't as always possible for veteran students. “Administrators must acknowledge the inflexibility of the federal government’s fiscal year and plan to accommodate student veterans using the GI Bill by not expecting payments until well after the first day in October during the fall semester” (Page 20, Viacchi).

There are many problems for schools when it comes to accepting veterans that traditional students don't face. Most traditional students applying to college are coming straight from secondary school and are up to date with tests and forms. Veteran students typically are coming at an older age years since they have graduated from secondary school. “The list of entrance obstacles for veterans is greater than nonveteran students. The perceived relevance of entrance test scores for veterans who completed high school several years in the past and for admissions personnel may be very different” (Page 19, Viacchi).

This article helps my counter argument, by arguing that although student veterans have less stress to handle when it comes to paying for college, they have many more factors of stress that follows them from the battle field, and lack of accommodations made by universities. Other factors that this article state, is that not all colleges are able to accommodate veterans and will look be less inclined into accepting them as students.

David Vacchi is a doctoral student at UMass-Amherst, researching the impact of college on student veterans. He retired as a U.S officer who has served for twenty years in the U.S military.

Vacchi, David. "Considering Student Veterans on the Twenty-first-century College Campus." About Campus, 18 June 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/abc.21075/citedby>.

Research Blog #3: Privitization and its effects on G.I Bill students.

         The recent privatization of universities has had less impacts on students coming out of the military than their traditional student peers.  As prices are rising and traditional students keep taking out loans, students coming out of the military simply forward the bill to Uncle Sam. The pressure and stress that traditional students are feeling from their financial burdens aren't felt by those who attend university on the governments behalf.

      There are many traditional students currently studying in colleges who are balancing a full course load and at the same time keeping themselves financially afloat. In "Walden on Wheels" Walden, a graduate student at Duke University, resorts to sleeping in his car to keep himself debt free. He worried so much about his debt and how it would effect him, as it has effected his friends. The average student attending college who served in the U.S Military doesn't face these same challenges.

    Universities are actively pursuing soldiers who are discharging from the army, and persuading them to attend their respective university. There are some for profit colleges that have even visited hospitals of wounded veterans to sign them up for classes. Universities see these students as a risk free investment.  

    Soldiers coming out of the army are given practically free tuition to universities across the United States. The government helps pay their tuition, and various bills that they will accumulate on top of the money they earned while serving. 

   To universities, a student who wishes to attend their college that has recently left the army, is guaranteed money. They will attract as many ex-soldiers as they can and reap the benefits from Uncle Sam. 

Research Blog #2: Scouting the Territory

1)  Since researching my subject, I decided to mostly focus on the G.I bill, conscription in the United States and in other foreign countries. I decided on these two subjects as they have a correlation between students attending school, and the government providing funds for its soldiers. This topic will suit me better as I have some experience and prior knowledge when it comes to be conscripted into the army, and being given a stipend education as benefit.

2) While searching online for my subject, I came across several sources for my research paper. I found information on the G.I Bill, and lists of countries that require their citizens to either enlist into the military or some other form of national service. I was able to find many sources that mentioned how different countries paid back its conscripted citizens, which will be the epicenter of my research paper.

3) Most articles that I found through Rutgers Library mostly focused on the G.I bill and the benefits they offer to active and discharged soldiers. I am hoping that I will be able to pull up some information about the draft in the United States and how its correlation to how it played a roll in educating returning soldiers in the 1960's and 1970's.

4) The important issues that came up in my research was the argument if the United States should re-enact the draft or mandate a different national service one that was founded in the New Deal from the great depression. Communities are discussing that by re-enacting the draft, will the government step up and help reduce the price of education.

5) Two links that helped provide me with information were https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2024.html . This website helped with showing which countries have any form of national service. Along with http://www.studyineurope.eu/tuition-fees, I was able to compare which countries have any form of national service and see if it has any correlation with its cost of education.

6) The main controversy regarding my topic are those who oppose mandating a mandatory draft for the military or national service and those who are for it. Those who are against, argue that not every person should have to sign up and do national service in exchange for cheaper education. Those who support the issue say they wish that there were more opportunities to receive a stipend education by doing some form of national service