Iraq War veterans who joined up to fund their college careers are returning stateside to find that money doesn't appear to exist. As a Cal Poly student, former Marine Reservist Evan Aanerud received $430 each month G.I. Bill benefits for his education. He says that pays for about a quarter of his book costs. Kellen McGee, a full-time Marine infantryman for four years, gets the maximum G.I. Bill benefits, $1,100 each month, to help pay for his education at the public University of Pittsburgh. That covers about 70 percent.

So forget about Harvard, kids. If you're willing to lay down your life for your country, we're willing to lay down some of what you'll need for chemistry lab costs.

When the G.I. Bill was originally passed after World War II, it paid for vet education whole-sale. Historians often credit the bill with really making college accessible and building up the nation's educated middle class in the mid-century. But between rising tuition costs and simply a lack of attention to the problem, many vets are now getting seriously screwed over. That's why Senator Jim Webb has introduced a new bill to, he says, create the "Next Greatest Generation."

"I looked at the World War II veterans in the Senate — we have five — and tried to compare what they were able to get with what our veterans get today," Senator Webb said. "Senator [Frank] Lautenberg, who is a co-sponsor on our bill, was able to go to Columbia [University] on a full boat after WWII. This Montgomery GI Bill wouldn't pay 15 percent of that cost today."

Insanely enough, there's actually some strong opposition to the bill from (surprise!) the Bush administration. They say giving out more money for higher education would hurt the military's "retention rate" of recruits. Because, apparently, it's more advantageous to have a generation of soldiers than a generation of college graduates...