Inside Higher Ed has a great article on the recently-passed GI Bil updates which are includes in an War Spending Bill.  Click here to read the entire article.  Here’s an excerpt:

Despite a veto threat from President Bush and with the presumptive Republican candidate to replace him in absentia, the U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would dramatically enhance educational benefits for veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it did so, supporters of the measure were quick to note, by a margin (75-22) that could comfortably override the president’s veto. The legislation will now go back to the House, which passed a parallel bill last month but failed to muster a similar veto-proof margin.
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veterans who have served on active duty since September 11 would receive payments covering tuition — up to the cost of in-state tuition at the most expensive public college in a veteran’s state — room, board, fees, and educational costs, plus a $1,000 monthly stipend. That is significantly more than former service members are now eligible to receive under the current Montgomery GI Bill, which was enacted in peacetime and does not come close to covering the cost of attending the typical public university.
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President Bush has promised to veto the supplemental spending bill, mainly because it contains billions of dollars for domestic programs (including the veterans’ education benefits) that he argues has no place in a supplemental spending bill designed to provide funds for the war. The White House’s Statement of Administrative Policy expressing its opposition to the measure sought to make clear that the administration supports expanding educational benefits for veterans, citing its support of an alternative measure introduced last month by Sen. John McCain of Arizona and other Republican leaders.