Barack Obama supports the 21st Century GI Bill, which would increase education funding for troops. Under the bill, service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan would receive a full-ride scholarship to any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend and a stipend for text books. These benefits would be available to individuals who serve the military for at least three years.

Senator Obama, from a speech in Charleston, WV:

According to Obama, “At a time when the skyrocketing cost of tuition is pricing thousands of Americans out of a college education, we should be doing everything we can to give the men and women who have risked their lives for this country the chance to pursue the American Dream." [1]

Currently, college costs covered by the military amount to approximately 60 percent at a public college, and far less at a private institution.

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[1] Barack Obama, Speech in Charleston, WV May 12, 2008