RALEIGH - President Bush recently signed into law the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008, better known as the 21st Century GI Bill. Passed by Congress with bipartisan support, this legislation expands access to education in a way that stands to benefit not only veterans but Americans in general.

As Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the law's principal sponsor, has stated, the 21st Century GI Bill promises to be a "strong economic tonic." It does so by addressing a curious paradox in American education: While our post-industrial economy increasingly depends on individuals' willingness to acquire advanced knowledge and skills, for many people the cost of obtaining an education beyond high school is no longer affordable.

Specifically, the new GI Bill offers free postsecondary education to military veterans serving three or more years of active duty since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It will fully cover tuition and fees at in-state public universities and match additional financial aid from participating private institutions, provide up to $1,000 annually for textbooks and pay a stipend based on local housing costs.

Unlike current veterans' payments, which have fallen behind the rapidly escalating price of higher education, the new benefits will be indexed to college costs.

In addition, the law's Yellow Ribbon program allows long-serving active duty personnel to transfer their education benefits to spouses and children -- a last-minute amendment that addresses critics' concerns about possible adverse effects on re-enlistments. Also included are benefits for reservists, members of the National Guard and those serving shorter tours of active duty.

The 21st Century GI Bill will take effect on Aug. 1, 2009, at which point an estimated 1.5 million men and women will be eligible to receive its benefits.

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AS THE HOME TO LARGE NUMBERS OF VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES, North Carolina is expected to be among the states most directly affected. But the full extent of the law's effect will depend on a series of decisions that each veteran will make.

First, it remains to be seen whether even the enhanced benefits will be attractive enough for veterans to forgo full-time paychecks in order to pursue further education or training. Under the current version of the GI Bill, fewer than 10 percent of those eligible claim the entire education benefit. And even though college graduation carries significant economic rewards, the proportion of Americans completing four-year degrees has not increased much in recent decades.

Men, in particular, have been reluctant participants in higher education and now account for only 43 percent of undergraduate enrollments.

Second, even if most veterans do take advantage of the benefits, it is not clear what types of schooling they will pursue. Though the law will pay only for approved programs, the numbers and varieties of such programs are extensive. North Carolina alone has 179 approved institutions, including research universities, community colleges, seminaries and Bible colleges, online universities, technical institutes and job-training centers.

Currently, the most popular destinations for veterans are for-profit virtual universities, which advertise heavily on military-oriented Web sites and which are geared to part-time students. One problem could be a flood of content-thin programs created expressly to capitalize on the law's generous provisions. Such was the case with the original World War II GI Bill, which led Congress to tighten standards and reduce benefits for Korean and Vietnam War veterans.

These issues notwithstanding, the larger message of the new GI Bill is that the nation continues to honor and reward those who undertake the burdens of wartime military service. In earlier times, the rewards sometimes took the form of land grants or pensions. Today, veterans are offered a chance to prepare themselves to compete successfully in a global economy that demands ever-increasing levels of knowledge and skill.

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