WASHINGTON — The Post-9/11 GI Bill has been formally put on the chopping block in effort to free up funds needed to cover roughly $108 billion worth of student loans being forgiven by the federal government, sources confirmed today.

While millions of debt-saddled young college graduates breathed a sigh of relief, the Department of Defense announced that as of January 1, 2018, the GI Bill will be no more – meaning service members and veterans alike will have to cough up their own money for higher education.

The move comes as Congress and student veteran groups had been debating an improvement to the current GI Bill program which would have "taxed" troops out of their paycheck to pay for higher education. Instead, leaders decided to get rid of the entire program in favor of helping everyone except veterans, in keeping with standard operating procedure.