Expert Answers to Your GI Bill Benefits Questions Topic: Veterans Education Benefits

It is possible to take courses from two ore more different institutions at once under the GI Bill. One school will be your primary institution, which will determine whether courses count toward completion of your degree program. Any other courses will be additional to this, and you will transfer the credits to your primary school after you complete them.

The process of doing the paperwork for this situation varies depending on the version of the GI Bill you are using. I recommend that you ask for information from either your school’s veterans’ affairs office, or from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs via their toll-free GI Bill number: 1-888-442-4551.

You are very likely eligible for more educational benefits from the GI Bill, but without knowing more details, it’s hard to tell exactly what.

If you signed up for the Montgomery GI Bill when you first enlisted on active duty, then you should have been eligible for either 36 months of educational benefits, if you served the full term of your initial enlistment, or a number of months equal to the number of months you served on active duty (up to 36 months), if you served less and were discharged due to medical disability.

If you signed up for and have been using the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserves, then you should be eligible for 36 total months of benefits under that program, but you must use these benefits while you are on an active drilling status in the Reserves or National Guard.

You should also be eligible for the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, which requires at least 90 consecutive days of active duty that falls after September 11, 2001. This bill also always provides 36 months of benefits. The more active duty time that you have served, the higher percentage of your tuition it pays, up to 100% at 36 or more months of active duty.

They (whoever they were) were correct. You may only draw on your GI Bill benefits while you are taking college courses. They are not intended to cover existing educational loan debts.

The normally intended method for paying off a school loan is to find employment in a field that uses the education you received, and use the income from that employment to pay off the loan. Most college loans have reasonable terms and a long grace period that makes this practical. Current employment trends are making this difficult for many people, but there is no better method available.

No, the GI Bill may only be used to cover the costs of college courses that you are currently taking. Technically, if you are using the Montgomery GI Bill, you may use the benefit money however you like, but you must be taking sufficient college courses in order to be eligible to receive the money. The GI Bill is not intended to cover existing college loan debt.

You should speak to the financial aid office at a university about this; you are probably not required to completely settle existing college loans before taking additional courses. It may simply be more difficult to get further federally-subsidized college loans.