Tuition Assistance Top-upUsed to be, if you chose to pursue higher education after military service, the military could pay up to 75% of tuition or expenses of the school. Not a bad deal, but eligible service members then had to find additional financing to pay remaining expenses. Look no further; the VA has found that support for you. On October 30, 2000, the President signed into law an amendment to the Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty program called the Tuition Assistance Top-up benefit.
With Top-up, the VA can now pay up to 100% of your tuition and expenses, up to DOD limits. If you're eligible for MGIB and your service branch does not pay 100% tuition and fees, Top-up can step up to pay the balance. That's a top-level plan.
Using Top-up is also a good deal if you use Tuition Assistance to complete a degree program while on active duty and don't plan to continue your education after service; you can choose to use your benefits right now. Top-up can also be helpful for taking just a few courses while on active duty; you can choose to save most of your MGIB to use after your service to complete a full education.
To be eligible for the Top-up benefit, you must be approved for Tuition Assistance by a military department and be eligible for MGIB-Active Duty benefits. You must be an MGIB - Active Duty participant and must have served at least 2 full years on Active Duty. The Top-up benefit is available for all courses that began on or after October 30, 2000. The Top-up program is not available at this time to persons who are eligible for the MGIB Selected Reserve program.
Top-up is limited to 36 months of payments which can be applied in a variety of ways towards a variety of educational opportunities, from full tuition or certain eligible courses. For example, if you enrolled in a 3-month course, Top-up could pay for that program, and you would be using only 3 of the 36 months in your total benefit.
The Top-up can even apply retroactively if you're eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill, back one year from the date your claim was/is received for training that began on or after October 30, 2000. Top-up can take up the slack in your tuition, or support a short-term education program while you're on active duty, or both.
Find GI Bill Rates for Your Home StateThis easy, 10-step cheat sheet will guide you through the new GI Bill:
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