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Research ArticleArticles

From the Battlefield to the Schoolyard

The Short-Term Impact of the Post-9/11 GI Bill

Andrew Barr
Journal of Human Resources, July 2015, 50 (3) 580-613; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.50.3.580
Andrew Barr
Andrew Barr is an ABD graduate student in Economics at the University of Virginia. Seminar participants at the University of Virginia have provided many helpful comments. He is grateful to Sarah Turner, Leora Friedberg, Bill Johnson, and anonymous referees for very helpful suggestions
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Abstract

The Post-9/11 GI Bill brought about an enormous expansion in veteran education benefits, roughly doubling the average maximum benefit level and generating large variation in the magnitude of benefit expansion across states. Using this context, I explore how enrollment of older, nontraditional students responds to educational subsidies. The transition from a conditional cash transfer to a more in-kind benefit affects the relative prices of different types of education, pushing veterans to invest in more expensive (plausibly higher-quality) schooling. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, combined with state level variation in the degree of benefit expansion, I find that the higher level of benefits increased college enrollment of separated veterans by between 15 and 20 percent while also shifting the composition of enrollment toward four-year schools.

  • Received May 2013.
  • Accepted April 2014.
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Journal of Human Resources: 50 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 50, Issue 3
1 Jul 2015
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From the Battlefield to the Schoolyard
Andrew Barr
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2015, 50 (3) 580-613; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.50.3.580

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From the Battlefield to the Schoolyard
Andrew Barr
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2015, 50 (3) 580-613; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.50.3.580
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • I. Introduction
    • II. Veterans and Education Subsidies
    • III. Montgomery to the Post-9/11 GI Bill
    • IV. Theoretical Predictions
    • V. Data
    • VI. Estimation Strategy
    • VII. Results
    • VIII. Discussion and Conclusion
    • Acknowledgments
    • Appendix 1 Supplementary Figures and Tables
    • Footnotes
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