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GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert BlogArchive for May, 2010
May 31st, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
My question is: is it true under the New GI Bill that out-of-state and in-state tuition is no longer a factor? Can a service member go to school anywhere in the US with tuition paid in full no matter where their state of residency is? Vernon
Hi Vernon, If the student using the Post 9/11 GI Bill is an active duty service member, then the answer to your question is yes. While on active duty you can go to school at any approved institution of higher learning and your tuition will be paid in full with the Post 9/11 GI Bill. However, active duty service members will not receive the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance.
If a veteran is using the Post 9/11 GI Bill, then it is a little different. The VA worked with each state to come up with a maximum per credit hour and per term that were available using the Post 9/11 GI Bill in that state. The amount is based on the highest tuition in that state for a state supported school while pursuing an undergraduate degree as an in-state student. If the veteran attending the school is an out-of-state student, and the school chooses to charge them out-of-state tuition, then there is a chance that the Post 9/11 GI Bill will not cover all of the tuition for that veteran.
A veteran may attend a Yellow Ribbon Program school as an out-of-state student, and there is a possibility that a portion or all of the tuition not covered by the GI Bill will be covered by the school and the VA.
May 31st, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
My son is eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. He is under the assumption that if you start using your benefits at, say a college in TX that you cannot transfer the benefits to another college after your semester is finished. Is this true? Are you limited to drawing the benefits at only 1 college for the duration of your education? Thanks, Shelly
Hi Shelly, I believe the confusion here is that while using the Post 9/11 GI Bill a veteran can only work towards one degree at a time. However, if the student wants or needs to change schools while working towards that degree, there is no problem with continuing to use Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits at another school as long as it is an approved program.
The VA doesn’t like students to attend two schools at the same time unless a class the student needs to complete their degree is not available or can’t be taken during a particular semester at the primary school. But if your son started his degree program in Texas at the University of Texas, and then switched to the University of Alabama for his junior and senior years in the same degree program, then there should not be a problem. I just picked those schools as an example.
There are quite a few colleges and universities which belong to the Service Members Opportunity Colleges (SOC) program. One of the benefits to attending a school in the group is that it is easier to transfer credits from one school to another as service members are transferred while pursuing a degree. It is primarily for active duty service members who are changing duty stations, but the principle is the same. Many of them are also using military education benefits.
One thing your son might keep in mind, if his first school is a Yellow Ribbon Program school and he is participating in the program with his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, he might want to make sure his next school is also a Yellow Ribbon Program school.
May 31st, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Hi, I was wondering what my options are. I’m currently obtaining my BSN and after Dec 2010, I will have used up all of my Chapter 30 benefits.
1. I’m not sure if I will qualify for the full 12 months of Post 9/11 GI Bill, since for the Fall semester of 2010, the VA would have extended my Chapter 30 by 4 months.
2. I’ve also been told that to qualify for the housing allowance you also have to take at least one class on campus, is this true and would it be for the full amount?
3. Also I got out on August 4th, 2004, does this put me at 90% or 100% eligibility for the Post 9/ GI Bill?
4. Also my mom is 100 percent disabled due to service time, and I was wondering if that makes me elgible for any other programs I could combine with the Post 9/11 GI Bill, even though I’m 30 years old, thanks — Angela
5. A couple more questions…I wanted to see if once Chapter 30 are depleted, would my $600 buy up and my army college fund transfer over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill?
Hi Angela. I broke your email down into four questions so it will be easier to answer. Lets start with number three first.
3. Being you got out on August 4, 2004, you meet the three-year requirement for the 100% tier of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Because you also have Chapter 30, you will get an additional 12 months of education under the Rule of 48 – if you qualify for two GI Bills, your maximum combined benefit is 48 months. Now let’s answer number one, because it ties in with number three.
1. As you said, you will use up your Chapter 30 benefits during the fall semester. The VA will extend your Chapter 30 benefits until the end of the semester, however, the amount they extend you, they will deduct from your additional 12 months of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. So instead of getting 12 additional months, you will only have eight months left to use; you already used four of these months during the fall semester. Make sense?
2. Yes it is true Angela. If you take classes only online, you will not get the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance, but if you take one on-campus class in addition to your online classes, you will. Crazy huh? As long as your combined credits from both your online classes and your on-campus are seven credits or more, and your on-campus class directly applies to your degree plan, you will get paid a housing allowance at the E-5-with-dependents rate for the zip code of your school.
4. As far as getting any benefits from you mother’s disability, the age limit for those benefits is 26 years old, so you won’t get anything.
5. If your Buy-Up and ACF are not depleted, yes they will transfer over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
It has been my pleasure to answer your questions and good luck with your education.
May 31st, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am planning to go to a university in Brazil. How do I get the university approved? And should I use the Post 9/11 GI Bill or the old GI Bill? Thanks. — Jefferson
I’ll start with your second question first Jefferson, because it is the easiest to answer. I’m assuming you are eligible for both GI Bills. In that case, it really comes down to your educational goals.
If you are looking at getting a four-year degree and not continuing for an advanced degree, then I would go with the Post 9/11 GI Bill. If you are thinking about going beyond a four-year degree, then you might want to look at using your Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) first and then switching to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and here is why.
If you are eligible for two GI bills, you can get a combined benefit of 48 months, but you first have to exhaust your MGIB and then switch to the New GI Bill; you can’t do it the other way around. If you use just one GI Bill, then you only get 36 months.
As far as the payment difference, with the MGIB you’ll get $1,368 per month and you have to pay all your own expenses. I’m not familiar with Brazil’s currency exchange rate against the U.S. Dollar, so I don’t know what that buys in Brazil as far as rent, food, transportation and credit hours of college.
With the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA will pay your tuition and fees directly to your foreign college, up to the average tuition rate of the public schools across the U.S. for the previous year. As far as a housing allowance, you will get a fixed amount of $1,333 per month (2009 figure) and up to $1,000 per year book stipend.
To start the process of getting the Brazilian school VA-approved, contact your school and have them follow these foreign school approval application procedures or read about it in one of my earlier blogs.
May 28th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
I was discharged from the military under other than honorable conditions. Am I eligible for MGIB benefits? I served for over three years and my paperwork is currently being reviewed by the board to possibly upgrade my discharge. Thank you, John
Hi John, Hopefully the board will upgrade your discharge to honorable, as you will not be eligible for any GI Bill benefits if it isn’t. Both the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Montgomery GI Bill require that the qualifying enlistment end with an honorable discharge.
I say qualifying enlistment because it is possible for a service member to qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill or the Post 9/11 GI Bill and get out of the military with an honorable discharge, but then re-enlist and end that enlistment with a less than honorable discharge. In those cases the service member should be able to keep their GI Bill benefits because they qualified during their first enlistment.
If you are able to get your discharge upgraded to honorable, you will only be eligible for Montgomery GI Bill benefits if you participated in the program during your enlistment. You would have been asked to contribute $100 a month during the first year of your enlistment. However, with an Honorable Discharge you would be eligible for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits if you served at least 90 days on active duty after 10 September 2001. You would be eligible for full Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits if you served at least 36 months on active duty after that date. The Post 9/11 GI Bill does not require any contribution, so if you meet those eligibility requirements you should get the benefits.
May 28th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Hi there,my husband and I have always and currently live in California and he will be getting out in July of 2010. We are looking into moving to Texas in the beginning of 2011 and he will be wanting to start school over there while I will be looking into graduate programs but my main question was if there were any way out of paying out of state tuition fees for him and I? I’m not sure if his Post 9/11 GI Bill will cover that, but me being a dependent, do I get any additional benefits? — Connie
Whew Connie, let’s start with the most important part of the questions first, which is actually at the end. The only dependent benefits you will get are the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits your husband transfers to you. It is critical he transfer the benefits to you BEFORE he gets out. Yes, I’m shouting, because so many servicemembers miss that part. They try to transfer after they are out and then it is too late.
Now on to the next part. The Post 9/11 GI Bill will only pay up to the in-state public school, undergraduate program maximum amount established by the VA; for Texas, that is up to $1,471 per credit hour and $12,130 in total fees (which includes tuition costs). Both you and your husband’s out-state tuition will probably exceed that amount. I checked with the state of Texas and the only veteran programs they have are for residents of Texas (which makes sense).
Actually, if you and your husband want to maximize your GI Bill benefits, you would be better off staying in California because neither of you would have to pay, out-state tuition. For you, look into the Yellow Ribbon program. Yellow Ribbon schools can pay up to 50% of the tuition not paid by the VA and the VA will pay an equal amount. This leaves you with very little left to pay out-of-pocket and some schools do include graduate studies in their Yellow Ribbon program.
May 28th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I started community college immediately after my discharge using the GI Bill. Due to personal hardships I failed to complete the courses I took that semester. Now it’s three years later and I want to return to school but don’t have the money to pay back the VA. Is there anyway to reinstate my GI Bill? — Robert D.
You normally have to pay off any outstanding debt that you have incurred with the VA before you can start using the bill to pay for a new term or educational program. However, you may be able to have the debt forgiven if it was through no fault of your own. For example, if you were in an accident and couldn’t return to school, or if the school closed down in the middle of a term, the VA may choose to delete your debt.
If your situation fits into this category, you should contact your local benefits processing center in writing, including any information that might be important. The VA may make a decision on the case, or may offer to hold a hearing.
If the VA doesn’t agree to forgive the debt, you can still try to work out a payment plan with them to make it more practical to repay the funds.
May 28th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
How is the BAH rates determined if the Veteran attends an online college, such as AMU? — Giovvani
The new GI Bill pays a housing allowance equal to the BAH for an active duty E-5 with dependents at the location where the student is going to school. However, this is only true for students who are attending traditional classroom courses. If a student is attending only online or distance learning courses, he is not eligible for the housing allowance at all.
One way to get around this is to take one classroom course each term. You only have to take one course (at any particular time) to be eligible for the full housing allowance. Just make sure that the course will count toward your educational program, or it doesn’t count toward the GI Bill.
May 28th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
My son is three months away from his 21st birthday. I was waffling about transferring benefits, but I finally did it a week ago. How long does it normally take for approval and is he good with just the request for transfer I did or does he have to submit that VA form? I thought he only submitted the form when he went to use the benefit. He is running out of time as he drops out of DEERS in three months, so I have no second chances to get it right. Sorry for so much at once, but thank-you — Jeff
No problem Jeff. You probably won’t hear from the VA when they approve your Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer, but it shouldn’t take long. You have to keep going back to the TEB website where you made the transfer and look for a change in the status and the date when you made the transfer to post in the Date block. Then you know the transfer is final.
As far as the form, he can get his Post 9/11 GI Bill Certificate of Eligibility now or when he decides to start school. Personally, I would get it now, so there isn’t any surprises later, but that is just me. He can fill out VA Form 22-1990e to get his certificate; once he has his certificate, then he just takes that with him when he enrolls in school. Keep in mind, he only has up to his 26th birthday to use his transferred benefits.
May 27th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I am currently an active duty member in the United States and have been on active duty approximately thirteen and a half years. I did not participate in the Montgomery GI Bill but would like to apply for the new Post 9/11 GI bill. How do I do this? Thank you for your time. — Mathew W.
The new Post 9/11 GI Bill is different that the older versions of the GI Bill. There is no need to have opted in to the program, or paid into it in any way. As long as you have served at least 90 days of active duty (not counting active duty solely for training) after September 11, 2001, then you are eligible for at least partial benefits under the new GI Bill. If you have at least 36 months of active duty after that date, you are eligible for 100% benefits.
Applying for the GI Bill is pretty straightforward, although it can involve a lot of waiting. First, get on the Internet and log onto the VA’s GI Bill site. You can fill out the online application through the VONAPP system, or you can download and print out the physical forms and send them into your local regional benefits processing office.
That’s really all there is to it. If you run into snags, the VA has a toll-free number for assistance, at 1-888-442-4551.
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