The overwhelmingly majority of Americans believe that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are not getting the educational benefits they need or deserve, and an even more significant percentage support an update to the current GI Bill to give student-veterans more and better access to such benefits.

These are the major findings of a new national survey commissioned by The Campaign for a New GI Bill and conducted by Whitman Insight Strategies, the prominent New York based strategic research firm. The survey of 1,000 registered voters has a margin of error of plus/minus 3.1%.

“The current G.I. Bill is depriving far too many of our troops returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts of the same educational opportunities that I and some eight million other Americans so greatly benefited from,” said Jerome Kohlberg, legendary financier & World War II veteran who is founder and chairman of The Campaign for a New G.I. Bill. “Today’s student veterans have sacrificed so much for our country. Why should they have to sacrifice their college education when they return from the battlefield. In fact, America has a solemn obligation to them.”

Kohlberg went to college on the original “free ride” G.I. Bill, which, at the time, fully paid for a U.S. veteran’s higher educational pursuits. It allowed him to receive his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, a business degree from Harvard, and a law degree from Columbia. This paved the way for Mr. Kohlberg’s very successful career in which he became a pioneer in the investments industry as the senior founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

“No matter what respondents views of the war on terror, one thing is crystal clear—American voters want our returning veterans to have the same opportunities as past veterans did,” said Matthew Boulay, Director of The Campaign for a New GI Bill.

“In a year when there have been so many candidate debates, forums, and rallies, we believe it’s time that veterans’ issues, particularly education and health care, should be a focus of our next President,” Boulay said. “After the attention paid to pastors, fundraisers, flag pins, spouses, and rhetoric, we believe it’s high time for our candidates to state clearly their position on issues affecting the men and women of the Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard who have served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Each presidential candidate should tell our vets what they can expect when they return from duty.”

Among the survey’s major findings are:

- 81% of Americans say that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting enough support in transitioning back to civilian life.

- 91% of Americans support providing these veterans with a funded college education for their service.

- While 85% of Americans believe that the original GI Bill of 1944 was fair to returning World War II veterans, 67% say that the current GI Bill is not fair and 3 out of 4 say that it doesn’t do enough for veterans.

- More than 8 of 10 Americans support a comprehensive 21st Century GI Bill.

- 91% of Americans agree that the government should make good on its promise to help veterans get a college education and that we should reward current heroes like we rewarded those in the past

- 83% of Americans believe that a new 21st Century GI Bill will benefit America. (94% of Americans say that the original GI Bill was a good idea, and 91% believe it benefited America).

The Campaign for a New GI Bill is a 501-C-4 non-partisan organization set up to promote a new, fair deal for today’s veterans. For more information, go to the web site www.NewGIBill.org. For a copy of the full survey, contact Bruce Bobbins or Bill Cunningham at Dan Klores Communications, 212-685-4300.

Military vets who joined up in order to pay for school find their benefits barely cover cost of books.

Evan Aanerud didn't think he'd have to work full time to put himself through school. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves to fulfill two childhood dreams: to serve his country and to go to college. The 24-year-old's dad was a recruiter for the Corps, so he'd heard of the GI Bill, the program that provides money for education to veterans, and he knew from the ads he saw on television that the military would help him pay for college.

"When I came back from Iraq, I was surprised with the amount of money I ended up getting from the GI Bill," he said. That amount was $282 a month when Evan was at a community college. When he transferred to California Polytechnic State University and the rules surrounding his GI Bill benefit changed, he got $430 a month. "That's about the cost of one-quarter of the books, and that's about all that I got," he said.

Matthew Boulay, Iraq War Veteran and Executive Director of the Campaign for a New GI Bill speaks at a bipartisan press conference, organized by the group, in support of S.22, a bipartisan new GI Bill.

Washington, D.C. – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) provided the following statement:

“More than sixty years have passed since the enactment of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the landmark legislation commonly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. Last Congress marked the 20th anniversary of the Montgomery G.I. Bill, an equally important measure that updated the original G.I. Bill. I strongly believe the time is right for a new G.I. Bill. “A number of different bills have been proposed to address the needs of our veterans. I believe that S. 22, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, is the best blue-print for a new system. Although there is more work to be done in improving G.I. Bill benefits for our veterans, I believe this bill puts us on the best path forward.

“My greatest concern is that this bill does not include a vital part of the original G.I. Bill, the home loan guarantee program. I will continue to work to address the housing concerns that are not addressed in Senator Webb’s bill. “I thank my Senate colleagues, particularly Senator Webb and Chairman Akaka, for their good work on this legislation and I pledge my cooperation to work with them in exploring all avenues to move this initiative forward.”

Contact Kristal DeKleer at (202) 225-9756

The GI Bill is high on the legislative agenda in Congress this year, with a number of proposals in play to improve the venerable education benefits program.

Suggestions range from giving all service members the right to transfer unused benefits to family members, to vastly improving payments to fully cover the costs of a four-year college or university.

Joseph Nannery of Fremont served eight years as a Marine before enlisting in the National Guard in 2001, and in March 2004, he was deployed as an infantry squad leader to Iraq.

When he returned home in February 2005, it had been 16 years since he attended school.

Working full time as a project analyst for a green residential building contractor in Santa Clara, he attends Ohlone College at night to fulfill his undergraduate requirements. He hopes to pursue a degree in environmental studies at San Jose State University. He would like to then earn a law degree.

But Nannery found that the GI Bill, set up after World War II to help veterans pay for college, was falling short.

Charles Schelberg might never have gone to college were it not for a rush of government generosity more than 60 years ago. Born into a family of fishermen on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Schelberg joined the Navy in World War II and spent two years aboard a destroyer escort in the Pacific. By the time he returned home in 1946, his father had died of pneumonia and the family financial situation, not good to begin with, had grown worse. Schelberg, now 82, says it was his luck that while he was at war Congress had passed legislation known as the GI Bill (officially the Servicemen's Readjustment Act). It paid full tuition for veterans at any public or private university along with housing, books and a $50 monthly stipend. "It was like pennies from heaven," he says. In three years, he got a bachelor's degree at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and was earning more than his father ever had.

Evan Aanerud had two dreams in life - to become a Marine, and to earn a college degree. While he fulfilled the first, by joining the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and serving in Iraq, the second has been more of a nightmare. The San Luis Obispo resident thought he could count on financial aid provided under the G.I. Bill, but was shocked to find out that reservists receive funding at a sharply reduced rate.

Evan is one of thousands of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan being shortchanged in their pursuit of a college education because of the severe restrictions and limitations of the current G.I. Bill. The sad reality is that while the cost of an education has increased, the benefits available to veterans have decreased.

Consider that the maximum educational benefit available to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is just $1,101 per month, or $39,636 over four years. Those veterans who served combat tours with the National Guard or Reserves are eligible for even less - typically just $440 per month. In contrast, the College Board reports that the average four-year public college costs more than $65,000 for an in-state student, while a private university costs upward of $133,000.

Halsey Bernard made it through a tour in Iraq as a machine gunner. The question for him now is will he make it through the University of Massachusetts.

More stories like thisIt isn't a question of academics for the 24-year-old Boston resident. It's about money - and about the obligation of a nation to its fighting men and women. Bernard, who served with the Second Battalion Eighth Marines in Nasariyah, Iraq, in 2003, is one of thousands of veterans who have returned from combat service only to find that their GI Bill college benefits fall far short of actual costs.

"What they tell you on TV and what the recruiters tell you when you go to sign up is: 'Don't worry. College is taken care of.' And it is not true," said Bernard. "Today it is a serious financial struggle and bureaucratic struggle and personal struggle to try to go to college after serving in combat."

In Iraq and Afghanistan they've battled insurgents and built schools. But when it comes to enrolling in school themselves, many of today's veterans are facing an unexpected fight – the fight to stay afloat amid mounting college costs.

It's time for a revamped GI Bill, say veterans' organizations and scores of US legislators. Like their World War II counterparts, the men and women making sacrifices in the "war on terror" should be rewarded with benefits that cover the full cost of education, they say. As a bonus to society, they tout the prospect of long-term economic gains and a steadier stream of good recruits.