North Carolina’s attorney general and 51 others nationwide from both sides of the aisle have asked an appeals court to protect veterans’ rights to receive the full educational benefits available to them after they serve in the U.S. Military.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson served in Afghanistan, and said he went to law school on the GI bill – and the educational opportunity afforded by the program changes lives for veterans and their families.
Congress has created different programs to help provide education and training for veterans. The Montgomery GI bill covers education for service members who have served at least two years of active duty. The Post-9/11 GI bill covers education and training expenses for service members who have served on active duty after September 10, 2001.
Last April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that if a veteran qualifies for educational benefits under both bills, then they are entitled to both benefits for up to a total of four years.
But the Attorneys General argue that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs violated the ruling and denied the full value to two veterans and urge the court to reinstate these benefits for all veterans.
North Carolina is home to more than 600,000 veterans and, in 2022 alone, more than 17,000 veterans in the state were going to school with GI bill benefits.
