It began in 1944 as one of the finest pieces of legislation America has ever seen — the GI Bill of Rights, which was authored by a Kansas American Legion leader, Harry Colmery.

Now, a new and updated GI Bill has been established. Department of Veterans Affairs officials say the new legislation will enable 460,000 or more veterans to start or continue their college studies. This not only will help many of them prepare to deal with a revised and struggling economy but will benefit many schools, such as Kansas University, which are struggling to make ends meet and need more enrollees.

Many schools, as was done after World War II, will allow credit for schooling veterans received while on active duty. There will be wide use of the Internet. Park University in Parkville, Mo., will offer courses in critical thinking and personal finance to “help them get back into the swing of learning.” Schools already are selecting “directors of veterans affairs” on the order of the KU department once headed by the late Dr. E.R. Elbel. Few will do as good a job as he did, former students will attest.

After its 1944 inception, the GI Bill allowed millions of people to get the “full ride” through various schools, depending on their length of service. The current bill picks up about 70 percent of the cost at a public college and about 30 percent at a private school. The modern program is considerably more complicated than the 1940s plan but it makes a genuine effort to reward people who have served us, often under treacherous conditions in combat.

Enrollments now will be nowhere what they were in 1947 when veterans made up almost 50 percent of college enrollments. Nationally, 7.8 million veterans trained at colleges, trade schools and in business and agriculture training programs. The GI Bill made low-interest home loans available and helped boost the U.S. economy by building or helping purchase thousands of homes.

Some opponents of the Colmery legislation feared that college campuses would be turned into tent cities and that promised benefits, which eventually resulted, were only pipe dreams. Yet that first GI Bill created the largest middle class in the world. Its outreach hit all segments of society and gave college educations to millions who never could have done it on their own — and who might have caused serious social problems without the postwar jobs and training their studies made possible.

The cost of that original legislation? It has been estimated at about $14 billion, which has paid off a hundredfold over the years. A great tradition of helping former service personnel get educated and employed was established 65 years ago, and it is outstanding to find that philosophy continuing so that modern armed forces people also will benefit from a nation’s gratitude.