GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert Blog
by Jeffery Anderson
Hi Keven, You don’t have to be a full time student, but you do have to be more than a half time student to qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing stipend. The VA considers 12 credit hours per semester to be an average course load for an undergraduate degree program. In order to qualify for the housing allowance a student would have to carry more than 6 credit hours per semester so if you were carrying 7-9 per semester, you should be in good shape.
There is also another requirement that all of the courses being carried can’t be online classes. At least some of the courses you are taking must be taught in a classroom.
Graduate programs work a little differently under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The VA recognizes that graduate programs can differ greatly from major to major and from school to school. Because of this the VA allows the individual school determine what it feels an average course load should be for a graduate degree program in a particular major. You are going to have to contact the VA Certifying Official at the school you are planning to attend to find out what the average course load per semester is for whatever graduate degree program you are considering. Whatever it happens to be, as long as you are carrying more than half the credit hours for an average course load you should be in good shape for the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing stipend.
Also, remember that you can’t qualify for the housing allowance if you are still on active duty or using transferred Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits from a spouse who is still on active duty.
by Ron Kness
My question is what repercussions withdrawing will have on my benefits. Will I have to repay that portion of my tuition out of my own pocket to retake the class at a later date, or will I still be able to use my benefits to cover this class in a follow on quarter without paying out of my own pocket? Next week is the mid-term for this quarter.
I also fall under the Yellow Ribbon program as well and am curious if there is a formula that the school “should” use to have me make up the difference in the 50% in excess of the In-State tuition rate that they pay. Thank you in advance. – Lelia
Lelia, whether you have to pay back the VA for that Post 9/11 GI Bill course or not really depends on your reason for dropping the course. If you would have dropped it within the drop period, it probably would not have mattered as much, but since you are approaching mid-term, you are obviously beyond the drop time-frame.
If the reason is due to something beyond your control, then you probably won’t have to pay, but if it was within your control, you probably will have to pay.
You need to contact the VA because once you dropped the course, the school notified the VA and they may withhold future benefits until you have contacted them and they are assured that the reason making you drop the course has been cleared up and won’t happen again. Whether you or the VA will have to pay for you to retake the course will depend on their ruling on the reason.
As far as the Yellow Ribbon part, the school can pay up to 50% with the VA paying an equal amount. No, there isn’t a formula, as the actual percentage depends on what amount was agreed upon in their agreement with the VA. With what your school and the VA pays, it should leave very little left for you to pay, unless you are in an extremely expensive program.
by GIBillExpert
Probably not. As an active reserve member, your son probably didn’t have any GI Bill benefits for which he was eligible (except, perhaps, the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve, if he signed up for it, but that must be used while on active drill status). Even if he was eligible, his benefits would have expired by now, so there are no benefits to pass on. There is also no mechanism for transferring old benefits to dependents.
If your son’s death were service-related, or if he was totally and permanently disabled due to a service-related condition when he died, then his children may have qualified for the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program (DEA). They would have to use these benefits, if they qualified, before their 26th birthday.
by GIBillExpert
No, you probably will lose a lot of your benefits at this point, although you may be able to get one term of classes paid for.
There is a 10-year delimiting period for the Montgomery GI Bill. This means that you have 10 years from your last period of active duty to use the benefits. When that period expires, any remaining benefits are lost (although you can continue to receive benefits until the end of the current term, if it occurs in the middle of a term).
by Ron Kness
Yes she will get the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance Larry, provided she is not taking just online classes and her rate of pursuit is considered more than half-time, which is usually at least 7 credits per term. As a nursing student, she will probably attend a brick-and-mortar school, however, if her program is online, all she has to do is take one class, relating to her degree plan, per term on campus, and she will get the housing allowance.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance is based on the zip code of her school and paid at the E-5-with-dependents rate. While it does vary throughout the nation, the average is $1,000 per month with the highest being in New York City at $2,700 per month. She will also get a book stipend payable at $41.67 per credit with an annual cap of $1,000 per year.
After you make the transfer and it is approved, she will have to submit VA Form 22-1990e. Once the VA approves her form, she will get back a Certificate of Eligibility that she will need to enroll in school.
The VA will pay her tuition and fees directly to the school, up to the in-state amount for her school’s state.
by Jeffery Anderson
Hi Scott, the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance is paid in arrears so it will always be a month behind. I can’t say for sure, but it sounds like that is what went into your account on September 1st, and with you starting classes on August 16th a half month payment would be about right.
Future payments should be about the same time each month, but I wouldn’t always count on them being there right on the first of the month. It should be pretty close to it though as they process them all at about the same time each month.
Don’t forget that you have to maintain more than 6 credit hours per semester if you are in an undergraduate degree program to keep your Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance coming every month. Sometimes students drop a problem class and forget until it’s too late that it drops them below the level where they qualify for the housing allowance.
by Jeffery Anderson
Hi Noelle, there isn’t a maximum number of credit hours per year you can take as far as the VA is concerned, but there should be a maximum with the school you attend. You will be enrolled in a degree program, in this case a Physicians Assistant program, and the school along with the State Approving Agency and the VA Certifying Officials at the school determine how many credit hours per semester each degree program should average.
The State Approving Agency is a state agency that works with the VA in each state and approves and monitors the approved programs for the GI Bills. Each student using the Post 9/11 GI Bill should sit down with a VA Certifying Official at the school and work out a plan for earning a degree and the Official should offer recommendations for course loads per semester. The school and the Official should not allow the student to take more credit hours per semester than they can successfully handle.
If the degree program you are looking at consists of three semesters per year and an average course load of 20 credit hours per semester and it has been approved by the VA, then your Post 9/11 GI Bill should pay up to $1,010 per credit hour while you are pursuing a degree in that program at a school in New York and have GI Bill benefits.
If the school is a Yellow Ribbon Program school, they are probably going to monitor your class load even closer to ensure you don’t overload yourself with credit hours per semester.
by Ron Kness
I’m not sure Ken what you mean when you say “the VA took away my money”. I’m assuming you mean they took away your GI Bill benefits from your last term when the school had to withdraw you. Or you could mean you have not received any money for the term you are now going to school.
What generally happens, in a case where the school sends the VA notice that you have withdrawn from school, is they will suspend any further payments to you until you have contacted them and they have some assurance that whatever caused you to withdraw has been corrected and it won’t happen again. The VA will not keep sending you money, if whatever caused you to withdraw has not been corrected. It would be a waste of their money and your benefits.
Contact them and explain what happened, and that it has been corrected. Because the event was in your control (drinking and driving), you may end up having to pay for those classes yourself. If it was an event not in your control, such as a car accident that put you in the hospital for those 25 days, then you wouldn’t have to pay. Keep in mind there are consequences for your actions and next time, think of what those consequences might be before you act. This could end up being an expensive lesson and one you probably can’t afford.
by GIBillExpert
I’m afraid that, by the wording of the Hazelwood Act, you won’t be able to apply for benefits under that program.
In order to qualify for those benefits, you must have been a resident of Texas when you joined the military, either by having lived there when you joined or entered into service, or having claimed it as your home of record, or be a spouse or child of an eligible veteran who died or was permanently and totally disabled in the line of duty.
An eligible veteran can transfer unused benefits to a child, but not to a spouse.
by GIBillExpert
No, you are probably not eligible for the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, although I recommend you make an appointment to speak with a VA benefits counselor before you separate to make sure.
Your medical retirement will follow an honorable discharge, which is one of the requirements for the GI Bill. You have served about 4 years, and I will assume that you mean 4 years of active duty service. The new GI Bill only requires 90 consecutive days of service that fall after the date of September 11, 2001, and the benefits reach 100% tuition when you hit 36 months of qualifying active duty.
However, the service that you use to qualify for the new GI Bill cannot also be used to qualify for another education benefit. In order for your active duty service to count toward the new GI Bill, you would first have to complete the service obligation your accrued for your military academy education. The same would go for an ROTC officer who didn’t complete his obligation.
About The Authors
Get answers to questions about the old & new GI Bills
- Former Supervisor of Military Personnel Services, including Education Benefits
- Last assignment: Division Command Sergeant Major/E-9
- 36 years of military service
- Served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps
- His father, grandfather, and two uncles served in the U.S. Army, and his son served in the U.S. Navy
- Graduate of Virginia Military Institute
