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The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 or G. I. Bill created benefits for World War II veterans. The Bill enabled low-cost mortgages; business loans; cash payments for tuition, college expenses, and training programs; unemployment compensation; and other entitlements. The G.I. Bill led to the expansion of the middle class in the United States. By 1956, 2.2 million veterans possessed a college education; 6.6 million had completed a job-training program.
The Readjustment Act’s more popular name, G. I. Bill, resulted from the World War II acronym G. I. stamped on materials. This was short for Government Issue.
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Historians consider the G. I. Bill and the 1964 Civil Right Act two of the most significant pieces of legislation the U.S. Congress passed in the Twentieth Century.