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GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert BlogPosts Tagged ‘Educational Benefits’
January 31st, 2011
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I have recently moved and I need to change my home address so I can get all my paperwork sent to my new address? How do I change my old address to my current address? – Antoinette
Probably the best way is to go to the VONAPP website and submit VA Form 22-5490. It is a multi-purpose form that can be used to change your address, along with changing your GI Bill place of training or your training program. You can send in your form electronically by going to the VONAPP website or you can download the form, fill it out and send it in by snail-mail.
Another way would be to call the VA main education hotline at 1-888-442-4551 or you could contact the VA regional Office in charge of servicing your state. Sometimes they aren’t as busy as the main VA office.
Also, don’t forget to change your address at the Post Office, so any GI Bill related material will get forwarded to your new address. Sometimes it takes awhile to get a change of address made at the VA.
May 27th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
I want to go to helicopter flight school. Phoenix helicopters in Mesa, Arizona will become a GI Bill accepting school in June 2010. The Old GI Bill only covers 60% of everything after the private license and no financial aid schools are supporting these types of schools. I want to go to this school full time and get every license, which should take a year to a year and a half. I have been told that the New GI Bill covers some of these schools and will even start out at the private license level and go beyond. Is this true and how can I get this started so I’m not out of pocket $15,000 or more because a technical school is much better than a four year degree school any day. Thank you, Neil
Hi Neil, Helicopter flight school has all of a sudden become popular, I just answered a question about helicopter flight school and the two GI Bills the other day. If you want to use your Post 9/11 GI Bill for helicopter flight school, you might have to change your mind about schools which award degrees.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill can only be used at an institution of higher learning. The VA defines an institution of higher learning as a school which is approved to award degrees. The education program you are taking at the school doesn’t have to result in a degree, but the school has to have the ability to award degrees. The example I used for the other question is an aeronautical college that can award degrees in programs such as aeronautical engineering. If you can find a school like this that is approved by the VA as an institution of higher learning, and they have helicopter flight training in their curriculum, then you should be able to use your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits there. You can search for VA approved schools and programs on this VA webpage.
Otherwise you may be using your Montgomery GI Bill benefits to attend helicopter flight school. Receiving 60% of your costs for attending is still better than having to pay for everything yourself, but hopefully you can find a program that you can use your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits with.
Wherever you attend flight school, I can’t stress enough that you make sure the school is approved by the VA for GI Bill use. Just because a school says that they will accept the GI Bill doesn’t mean that the VA accepts them. I have heard about some commercial diving schools that are being a bit vague on that account, and veterans are finding that they owe a lot of money that they thought their GI Bill was going to pay.
May 24th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
Does involvement in the New GI Bill result in additional service obligation? What about benefits for part-time attendance, ie 80%? Thank you, Robert
Hi Robert, It depends on what type of involvement you have with the New GI Bill as to whether there may be any additional service obligation. If you have earned the New GI Bill benefits with your military service and you are planning on using the benefits yourself, then there is no additional service obligation.
However, if you are planning to transfer your New GI Bill benefits to an eligible spouse or dependent child, then there probably will be an additional service obligation before the transfer is approved. If you are planning to use transferred New GI Bill benefits that a service member earned, than that service member will probably have an additional service obligation.
The amount of benefits you have is based on the amount of time you have been on active duty after 10 September 2001. If you have been on active duty for at least 90 days then you are eligible for 40 percent of the New GI Bill benefits, and it continues upwards with additional time on active duty until you become eligible for full New GI Bill benefits with 36 months of active duty time.
May 17th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
If I’m a resident in Florida, can I still use the G.I. Bill out of state or do I have to pay out-state tuition? — James
If you are talking about the federal GI Bill, then yes, you can use it anywhere in the United States, including our territories. As far as having to pay out-state tuition, in most cases yes you will have to.
The two instances I can think of where you would not is if you attend a school in a state having reciprocity with Florida or attend a school in one of six states that don’t charge veterans tuition; those states are Texas, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, Wisconsin and Wyoming. As each state administers their program a little differently, check the rules on each states’ website.
As far as out-state tuition, what the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) and Post 9/11 GI Bill pay differs. With the MGIB, you get a fixed amount (right now, it is $1,368 per month) regardless of your tuition costs and you have to pay all your own costs.
With the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA pays your school directly up to the in-state, public school, undergraduate program maximum. If you are paying out-state tuition, you will have to make up the difference between what your school charges and what the VA pays.
If you will have to pay out-state tuition, ask if your school is a Yellow Ribbon school. If so, the school can pay up to 50% of what the VA does not pay and the VA will pay an equal amount. This could help you out a lot.
If you are referring to a Florida GI Bill veteran benefit, then you are most likely limited to schools in Florida.
May 17th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I joined the Navy in March 1989, served for 20 years and retired as of April 1st 2009. How do the GI Bill benefits apply to me and am i eligible for the Post 9/11 benefits? — Wayne
Back in 1989 Wayne, you would have been eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill. Do you recall paying the $1,200 contribution ($100 per month payroll deduction for 12 months)? If you paid the contribution, you should have the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB).
If you remember signing the declaration or didn’t make the contribution, then don’t have the MGIB, but you would qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill by having 36 months of active duty after September 10, 2001.
The best of both worlds is if you have the MGIB, and we know you have the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you can get up to 48 months of combined benefits verses 36 months if you are eligible for only one GI Bill.
To get the extra 12 months though, you have to first exhaust your MGIB, then apply for the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. If you don’t first exhaust your MGIB before switching, then you only get the months you have left on your MGIB.
The only benefit of the Post 9/11 GI Bill you won’t get is the transfer of eligibility. To get this you had to make the transfer on or after August 1, 2009.
May 14th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
My dad was in the Army about 18 years ago for a couple years and was honorably discharged because of an injury. He was under the impression that he could use his GI Bill to pay for my college. He said as long as I was living in the same state as him I could go to any state college tuition paid for by the GI Bill. We live in California and I haven’t been able to find any information on it. Please help as I need some answers! — Brittney
Brittney, I can’t find anything on it either. I know this:
- if your dad was in 18 years ago, he would have had the Montgomery G.I. Bill (MGIB) and that did not have a dependent transfer option.
- the MGIB had a delimiting date of 10 years after discharge, so any benefits he would have had would have expired over 8 years ago.
- the Federal G.I. Bills are not state-specific, so your reference to staying in California to go to school led me to believe maybe it was a California-specific state G.I. benefit he was referring to.
I went out to the California Veterans Affairs website looking for something that might fit your situation, but I did not find anything, unless you dad is disabled and it is service-connected. You mentioned an injury, but you didn’t state a disability connected with it.
If he has a permanent VA-approved disability, you may qualify for California’s College Tuition Fee Waivers for Veterans’ Dependents program. Good luck.
May 11th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Hello Mr. Kness, I am currently using the Chapter 30 GI Bill. I have been told by the VA reps at my school that when I run out of benefits under Chapter 30, I can start using the Post 9/11 GI Bill for up to one year. I have been given incorrect information before, so I would like to know if this is correct. It is important for me to find out because I have three months left under Chapter 30 and I would hate to depend on money I won’t have. Thank you. — Felix
Felix, what your school is telling could be true, provided you qualify for the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. Under the VA’s Rule of 48, if you qualify for two G.I. Bills, you can get up to a maximum of 48 months of education benefits.
The way to get the additional 12 months is to first exhaust your Chapter 30 Montgomery G.I. Bill (such as your are doing) and then switch to the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. If you don’t exhaust your Chapter 30 benefits first, then the same number of months you had left on your Chapter 30 just transfer over and you don’t get the extra months. I know – it is a crazy rule.
To qualify for the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, you need at least 90-days of active duty service after September 10, 2001 for the minimum benefit, and three years for the full benefit.
May 10th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Hi, I’m a Hawaii Army National Guard soldier that is currently deployed in Afghanistan and I am wondering, I have served a 1-yr tour in Iraq and was enrolled to receive benefits from the GI BILL Chapter 1607 before this tour (making it 2 deployments). So, will I still be eligible to receive GI Bill Chapter 1607 after I return from this deployment and even after I ETS out of the National Guard in July 2011? My other question is since I will be out of the Guard at exactly 10 years in July, will I still be able to transfer that GI Bill benefits over to my spouse? — Nolan
I’m concerned with your questions Nolan, as you are talking about two different G.I. Bills. Just so we both are on the same sheet of music, Chapter 1607 is the Reserve Education Assistance Program (REAP) that you have as a deployed Guardsman. Your two deployments will not change your G.I. Bill status – you will still have the Chapter 1607 G.I. Bill. What your second deployment will do is up your education benefit to $1,094.80 per month once you start school. After your first deployment your payment would have been $820.80 per month.
If you ETS in July, and that is the end of your service contract, then you will keep your Chapter 1607 eligibility up to 10 years after your discharge date. If you don’t complete your contract obligation after your deployment , you lose your Chapter 1607 benefit at discharge.
The last part of your question, “since I will be out of the guard at exactly 10 years in July, will I still be able to transfer that GI Bill benefits over to my spouse?”, is the part that leads me to believe your are confusing your Chapter 1607 G.I. Bill with the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.
Chapter 1607 does not have a transfer option, so you can’t transfer benefits to your spouse regardless of the number of years you have in. The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill does have the transfer option, but that is not the G.I. Bill you have. If you did, once you have served six years and agreed to serve an additional four years, which is where I think you are getting the 10-years from in your question, you could make a transfer to your spouse. To get the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, you need three years of active duty.
May 7th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I now have the old GI bill and have had it since boot camp back in June of 2009. I have not finished paying the GI Bill off yet. We were not given the option of the Post 9/11 GI Bill at boot camp, but that is the GI bill I would like to have. What do I need to do in order to switch this? Thanks in advance. — James
Well James, we need to clarify something first. You say you currently have the old Montgomery G.I. Bill (MGIB), but you won’t be able to use it until you are fully vested, which takes two or three years of active duty service (depending on what you signed up for on your enlistment contract).
Having paid ten months into the MGIB already, your best bet is to finish paying the last two months. Once you are fully vested into the MGIB, then you can switch to the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill by filling out VA Form 22-1990 online or downloading the form, filling it out and sending it in according to the instructions on the form.
The one thing I’m concerned with is your decision to switch to the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. Have you weighed all the options between the two Bills? Do you know what kind of training programs each of the Bills will pay and do they pay match with what program you want to take? Do you know that if you qualify for two G.I. Bills, you can get an additional 12 months of education benefit?
Do your homework James and be absolutely sure which G.I. Bill will meet your education goals. If you decide to switch to the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, you can’t switch back.
May 4th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I did not sign up for the GI Bill when I joined back in 2004. I have just got out of the military in Dec. 2009. So the question is, do I get the new GI Bill or not? If so, how do I go about using it? — Casey
The beauty of the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, Casey is there isn’t a sign up process, nor is there any contributions that have to be paid, such as there is with the Montgomery G.I. Bill. Servicemembers can meet the minimum eligibility requirement with as little as 90 days of active duty service, however, to get the maximum benefit requires at least three years.
You have more than three years, so you are at the 100% tier level. The only benefit you won’t have is the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill transferability option where you could have transferred some or all, of your unused benefit to your spouse or dependent children. You would have to have made your transfer on, or after August 1, 2009, while you were still on active duty. You can’t transfer after you are out (at least not yet).
To use your Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, first you have to get your Certificate of Eligibility. You do this by filling out VA Form 22-1990 electronically online or downloading the form, filling it out and sending it by snail mail according to the instructions on the form. Once you have your certificate, then you can enroll in a GI Bill-approved school.
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