Archive for July, 2010

You are correct, and yet you also may not be. If you were discharged due to any service-connected disability, then you only have to have served 30 consecutive days of qualifying active duty in order to be eligible for the new Post 9/11 GI Bill.

However, you are dealing with two different systems. In order for you to be eligible, your discharge must have been due to a service-connected disability. According to your discharge papers, you were discharged with an entry level separation, or ELS, not with an honorable discharge due to a medical disability. Your VA-conferred disability rating is separate from the rating granted by your branch of service, and is recorded in different channels.

You are probably eligible for the new GI Bill, but your special situation may make it difficult to get a clear statement of that eligibility. Your best course of action is probably to request a hearing from the VA at which VA personnel will hear your side of the story and make a ruling. You can arrange this via the instructions on the paperwork you have received, or by contacting your local VA office.

There isn’t any hard number of credit hours that you can take under the new Post 9/11 GI Bill. It will cover your full tuition (or a percentage of your tuition if you have partial benefits), and you are free to take a heavier than normal course load if you wish. However, the system is geared to be most effective for you if you take a full time course load, however that is defined by your school. For most schools using a traditional semester schedule, this is 12 credit hours per term, and 2 terms per year.

Your annual book stipend only covers a maximum of $1,000 worth of books each year. While this seems like a lot of money, textbooks can be very expensive, and so if you are taking many more courses, you may run short on money for books. Likewise, the GI Bill lists a maximum in fees each term, which could be a significant limitation if you are taking courses with high extra fees (such as laboratory or technology fees).

No, you can’t. One big difference between the old Montgomery GI Bill and the new Post 9/11 GI Bill is that, while the MGIB is paid directly to the veteran, the new GI Bill’s tuition portion goes directly to the school. This is not a negotiable issue, and is not generally an issue at all as the new GI Bill’s tuition benefits are based on your actual tuition, up to a maximum.

On the other hand, while the tuition portion goes to the school, you should still receive your housing allowance each month, and each term a portion of your yearly book stipend. If you are only taking online courses, you don’t get the housing stipend.