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.