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GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert BlogExpert Answers to Your GI Bill Benefits Questions Topic: Tuition Assistance Top-Up
July 5th, 2011
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am currently AD with just under 10 yrs of service. I will be separating this summer to finish two years of ROTC and school. I am just over the age to qualify for any of the ROTC scholarships, so I am now in the process of finding the best solution for the next two years. I paid into the MGIB when I first came in. I have seen postings regarding GI Bill benefits in the news and other sources lately. I have tried to call the GI Bill hotline, but I am either on hold forever or catch them after hours. When do the MGIB payments start/stop? Do the benefits continue through the semester breaks since there is no BAH component, or are those month’s benefits chopped proportionally similar to the recently amended Post-911 benefits? I appreciate any assistance on this matter. I would like to figure out if it would be good for me to top up my MGIB or switch over to the Post 9-11.Thank you. — Felix
Felix, the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) payments start the month after you enroll in school and end the month after you are out of school as the VA is always a month behind in paying. The payments are only for the number of days you are in school, so you could receive a lesser amount the first and last month in each semester, if each is less than a full month.
You mentioned topping up your MGIB or switching to the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Just so you know, you can only use the Top-Up program in conjunction with Tuition Assistance (TA) and if you are separated, then you would not be eligible for TA. Under the MGIB, you would get $1,426 per month for up to 36 months and you would be responsible for your own tuition and other education-related expenses.
If you switched to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA would pay your tuition and eligible fees directly to your school and you would receive a monthly housing allowance (averaging $1,200 per month) and a book stipend up to $1,000 per year.
While other factors can enter into your decision, generally speaking, the Post 9/11 GI Bill will be a better deal for you financially. You will have to work the number of both GI Bills to see which one would be the best for you.
February 10th, 2011
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I am currently active Duty. I am attending college online using the TA program. Of course using this program only allows me to take 6 classes a year. I would like to continue my courses. March will be my 2 year mark as Active Duty Marine. Is there a way I can pull from a GI bill to cover courses until the new fiscal year begins? Thank-you for your help! — Adam C.
Yes, you may be able to take advantage of your GI Bill to help you cover education costs above what Tuition Assistance (TA) covers. This program is called Tuition Assistance Top-Up, and you can apply for it with assistance from your base College Office or Education Center. You can use either the older Montgomery GI Bill or the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, and you use up months of benefits in order to receive benefits that cannot exceed the costs of tuition and fees not covered by TA.
Of course, this assumes that you are eligible for the GI Bill. Since you are active duty, you are eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, but only at 70% tuition benefits (80% after you hit your 2-year mark). This means that you will still have a portion to pay out of pocket. Once you have at least 36 months of active duty, you will get 100% tuition benefits.
If you want to use the Montgomery GI Bill, you will have to wait until you have served 3 years and therefore are eligible to use that bill (if you signed up for it when you enlisted and contributed the required $1,200 to it in your first year of service).
February 9th, 2011
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am a military spouse and now a stay-at-home mom. My husband and I were wondering if we were able to use any of his GI Bill to pay off my past student loans to help out with our monthly income. He plans to start taking classes (eventually), but wants to use Tuition Assistance. Please your insight would be appreciated. – Sarah
No Sarah, none of the GI Bills can be used to directly pay off student loans. They are two entirely separate programs. One suggestion would be for your husband to ask if there is a Student Loan Repayment Reenlistment option. Some of the Armed Forces branch offer this as a reenlistment incentive.
As far as the Tuition Assistance program, I would encourage your husband to start using it. Federal Tuition Assistance (FTA) currently pays up to $250 per credit with an annual $4,500 cap. It is free money provided by his service branch.
For tuition costs over the FTA per credit limit, or if he hits his cap early in the academic year, he would use the Tuition Top-Up program. Top-Up pays what FTA won’t and while that amount does come out of his GI Bill, it uses that entitlement at a much slower rate.
I know this does not help your student loan situation, but it could help him get his degree and prevent him from needing to take out more student loans.
February 8th, 2011
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
I recently dropped out of a university because I was confused about how the GI Bill works; when I was in it a Master Sergeant had said that when I had gotten back to my station and turned in my paperwork, I would have to wait 30-45 days to receive my GI Bill money and I’ve gotten back in October of last year and now it’s January and I still haven’t received anything yet. And so I asked one of my sergeants and he said I had to obtain it online, but I have no clue on how to get it so now I’m stuck. And I was told that I was supposed to be getting some monthly payment for housing, but I’m confused about that too, what do I have to do to get my Montgomery GI Bill for college? Ronald
Hi Ronald, It sounds like you’re still on active duty so the first thing you should do is request a meeting with your battalion education officer to get some assistance and direction. Most service members on active duty use Tuition Assistance to get started on their college degree and save as much of their GI Bill benefits for after they leave the military as possible.
When you do get ready to use your Montgomery GI Bill benefits you should pick a school and touch base with one of the VA Certifying Officials at the school for guidance. In person is best, but if you are going to school online and the school is a distance away, a phone conversation or email also works.
The school and the program need to be approved for GI Bill use. Your education officer and the VA Certifying Official at the school can help you ensure that the program meets all the necessary requirements. All you have to do at that point is go online to VONAPP and apply for your benefits.
The Montgomery GI Bill does not have a housing allowance and you do not qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance while on active duty. If at all possible, I recommend that you use your Tuition Assistance benefits before tapping your GI Bill benefits.
If you need any other help, please write in and I’ll do my best to get you moving in the right direction.
January 26th, 2011
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I have been trying to submit a claim for top-up since August. The benefit is worth $600, but every time I call the hot-line, it says all lines are busy. I have been calling a few times a day for four months now and can’t get answers. Is there another way I can submit my paperwork? I have been using top-up for over a year now, so I am already in the system. — Tanya K.
The best place for help with submitting your claims for use of the Tuition Assistance Top-Up program (which uses your GI Bill to pay for any additional expenses not covered by Tuition Assistance) is your base education center or college office. They will have the paperwork you need, and can help you fill it out and mail it in, or give you instructions on how to submit the claim through the VA web-site’s online VONAPP system.
December 1st, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Hi, my question is that I’m on active duty and paying for classes can be expensive if the Tuition Assistance does not cover it. So my question is that under the New GI Bill, is Top-Up still available to be used for classes that exceed the maximum amount TA pays per class? – Joseph
Yes it is available Joseph. While you can use it to pay for tuition exceeding the $250 per credit that Tuition Assistance (TA) pays, you can also use it to pay for classes if you hit your yearly TA maximum of $4,500 early in the year and you want to take more classes.
How Top-Up works is your service branch pays all of your tuition and then they bill the VA for the portion not paid by TA. Then the VA will convert that amount into months of entitlement and deduct that from your unused months of benefits. It really is a smart way to use your GI Bill entitlements as you end up getting more bang for your buck, by using TA. It is a benefit of you serving, so you might as well take advantage of it.
November 17th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I plan on receiving my bachelor’s and master’s degrees during my six-year enlistment through TUI University. I would like to have both before I separate. My question is, when I run out of TA (the $4,500 we get every fiscal year), can I get the funds from my Post 9/11 GI Bill.? My courses are $1,000 each and to get both degrees, I will have to take more than 4 or 5 classes year, which is all the TA will allow me to do. I want to move faster that. – Christina
Yes Christina, you can get funds from your Post 9/11 GI Bill – it is called the Tuition Top-Up Program. Here is how it works.
As you know, TA will pay up to $250 per credit up to $4,500 per year. If your tuition costs more, or you hit your cap early in the academic year, your service branch still pays the bill, but they bill the VA for what TA doesn’t pay. The VA, in turn, converts the amount they had to pay into months of entitlement and deducts those months from your unused entitlement.
Using Tuition Assistance and Top-Up is a great way to stretch your GI Bill education benefits and get the most out of your education financial options. You have a very aggressive education plan and I wish you the best of luck with it.
October 25th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
Can I use the “Top Up” option for books and required supplies or is “Top Up” only for tuition? — Jeremiah
Due to the nature of the Tuition Assistance “Top-Up” program, which uses the GI Bill to supplement the military’s Tuition Assistance program, it is limited by the tuition and fees of the courses that you take. The amount of benefits you receive is equal to the difference between what Tuition Assistance covers and the actual tuition and fees. Unfortunately, this doesn’t provide an extra portion for books and supplies. Some schools do include books and supplies in their tuition costs, and in that case, the books may be covered.
September 21st, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I’m using Navy TA and my Post 9/11 GI Bill for Top-Up and I’m going to hit my annual TA cap before I graduate next year. I don’t want to wait 3 months until my cap starts over. Will the VA pay for the full amount of the class after I run out of TA money? If so what do I need to do to make this happen? – Mike
Whether the VA pays the full amount or not depends on how much per credit hour your classes cost. The VA would pay up to the in-state maximum for state where your school is located. Any amount over that would be your responsibility, unless your school happens to be a Yellow Ribbon school. If so, your school could pay up to half of the difference and the VA would pay an equal amount. Also note, you will use up your remaining Post 9/11 GI Bill entitlement faster than you would using Tuition Top-Up, but because you are close to graduating, I don’t imagine that is a concern. It could be though, if you ever plan on transferring benefits to your spouse or a child.
To inform the VA of your intention to use just the Post 9/11 GI Bill and not Tuition Top-Up for your next term, go to the VONAPP website and fill out another VA Form 22-1990.
September 14th, 2010
by GIBillExpert
by GIBillExpert
I am working on getting my degree while overseas still on active duty. Distance learning is really my only option and I only have time to take one or two classes a term. How would using Top Up along with TA affect my total GI bill entitlements considering it would only be about 300 dollars a term? Would I lose what was left after 36 months? If I am going to be doing this for about the next 2 years( a few distance classes a term) and have to use Top Up which GI bill is better? All of the information I find is assuming full time students. Thank you so much if you can clear up this confusion. — Jeff S.
That’s a good question. Figuring out how the Top-Up system works can be a little confusing. However, you’re right in assuming that it takes off of your 36 months of total GI Bill entitlements at the full rate, even though you’re only getting limited assistance from the GI Bill. This is one reason that it pays to save your GI Bill for after you separate from the military, if you can swing it. Of course, if you need the money for the courses, then it can be a real life-saver.
It doesn’t matter much which GI Bill you choose to use, because either one will only pay the difference between TA and the cost of the tuition and fees. However, if you select the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, remember that you can’t ever reverse that decision, so you should use the Montgomery GI Bill if you want to reserve the choice to use that bill after you get out of the military.
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