The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides educational assistance to veterans and certain dependents. Veterans have had educational benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs since World War II, but no prior GI bill programmes have been as comprehensive or administratively complex. Covered benefits include all tuition and fees at any public institution, or a fixed amount for private or foreign schools, and a housing allowance for 36 months. This analysis describes beneficiaries' spending and programme choices from 2013 through 2016. The average annual payment during that time was $17,100. The most popular programmes were for 4-year undergraduate degrees. The Department of Veterans Affairs spent an average of $11 billion annually on the programme from 2013 to 2016. The concluding discussion addresses several of the benefit's often competing objectives for three groups: the military, the veteran beneficiaries, and the taxpayer.