Expert Answers to Your GI Bill Benefits Questions Topic: New GI Bill - Housing Stipend

Unfortunately it is Damon, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Why would they pay your a full housing allowance when you did not meet the full-time credit floor for the second half of the semester?

How that works is your monthly Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance is based on the zip code of your school AND the number of credits you are taking each month (and actually broken down further into the number of credits each day). So while you were taking 14 credits, which was considered full-time, you got the full housing allowance paid at the rate of an E-5 with dependents.

However, once your accelerated class ended, the day after it ended, you were taking 10 credits which is below the full-time credit amount – hence your housing allowance would drop to 10/12^th of what it would was when you were taking a full-time load. But how much difference does it make?

Assuming you were getting the average housing allowance of $1,200 per month, 10/12^th of that amount would be $1,000. So to put it in perspective, for the period when you were only taking 10 credits, you would get the $1,000.  The actual calculation get much more involved than what I showed here, but that will give you an idea of the impact on your housing allowance.

Actually this was a change brought about by the implementation of GI Bill 2.0. Before the change you would have gotten the full housing allowance by just taking 7 credits the whole semester.

The phone number Timothy is 1-888-442-4551, but I can most likely tell you why your Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance fell – the rules changed on you. One of the changes as a result of passing the GI Bill 2.0 was changing the calculation of the housing allowance from one of the zip code of the school paid at the rate of an E-5 with dependents to also basing the amount on the number of credits you are taking compared to the number of credits your school considers to be full-time.

So before August 1, 2011, if your school considered 12 credits as full-time and you were taking 7 credits, you still got the full housing amount. However, after August 1st, if you take 7 credits, you would only get 7/12^th of the full amount. While that calculates out to 58.33 %, you would actually get 60% as the VA rounds up or down to the nearest tenth.

I know it sucks to have the rules changed like that especially when your expenses are geared to receiving a certain amount, but to pay for the benefits added by the GI Bill 2.0, something had to give, so that there was a zero increase in the cost of the whole Post 9/11 GI Bill program – re-figuring the housing allowance was one of the things that changed.

With you having your own Post 9/11 GI Bill Michael, it is irrelevant that your wife will still be in the Navy. You will receive the same benefits as you would if she was retired also.

If you plan on attending a public school, the VA will pay actual tuition and eligible fee charges in full since the GI Bill 2.0 change is now in effect. If you plan on attending a private school, they will pay up to $17,500 in tuition and fees. You would be responsible for the difference unless your school is in the Yellow Ribbon Program and then they could pay up to half of that difference and the VA would pay an equal amount.

Either way, public or private school, you will get a monthly housing allowance based on the zip code of your school and the number of credits you are taking. It is paid at the pay grade of an E-5 with dependents.

If you take at least the number of credits your school considers to be full-time, you would get the full housing allowance. If you take a lesser number of credits, then your housing allowance would be prorated down.

You will also get a book stipend calculated at $41.67 per credit with an annual academic cap of $1,000 per year.

To get the full Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance amount Dylan, you now have to take the minimum number of credits your school considers to be full-time. To qualify for any housing allowance at all, you have to take at least 51% of the full-time amount.

Before August 1^st, you could have gotten the full housing allowance amount by taking the minimum number of credits, but not now. For example, if your school uses 12 credits as their full-time amount, then you would have to take 7 credits to qualify for any housing allowance at all or 12 credits to get the full amount. Taking 7 credits would get you 7/12^th of the full amount.

The housing allowance is calculated based off of the zip code of your school and paid at the pay grade of an E-5 with dependents and now also according to the number of credits you take.

You are also authorized the book stipend at the rate of $41.67 per credit with an annual cap of $1,000 – enough for 24 credits per year.

The VA will pay your tuition and fees directly to your school. If you are attending a public school, then the VA pays actual tuition and fee charges. If you are attending a private school, then they will pay up to $17,500 per year. Any tuition/fee expenses over that amount would be your responsibility to pay unless you qualify for the Yellow Ribbon Program and your school is a Yellow Ribbon school. In that case, the amount left for you to pay would be greatly reduced or could even be zero.

It really depends on three factors:

• the zip code of your school
• if you are taking all online classes or not
• how many credits your school considers to be full-time.

Your full Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance is calculated based on the zip code of your school and paid at the pay rate of an E-5 with dependents.

Before August 1^st, taking 10 credits, with at least one class being on-campus, would have gotten you the full housing allowance. However since the implementation of the GI Bill 2.0 changes, what you get in housing allowance is now dependent on how many credits you are taking verses how many credits your school considers to be full-time.

So if your school uses 10 credits as their full-time mark, then you will get the full housing allowance; if your school uses 12 credits as their full-time mark, then you would get 10/12ths of the full housing allowance.

If you are taking enough credits all online to be considered full-time, then you would get full $673.50 per month in the online housing allowance.

Of course you could get 10/12th of the full housing allowance by taking a combination of online and traditional classes. By attending at least one class per semester that applies to your degree plan at a brick and mortar school, you would almost double your monthly housing stipend.