Last month, while we noshed on southern-style fried chicken at a roadside eatery in Augusta, Ga., our upbeat waitress informed me she was joining the army to go to dentistry school. “Yeah, the military will pay my tuition, and then I’ll serve,” she explained. “It was a great career path for my dad.”

J.D. Vance, America’s vice-president-elect, tells a similar story. After high school, Vance enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Using the G.I. Bill — a law that provides benefits for military veterans — Vance went on to study at Ohio State University.