Expert Answers to Your GI Bill Benefits Questions Topic: New GI Bill - Yellow Ribbon Program

As far as what qualifies you for the additional year of benefits David, is the fact that you served on a Title 10 order for at least 90-days after September 10, 2001 and this is your second GI Bill. If the Post 9/11 GI Bill would have been your only GI Bill, then you would have only received the 36 months. Under the Rule of 48, if you qualify for two or more GI Bills, the maximum combined total months cannot exceed 48.

The answer to your second question as far as switching back to the MGIB, the answer is no. Switching from one GI Bill to the Post 9/1 GI Bill is a one-way street. Once you switch and use any of those benefits, you can’t go back. And the other thing you have to know is you have to fully exhaust your MGIB benefits before you switch. If you switch too soon, all you will get is what you have left under your MGIB.

The Yellow Ribbon Program has nothing to do with the additional year of benefits. Many schools have an agreement with the VA and in that agreement it states how many students they will take in the program, how much they will pay and what programs are covered. As you noted UOP offers $2,500.

Under the Yellow Ribbon rules, schools can offer up to 50% of the difference between what they charge and what the Post 9/11 GI Bill pays and the VA will pay an additional amount. So while your school only pays $2,500 per year, that is only half of the total as the VA pays an additional $2,500.  You still have to have unused Post 9/11 Benefits left to use the Yellow Ribbon Program as it can’t be used by itself.

No that is supposed to be the way it works with the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon Program. If Temple university is a public school, then the VA would pay the resident tuition rate. The difference between the resident and non-resident rate would be your responsibility.

If Temple is a private school, then the VA will pay up to $17,500 per year. Anything over that amount, to include additional tuition for a non-resident, would be yours to pay.

As you noted, the Yellow Ribbon Program can help. In Temple’s Yellow Ribbon agreement with the VA, it will state how much they will pay and which programs are covered. They could pay up to 50% of the difference and the VA would pay an equal amount. Their agreement is obviously for a lesser percentage which is why you have a balance left to pay.

Unfortunately, many veterans are under the same impression as you that their post-secondary education would be free, but as you found out that isn’t always the case. Of course, if you want to eliminate the tuition you have to pay, you can always choose a public school in your state of residence and the VA would pay all your tuition.

Well Luis, it depends on which benefits you have used up. If you were on the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) and you used up your 36 months of benefits, and you qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, then you could get an additional 12 months of educational benefits. If you only qualified for the Post 9/11 GI Bill (or only the MGIB) then you are out of benefits.

To qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you would have had to serve for at least 90-days after September 10, 2011 for the minimum 40% benefit. Three years after the same date would qualify you at the 100% level. Regardless, if that is the only GI Bill you have, you would have 36 months to use up. However, if that is your second GI Bill, then the rules change. Under the Rule of 48, if you qualify for two or more GI Bills, you can only get a total maximum benefit of 48 months.

The Yellow Ribbon Program is not a separate program, but a feature of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. If you qualify for 100% of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and your school has a Yellow Ribbon Agreement with the VA, then you may benefit from the YR feature. Generally, it only benefits the veteran if you are paying out-state tuition or attending a private school. If you attend a public school then your tuition/fees should be paid for in full.

Unless your school is very unique in what it teaches, or you don’t qualify for the Yellow Ribbon Program by not being at the Post 9/11 GI Bill 100% level, I would look for another school that does offer the Yellow Ribbon Program. I doubt FL and  MA have reciprocity agreements with each other that would allow you to pay resident tuition, which can make Yellow Ribbon Program the holy grail for students paying out-state tuition or attending a private school.

If you are attending public school, the VA will pay actual resident tuition costs. However, you would have to pay the difference between resident and non-resident tuition. If you are going to a private school, the VA will pay a maximum of $17,500 per year in tuition/fees. In both cases, the Yellow Ribbon Program could make a huge difference in the amount left for you to pay.

With either school, you must be considered at least a greater-than-half-time student to be eligible for the housing allowance. How much you will get is dependent on two factors – the zip code of your school and how many credits you are taking. For example, if you are taking 9 credits and your school considers 12 to be full-time, then you would get 9/12ths (or 3/4ths rounded up to the nearest tenth) of the full amount at the pay grade of an E-5 with dependents for the zip code of your school. Also, you will get a book stipend calculated at $41.67 per credit.

You made an interesting comment Maxine when you said your husband “unfortunately stopped contributing to the GI Bill early in his career”. When he signed up for the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), he agreed to a  payroll deduction of $100 per month for 12 months. He in fact may have finished making his full contribution to and has the MGIB. The unfortunate part is the MGIB has a 10-year delimitation date, so it will expire in 2012. But as far as your daughters are concerned, they won’t lose anything as that GI Bill never had a dependents transfer option.

With him getting out in Sep. 2002, he would qualify for 50% of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. But that won’t do your daughters any good either in that he would have had to make a transfer on or after August 1, 2009 and he had already been retired for 7 years.

You mentioned the Yellow Ribbon Program. That is one feature of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, but it can only be used by those at the 100% tier of the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

There are lots of scholarships, grants, loans and work-study option available. For right now, their best bet is to each fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and see what they qualify for. They (and you) may be surprised.

Many times colleges have their own scholarships and work-study program. Your daughters should look into these as many times both are overlooked. In this economy, it is hard to get money, but it is there – it just requires some digging and following application instructions to the “T”.

From the information I’m getting Charles, there won’t be any grandfathering. Once the GI Bill 2.0 change takes effect this fall, the VA will pay up to $17,500 per year, if you go to a private school. Anything above that would be your responsibility unless your school has a Yellow Ribbon Agreement with the VA.

In that case, your school could pay up to half of the difference between what the school charges and the Post 9/11 GI Bill pays. The VA would pay an equal amount. This will reduce what you have left to pay by quite a bit. If your program at school is not covered by the Yellow Ribbon program, then you would be required to pay what the Post 9/11 GI Bill would not.