--- description: On the anniversary of the momentous legislation's signing, a look at a group of veterans who benefited from the bill. title: How the G.I. Bill Changed the Face of Higher Education in America image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0edc4a273cc961f9/698853c9524fc04063df307e/150609-veterens-college-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How the G.I. Bill Changed the Face of Higher Education in America  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 2:01 PM CUTPublished: Jun 22, 2015 1:00 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. Student veteran Donald Sonius (right) takes a walk across the Iowa campus with daughter Karen and friend Charles Smayda, also a veteran. Caption from LIFE. Student veteran Donald Sonius (right) takes a walk across the Iowa campus with daughter Karen and friend Charles Smayda, also a veteran.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 2:01 PM CUTPublished: Jun 22, 2015 1:00 PM CUT On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, better known as the G.I. Bill. Fearing the consequences of millions of veterans returning from war to scarce employment and housing opportunities, Roosevelt passed the legislation to offer unemployment compensation, home and business loans and tuition support. This last benefit—money to put toward a college education—had unprecedented impacts on veterans and the higher education system alike. Recognizing the swiftly changing face of the American college student, LIFE published an extensive cover story in 1947 about student veterans, who had come to make up more than 50% of the college population in a very short time. LIFE sent photographer Margaret Bourke-White to the State University of Iowa, where 6,000 students—a whopping 60% of the school—had served in World War II. One-third of them married, veterans were put up in cramped trailers. Many of them worked second jobs as taxi drivers or soda jerks and came home to study as toddlers tugged at their textbooks. LIFE described how the situation was changing the learning environment: --- > “” --- While the G.I. Bill was undoubtedly a major contributor to the prosperity of the 1950s, it was not without its flaws. For one thing, its enforcement had the consequence of limiting spots for female college applicants. For another, African-American veterans, though entitled to the same benefits the legislation afforded, met with de facto discrimination that often rendered those benefits less meaningful. For the students at Iowa and their counterparts across the country who were not excluded from the bill’s provisions, access to higher education meant the chance to build a life after war. Asked by LIFE if they did the right thing going to college, “every one of the students answered, _Yes_.”  From the April 21, 1947 issue on student veterans, photos by Margaret Bourke-White. LIFE Magazine _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  April 21, 1947 cover of LIFE magazine. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine  Caption from LIFE. Student veteran Donald Sonius (right) takes a walk across the Iowa campus with daughter Karen and friend Charles Smayda, also a veteran. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Freshman Keith Peterson, 20, of Williamsburg, Iowa sits in his trailer beside his wife, who is holding his son. Keith Jr. Peterson served in the Navy as a cook, is now majoring in physical education. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. The trouble with a trailer as a place to study is shown here. Charles Smayda, 24, a graduate zoology assistant, tries to work while Ginny, his wife irons. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Graduate student Leroy Botkin, 25, of Denver, Ill. and his wife Edith have a 2-year-old daughter, Nancy Lee. Botkin served in the Pacific as radar officer on a Navy attack transport, now studies mathematics for M.A. degree. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A veteran spends time with his child. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Painting the pavements of the Iowa campus with advertisements for their lecture notes, members of a student note-taking organization offer verbatim notes of lectures in the history of ideas course for 5 cents. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Veterans at the University of Iowa, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Students in class at the University of Iowa, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Members of a student note-taking organization, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Students study on the steps at the University of Iowa, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A veteran holds his child on his shoulders, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Studying in cramped quarters. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Saturday wash is hung on the line behind the trailer camp by Bill Unsicker. Bill was a Navy officer, his wife was a Wave who worked with him, They married after the war, get along better than most veteran families because of their combined subsistence pay. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Law-school junior Miles Chenault, 24, and Phyllis, his wife, pose proudly with Steven, their 6-month-old son. Miles helps out his $90 government subsistence pay with a $26-a-week job as a salesman in a supply store. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children on campus at the University of Iowa, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In large lectures everyone now has a seat. Last term classes were overcrowded but seating was solved by breaking large classes up into smaller sections having more sessions per day. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Classroom etiquette is much less formal than it used to be. Pat Callaghan, 20 (left), a sophomore veteran, takes his black cocker spaniel, Timmy O'Toole to all of his classes. Here Timmy licks his chops during a class in the history of religion. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Bachelor veterans serve Sunday dinner in their Iowa City rooming house which they call the "Scaly Arms." Five of them live in a five-room apartment. Unmarried students cannot live in trailers, must rent rooms or live in college dormitories. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Surprise party, with coffee and home-baked cake, is given in the trailer of Donald Sonius (right) to celebrate his 26th birthday. Sonius was a Navy pharmacist's mate, is now a senior preparing for the University of Iowa medical school. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Outtake from student veterans photo essay, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Outtake from student veterans photo essay, 1947. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3915231/student-veterans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3915231/student-veterans/"},"headline":"How the G.I. 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