On the eve of Veterans Day, Gov. Mark Dayton and state Veterans Affairs Commissioner Larry Shellito on Thursday announced thousands more Minnesota veterans will be eligible for state “GI Bill” job-training benefits under an expanded program.

The current state GI Bill only applies to veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, and the families of deceased or disabled veterans. The expanded program will provide benefits to veterans who served before that date.

The unemployment rate for the 380,000 Minnesota veterans is between 8 1/2 percent and 16 percent, Dayton said at a Capitol news conference. “We owe them a chance to be successful for the rest of their lives.”

“We believe this will have a positive impact on the lives of all veterans in the state of Minnesota,” Shellito said.

The state appropriated $6 million for the GI Bill in the current two-year budget, but only $1.5 million is being used, Shellito said. The expanded program will be paid for from those existing funds.

The money can be used for any diploma or certificate program. Benefits are capped at $1,000 per semester, $3,000 per year or $10,000 in a lifetime.

Dayton also said he would ask the Legislature to provide permanent funding for military honor guards at veterans’ funerals. That money had been jeopardized by recent budget cuts, but the Veterans Affairs Department is providing discretionary funds to continue it. The program allocates $50 per burial to chartered veterans’ organizations that provide the honor guards.