The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as the G.I. Bill, a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). It was passed in 1944 by a conservative coalition in Congress that want to reward practically all wartime veterans, as opposed to the Roosevelt administration that wanted a much smaller and more elitist program .The American Legion mobilized its members across the country and secured passage in June 1944. Benefits included cash payments of tuition and living expenses to attend high school, college or vocational/technical school, low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It was available to veterans who had been on active duty during the war years for at least 120 days and had not been dishonorably discharged—exposure to combat was not required.By 1956, roughly 2.2 million veterans had used the G.I. Bill education benefits in order to attend colleges or universities, and an additional 5.6 million used these benefits for some kind of training program
