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Will I Keep My GI Bill Even Though I’m Getting an Other-Than-Honorable Discharge?
January 17th, 2012
by Ron Kness
My question is do I get to keep my GI Bill even though I’m being OTH discharged? I will have served 3 years in the Marine Corps this June 2012, but will most likely be out by March 2012 latest in my view. If not, how would I be able to possibly get it changed so I could keep it. Is there a time period or a form I have to wait/fill out? – Ryan

You get to keep your Post 9/11 GI Bill, even though you will have an OTH Ryan, you just won’t be able to use your education benefits. For that you have to have a fully Honorable discharge.

You ask if there is a waiting period or form you have to fill out to get your OTH upgraded to Honorable. Since you asked about a waiting period, I’m assuming you heard the rumor about your discharge would be automatically upgraded in six months – there is no such thing as an automatic upgrade regardless of how much time you wait.

But, there is a form to fill out to request a discharge upgrade – the DD Form 293. Fill out that form and submit it to your branch of service Discharge Review Board. It can take up to a year to hear back with a decision and there are no guarantees they will upgrade your discharge, but it is the only recourse you have.  If the Board denies your upgrade request, you can take it one level higher to the Board of Military Corrections for your service branch. That requires submitting DD Form 149 and it is the end of the road. If they decline your request, you are stuck with your OTH.

Keep in mind with a request, you have to prove why your current discharge is wrong and should be upgraded. According to statistics for those that were in the Army, only 41% are granted an upgrade. I don’t have stats on the other branches, but they should be similar.

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Does Using Tuition Assistance Subtract from Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits?
October 19th, 2011
by Ron Kness
Does use of the Tuition Assistance program subtract funds from your post 9/11 GI Bill benefits? In other words, can I use Tuition Assistance while on active duty and later use the post 9/11 GI Bill to further my education? – Daniel

To answer your first question Daniel, no it doesn’t. As far as your second question, of course you can Daniel. Tuition Assistance (TA) is not connected to your GI Bill at all and it is a good way to get a jump on getting your degree while you are still in.

It is free money and one of the benefits of serving, so you might as well use it. Once you are out, then you can use your GI Bill benefits to either finish up your degree or get an advanced degree.

What does use up GI Bill benefits, but at a much slower rate, is the Tuition Top-Up program. How it works is TA pays up to $250 per credit. If your tuition costs more than that, or you reach your annual $4,500 cap early in the academic year, then you can use Top-Up to pay the difference.

Your service branch pays the whole bill and then gets reimbursement back from the VA for the part TA wouldn’t pay. The VA then takes that dollar amount, converts it into months of benefits and deducts that number of months from what you have in unused GI Bill entitlement.

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I’m Wondering If I Can Get My GI Bill Extended If I’m Actively Enrolled?
July 12th, 2011
by Ron Kness
I am currently in school and have been for a year now. I’m wondering if I could get my GI bill extended if I am actively enrolled? My bill is the Montgomery one. Does anyone know? I have asked and get conflicting responses. Thank you. – Ryan

Unfortunately Ryan, the VA usually only will extend a GI Bill delimiting date in three specific situations:

  • If you were recalled to active duty – then your delimiting date would be reset to your latest separation date;
  • If you were detained by a foreign power;
  • If you somehow were prevented from attending school, such as a temporary disability like a car accident, unexpected job relocation or you were the family care provider for a critically ill family member.

Just know that in the last two cases, supporting documentation is required and the last case is extremely difficult to prove.

The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) has a 10-year delimitation date (10 years from your date of discharge) and by law, the VA can’t continue paying you past that date, which is different from just running out of entitlement. In the case of running out of entitlement, the VA can pay you out to the end of the semester or up to 12 weeks, whichever is shorter.

Another option would be to switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, if you are eligible for the new GI Bill, as it has a 15-year delimitation date, so that would buy your some extra time.  If you are not eligible for the new GI Bill or don’t fall into one of the above specific instances, then you are most likely out of options.

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Will My Post 9/11 GI Bill Housing Allowance Change After August 1st?
July 7th, 2011
by Ron Kness
Thanks for this wonderful and informative site. I am a full time student under the Post 9/11 GI Bill in NYC. I am currently receiving $2,754 per month for BHA, will that amount decrease after August 2011 or will I still attain the same money per month? Also, I understand that after August 2011 when I am off from school between terms, I will not get paid for that week or 2 weeks. Please confirm when possible that my $2,754 amount will be the same on August 1 2011. Thank you. — Anthony

My question to you Anthony is what led you to believe your Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance would drop after August 1st? If you continue to take a full-time load at the same school that you have previously attended in NYC, so that you stay in the same zip code, then your housing allowance should remain the same.

What the GI Bill 2.0 changed in the way of housing allowances was is if you were taking less credits than what your school considered to be full-time, then after August 1st your housing allowance would be pro-rated based on the number of credits you were taking, but you are already at the full-time level, so this change won’t affect you.

As far as interval, or break pay, you are correct. That was eliminated as part of the Post 9/11 GI Bill change. In my opinion, it never was a good use of entitlement anyway because all the student got out of it was the housing allowance, whereas if that same entitlement was used during a semester, it would have paid for tuition, fees and the book stipend, along with the housing allowance. But many veterans were willing to use their entitlement to maintain the income during breaks.

Another change that will happen on October 1st as a result of the GI Bill 2.0,  is full-time, online-only students will be able to get up to $673.50 per month in a housing allowance where previously, they got nothing. Because you are attending a brick and mortar school, this will not affect you either.

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Posted in Housing Stipend, New GI Bill | 2 Comments »

What Are the Conditions to Receive New GI Bill Housing Allowance?
July 6th, 2011
by Ron Kness
What are the conditions to receive housing allowance under the new GI Bill? – Frank

Actually Frank, I’m going to give you two different answers because the conditions will be changing. Right now, you have to be classified as a greater-than-half-time student to receive the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance. As long as you are over the half-time amount, and not taking only online classes, you would get the housing allowance. If you are taking all your classes online, or only are at the half-time or less as far as the number of credits you are taking, then you would not get any housing allowance.

With the passage of the GI Bill 2.0, starting August 1st, the New GI Bill housing allowance will be prorated based on the number of classes you take. For example, if your school considers 12 credits to be full-time and you are taking 7 credits, then you would get 7/12ths of the housing allowance. Right now and up to August 1st under the same scenario, you would get the full housing allowance. The housing allowance is based on the zip code of your school and paid at the pay grade of an E-5 with dependents.

If you are a full-time online-only student, then the good news is starting on October 1st, you will get $673.50 in a monthly housing allowance. That was part of the change from the GI Bill 2.0 passage also. If your classes are all online, but you are less than full-time, then your housing allowance will be calculated against the number of credits you are taking.

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Posted in Housing Stipend, New GI Bill | 7 Comments »

Am I’m Still Qualified to Use My GI Bill?
May 25th, 2011
by Ron Kness
Hi, I was just wondering if I’m still qualified to use my GI Bill? I was active duty from 1994-1998, stayed in the reserves and was reactivated Oct 2001 due to Sept 11. Was released March of 2003. Before I was reactivated, I was using my GI Bill at Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, FL. Did not go back to college but am now looking into “finally” finishing up my schooling. Would love to know before I get too involved in searching out local colleges. Thank you. – Kristi

Kristi, I have good news. The GI Bill you had from your service ending in 1998 – The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) had a 10-year expiration date, meaning it expired in 2008.

The good news is with your activation from Oct. 2001 to March 2003, you would qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill and it reset your delimitation date for your old GI Bill. Your old GI Bill would now expire in 2013.

With 17 months of qualifying Post 9/11 GI Bill service, you would be at the 50% tier level and you would have 36 months minus the number of months you used when you attended school under the MGIB.

With the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA would pay 50% of your tuition and fees directly to your school. You would get 50% of the book stipend and 50% of the monthly housing allowance provided you are not taking all online courses and take at least the number of credits your school considers for a student to be classified as greater-than-half-time. Starting later this year, full-time online-only students can get up to $673.50 in a monthly housing allowance.

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Posted in Housing Stipend, New GI Bill | 4 Comments »

How do you qualify for the housing allowance?
March 17th, 2011
by GIBillExpert
Hello, my question is about the housing allowance. I understand from your posting is that if a student takes one class in a classroom environment, he/she is entitled to the housing allowance every month until he/she transfer from that school. Is somewhat correct? Secondly, who submits the information to VA to ensure the allowance is paid? The attending school? Thank you. — Art

That’s basically correct, but with an important caveat. You are eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance at any time that you are currently taking at least one traditional classroom course. If, at any time, you are not taking at least one traditional classroom course (probably meaning you are taking all online courses), you are not eligible to collect the housing allowance. So, basically, you should take a classroom course each term to retain the housing allowance.

It is the school’s responsibility to send attendance information (including the format of the classes) to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

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Posted in Education, Housing Stipend, New GI Bill, Veterans Education Benefits | 5 Comments »

Should I enroll before receiving my certificate of eligibility?
March 17th, 2011
by GIBillExpert
I am a retired Marine and (from reading the qualifications) meet the new GI Bill criteria. I have served 36 months active duty since September 2001. I retired on 1 October 2004. I would like to use the new GI Bill on-campus attendance opportunity. I have placed my app in VONAPP but have not heard whether I am accepted to roll my Montgomery GI Bill into the new bill. Should I contact a school and enroll or wait until I receive my certificate of eligibility? — Jerome C.

You are not technically required to wait until you receive your Post 9/11 GI Bill certificate of eligibility in order to enroll in college courses. However, the policy at your university university determines how they deal with this. If your college has a veterans’ affairs office, contact them to find out the school’s policy. If they don’t have a veterans’ affairs office, then the financial aid office handles this. They may have you enroll now, or may ask you to wait.

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Posted in Education, Montgomery G I Bill, New GI Bill, Veterans Education Benefits | No Comments »

Does the housing allowance always pay for a full month?
March 11th, 2011
by GIBillExpert
Under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, are you paid full housing allowance even if the semester ended in the middle of the month or began in the middle of the month? — Edward M.

In general, you are paid a Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance based on the actual number of days that the course runs. Any partial months are pro-rated, so you are paid for the portion of the month that the course took place. An exception to this is break pay (also known as interval pay); if there is a short break between terms, you can continue to be eligible for the housing allowance during that break, although you don’t receive the money until after the following term starts.

Break pay is on the way out, however. Per an amendment to the GI Bill that is taking effect this year, interval pay will no longer be paid to students using the GI Bill.

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Posted in Education, Housing Stipend, New GI Bill, Veterans Education Benefits | No Comments »

Does a veteran married to an active duty person receive BAH?
March 11th, 2011
by GIBillExpert
Hello, quick question. I am active duty as an E6 in the Army, my wife is ex-Navy with 5 years post 9/11. My question is, I currently receive Full BAH and she is supposed to get full BAH with dependents per her school ZIP code. Since we are married will she still be eligible for the full BAH? I have looked everywhere on the net and asked several local Ed Centers with no luck. This is important because we are expecting a newborn in 2 months and she would like to go to part time and the BAH could almost make up the difference for her going part time. — Steve

Yes, your wife should be eligible for the full housing allowance (or BAH) that goes along with her Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. If she was still on active duty and using the bill, she wouldn’t get the housing stipend. Likewise, if she was using GI Bill benefits that you had transferred to her, and you were still on active duty, she wouldn’t get the housing allowance. However, she is a veteran, using her own GI Bill benefits. There is nothing to prevent her from collecting the housing allowance.

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Posted in Education, Housing Stipend, New GI Bill, Veterans Education Benefits | 7 Comments »

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