Reply #1: The "scaling back" actually happened much earlier

[bluescribbler]

I'm a Vietnam Vet. I got out in 1972, and attended UMass from Fall, 1973, until Fall, 1977. At the time, I received only a lup sum, paid monthly while I was enrolled in school. There was a COLA adjustment each year, but the checks never amounted to as much as $300 a month. Granted, Massachusetts had a tuition waiver for Mass veterans who attended Mass public colleges, so UMass was affordable, but had I decided to go to Harvard, or even Northeastern, I don't know if I could have afforded it.

Same old story. Vets get screwed again.