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GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert BlogArchive for August, 2010
August 30th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am currently using my GI Bill Chapter 30 benefits for college and for this term, I would like to use TA to pay for 1 class. How can I get a letter from the VA stating that they are only paying for one class? – Flor
Flor, somewhere along the line, I’m missing something in your question. If you are using Tuition Assistance (TA), your service branch will pay up to $250 per credit with a $4,500 annual cap. If your tuition is less than that amount, VA would not get involved. If it is more than that, then you could use Tuition Top-Up and the VA would pay the amount of tuition over the $250 per credit, up to your monthly GI Bill amount, and deduct the amount from your entitlement.
If you just want to tell the VA you are using TA for this term, then just send them a new VA Form 22-1990 with the TA box checked and explain in the remarks section what you are doing this term. If you go back to using your GI Bill after this term, then send in another VA Form 22-1990.
I guess I’m also questioning why you are not using TA anyway until you hit your annual cap. It is free money and even with Top-Up, you would use less of your Montgomery GI Bill benefits than you would otherwise.
August 30th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Sir, I served the Air Force for 5 years and 10 months on active duty after 9/11. I then transferred to the Air National Guard and have been there for 2 years. I have various TDY’s and exercises under my belt during my 2 years with the Guard, so through it all, I wanted to know if I have enough active duty time to qualify for the maximum Post 9/11 GI Bill allowance? Thanks! – Drew
Yes, Drew, you have plenty of time for all of the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, except being able to transfer your entitlements to a dependent. For that you need at least six years of active duty and sign-up for an additional four years. If you decide to stay long enough to get the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer benefit, be sure you make your transfer while on active duty, because once you are out, it is too late.
To get to the 100% Post 9/11 GI Bill level, you need three years of active duty service after September 10, 2001, which you have. You’ll have 15 years from your date of discharge to use up your 36 months of entitlements.
When you start school, the VA will pay your tuition and fees directly to your school and you will get a monthly housing allowance and book stipend.
August 27th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
How do I get an eligibility letter to go to school at Ivy Tech Community College? Carisa
Hi Carisa, A Post 9/11 GI Bill Certificate of Eligibility is not going to be for a specific school, it is just going to state how much in benefits you are eligible for. How you get the Certificate is going to depend on where you are receiving the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits from.
If these are your GI Bill benefits that you earned from your own military service, then you just go to the VONAPP website and fill out the online application for education benefits. If these benefits are being transferred to you by a parent or spouse, then you have to wait until the transfer has been approved and then you would go to VONAPP and apply for the benefits.
The Certificate is mailed to you and you are responsible for showing it to the Registrar’s office or the VA Certifying Official at the school you plan to attend. You are also responsible for making sure the school is approved for use with the Post 9/11 GI Bill by the VA. You can check that by looking under the state heading where the school is located at this VA website.
The school will fill out the paperwork needed by the VA to get you started in the benefits program. The VA will send tuition payments directly to the school and if you are eligible for the housing or book allowance, those funds will either be mailed to you or deposited into your bank account.
I would think that the community college is approved for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, but I wouldn’t commit to attending until you know for sure or you may be paying tuition out of your own pocket.
August 27th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I need to finish repaying on my GI Bill after I had to drop classes. Whom would I contact or speak with to find my remaining balance and how to repay, so that I may attend school this coming semester. Thank you for your time. – Andrew B.
To start the process of paying back your existing debt to the VA so that you can use your remaining GI Bill benefits, you’ll need to contact the VA personally. You can do this by phone, using the VA’s toll-free GI Bill number, 1-888-442-4551, or via the VA’s web-site, using the VA’s question and answer page.
August 27th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
Under the new proposed Post 9/11 GI Bill, will benefits be back dated? — Cirra T.
That depends on what you mean by back-dated.
If you are asking whether you can use the benefits to pay for debts incurred for classes you have already taken, then no. You can only use the Post 9/11 GI Bill to pay for courses you are currently taking.
If you are asking whether you can be eligible for the new GI Bill due to military service performed before the bill was put into effect in August of 2009, the answer is yes. Any active-duty military service that falls after September 11, 2001 counts toward eligibility for the new bill.
August 27th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
Can Montgomery GI Bill benefits be used to pay for online degree programs? Lauren
Hi Lauren, the Montgomery GI Bill can be used for online degree programs and many veterans find that it can actually work out better for online degree programs than the Post 9/11 GI Bill does. This is because the Post 9/11 GI Bill does not pay the housing allowance if the student is taking all online courses. The Post 9/11 GI Bill would only assist with tuition costs and that money goes directly to the school.
On the other hand, depending on how much you are eligible for with the Montgomery GI Bill and how many classes you are taking, you may receive more benefits from the Montgomery GI Bill than the amount of your tuition and the funds are paid to you. Any extra money can come in handy for fees and school supplies.
You don’t mention your status, but if you are still on active duty, I recommend using Tuition Assistance for your online courses. Many service members use Tuition Assistance to earn a bachelor’s degree while on active duty and save their GI Bill for earning a graduate degree after they leave the military.
However, if you have already separated, then the Montgomery GI Bill would be a good program for your online degree.
August 27th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
If I’m being medically discharged for an anxiety disorder and I have done over 36 months, do I get any GI benefits. If I do, are they limited at all because of my discharge status. – John
From the eligibility standpoint, you qualify for 36 months of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. The issue is whether or not you will be able to use them. Your medical discharge status won’t make a difference. It will all come down to how your branch characterizes your service with your medical discharge. If they give you something other than fully honorable, you will not be able to use your GI Bill benefits.
If you don’t get a fully honorable, you can always appeal it through your branch of service’s Board of Corrections. Start the process by submitting DD Form 293. There is no guarantee they will change it, and it can take up to six months to get a ruling, so don’t get impatient, if you have to end up going that route.
There is a piece of legislation in congress right now that, if passed, it would add a few more character of services to the fully honorable one, so that more veterans could use their GI Bill benefits. Good luck!
August 27th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I have the old GI Bill and I retired in 1997. I want to know if I can transfer my benefits to my daughter, who will graduate high school this coming year, and she wants to go on to a junior college for studies. How do I go about doing this? – Felix
Felix, I have some bad news. The old Montgomery GI Bill never had a dependent transfer option to it, so you never had any entitlements to transfer. The other issue is the old GI Bill has a 10-year delimiting date, so it expired in 2007 – 10 years after your discharge. I’m afraid you don’t have any Montgomery GI Bill entitlement to transfer to your daughter, however, your daughter may qualify for various grants and scholarships.
It all starts by her submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application to see what she qualifies for and then go from there. Her school may also award scholarships or they may have a work/study program she can participate in to get some of her schooling paid. The point is where there is a will, there is a way. Don’t give up. Thousands of other students pay for college and most don’t have any GI Bill benefits to use.
August 26th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
Hi, I was awarded 12 months of benefits under the new GI Bill last week. But I took classes during the spring using no MGIB benefits. Will I be able to apply some of those months retroactively? Thanks! — A. Harper
I imagine that you were given 12 months of the new Post 9/11 GI Bill because you have completely used up your Montgomery GI Bill benefits, or because you had 12 months of MGIB benefits left.
The answer is no on using GI Bill benefits retroactively. If you didn’t apply for the GI Bill benefits for the courses before you started the term, then you can’t get the GI Bill for those courses. You can only get the GI Bill if you are currently taking qualifying courses.
August 26th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I just started school this semester and I found out I’m taking a class that I don’t need. If I drop the class it will put me at 9 credits for the semester. Would I still be covered? Are there any penalties for dropping a class? — Charles
The effects of dropping a class, and the resulting lowering of your course load, depends on which version of the GI Bill you are using. But first, one important question is this: how many credit hours are required to qualify as a full-time student at your university? The VA uses each university’s definition of a full course load to determine benefits for that university. Most traditional universities consider 12 semester hours of credit at one time to be a full-time course load, but it varies for institutions that
If you are using the Montgomery GI Bill, and your dropped course drops you below the requirement for full-time attendance, then your monthly payment will drop to the appropriate level for 3/4 time study. You must notify the VA of the change, and will probably be required to refund the VA for the difference between full-time pay and 3/4 time pay for the payments you’ve already received.
If you are using the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, you don’t have to worry about your payments dropping, because tuition is paid directly to the school. However, you still have to notify the VA, and should make sure that the VA gets the money that the university returns for the dropped course. If the university pays it to you, the VA will require you to hand it over to them.
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