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GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert BlogPosts Tagged ‘Post 9/11 GI Bill’
May 2nd, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am currently enrolled at American Military University majoring in Criminal Justice. What is the big difference between MGIB and Post 9/11? Which do you think should I use when my enlistment is up? Thank you, but confused! – Tiffany
Don’t worry Tiffany, I’m confused too most of the time, but I can tell you the biggest difference between the two GI Bills in one word – pay.
If you use the older Montgomery GI Bill, the VA would pay you $1,473 per month to go to school. Out of that money, you have to pay all your own tuition, fees, books and any other education-related expenses.
If you use the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA pays your school directly for your tuition and fees, up to $17,500 for a private school or full tuition and fees at the in-state student rate for public schools. Each month you get a housing allowance that averages $1,200 across the United States.
Because the amount you get depends on the zip code of your school and the number of credits you take, the amount you actually would receive can vary greatly. If you go to a school in the Midwest, you would get less. If you go to school on either the East or West Coast, it is typically over double the average amount.
Plus at the beginning of each semester, you get a book stipend calculated at $41.67 per credit (up to the $1,000 yearly maximum, which is enough for two semesters per year if you take 12 credits each term.)
Also you should know that if you switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill with all 36 months of benefits left under your MGIB, you get your MGIB $1,200 contribution back when you use up the last month of benefit. It comes as part of your last housing allowance check or deposit. Pretty cool!
Before GI Bill 2.0 there were several differences between the two bills, but now not so much. If you are at 60% tier, then the MGIB would most likely be better for you. If you are at the 80% tier or higher, then use Post 9/11 GI Bill. If you are at the 70% tier, it is almost a wash between the two GI Bills.
May 1st, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
With the GI Bill, if you want to go to school online, what is the minimum amount of time you can go to a campus and still receive the full BAH instead of just the 50%. — Illisia
Hi Illisia. It really isn’t about how much time you have to spend on campus as it is taking at least one class each semester in a traditional classroom setting that pertains to your degree plan. The rest of your classes can be online. And your on-campus classes can be at a local school close to you and different from your online school.
The key to making this work is to ensure the class you take each semester applies to your degree plan and gets you one class closer to graduation. If it doesn’t, then the VA will not pay for the class, nor will the credits for that class count toward the number of credits that determine your Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance.
To get the full monthly housing allowance (and it is different from the BAH you received in the military), you have to take at least the minimum number of credits your school considers to be full-time. The amount you get in housing allowance money each month depends on the zip code of your school and the number of credits you take.
Even if you take just a one-credit class on campus each semester, it will mean the difference of several hundred dollars per month in housing allowance money. Crazy huh!
April 30th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
After this semester, I will have two months left. There are three classes that I can take in the fall to complete my degree plan. Will the VA pay for the entire semester with the BAH? Is it possible to switch back to the old GI Bill to complete my school or perhaps continuing my education further? What are my options? Can I qualify for any extensions? — Sam
You have few options Sam. Number one, you can’t go back to the old Montgomery GI Bill. When you made the decision to switch from the old to the New GI Bill, you gave up your old GI Bill. If you converted with months of benefits left, you received that same number of months under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. If you are using the additional 12 months you received under the New GI Bill, then you had already exhausted all the benefits under the old GI Bill before you switched.
As far as the next semester, because you are using the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA would most likely only pay for the two months you have left. If you were using the Montgomery GI Bill, they would pay you to the end of the semester or for 12 weeks, whichever is less. Different GI Bill, different rules.
Requesting an extension won’t work either as they are used if you are going to lose benefits due to reaching your delimitation date of 10 years for the MGIB or 15 years for the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
Under the Rule of 48, if you are eligible for two or more GI Bills, the maximum number of months of benefits you can get is 48. The issue is you are reaching your 48 months and running out of benefits. I’m afraid you are at the end of the line and you should consider paying for your three remaining classes after your last two months of GI Bill benefits are used up.
April 27th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am finishing my bachelor’s degree right now using student loans. My husband enlisted in 1996. He is still serving active duty and will retire in 2016. Would I be able to use his GI Bill for a vocational degree or a master’s degree now or even after he retires? Also, would he be able to transfer his GI Bill to our 3 children? If so, how does that work, how much would each child get? Would they each get a stipend and housing allowance? I appreciate any light you can shed. – Mandy
Let’s take your questions one at a time Mandy. First, yes, you could get a vocational or master’s degree now or after he retires, provided he makes a transfer of his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to you now while he is still serving. He has enough years in already — just make sure he has at least four years left on his current enlistment at the time he makes a transfer request.
Second question – yes, he can transfer his unused benefits to his three children. Keep in mind he only has 36 months total that he can divide up, so each person will not get much if he divides it up evenly. However, he could give you 18 months to finish your master’s degree and each child 6 months for a total of 36 months.
Third question – once each child and you have your transfer requests approved, then each of you have to go to the eBenefits website and request your Certificate of Eligibility by submitting VA Form 22-1990e. Once each of you get your certificate, you will need to hand in a copy to your school when you enroll.
If your husband is still serving at the time you use your Post 9/11 GI Bill transferred benefit, you would not get the housing allowance but you would get the book stipend and your tuition/fees would be paid directly to your school. However, you would get the housing allowance if you used your benefit once he has retired.
As far as your children, they will get their tuition/fees paid directly to each of their schools, each will get a housing allowance and book stipend regardless of whether your husband is still serving or not. As a matte of fact, they can still live at home (and not have to pay rent or room and board) and still get everything. Just make sure each of them use their transferred benefits by age 26. I think that should have answered all your questions.
April 26th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I just sent in my application for my Reserve GI Bill 2 weeks ago and I was wondering if I will just be receiving $345.00 a month or will I receive $345.00 a month plus a housing allowance and a book stipend. – Michael
Hi Michael. You are mixing information from two different GI Bills. The Reserve GI Bill – the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) pays you a fixed amount ($345) once each month while you are going to school. Out of that amount you have to pay all your own tuition, fees, books and other education-related expenses.
Under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA pays your tuition and eligible fees directly to your school. Monthly, you get a housing allowance based on the zip code of your school and the number of credits you are taking. At the beginning of each semester, you get a book stipend paying $41.67 per credit (up to the $1,000 yearly maximum).
So, the Post 9/11 GI Bill is much more lucrative than the MGIB-SR, provided you are eligible for it. To qualify for the minimum Post 9/11 GI Bill tier of 40%, you would have to serve for at least 91 days on a Title 10 order in support of a contingency operation. A typical one-year deployment would get you to the 60% tier with three years getting you to 100%.
April 25th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
My husband is transferring all of his GI Bill to me so I can pay for my school. My question is…can I transfer my GI Bill to my daughter later if I do not use it all? – Tannia
No, you can’t transfer Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits that were transferred to you Tannia, but your husband can, if your daughter is one of his dependents. Even after your husband transfers his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to you, he still has the ultimate control over them, including being able to revoke and reallocate unused benefits as he sees fit or to use them himself.
And that brings me to my next point -– your husband should transfer at least one month of benefits to your daughter now while he is still serving, if she is his biological child or if he has legally adopted her. Under the rules of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, after he retires he can’t transfer benefits to a dependent not having already received benefits while he was active. So by giving her at least one month now, he is giving himself more flexibility as far as how he can manage those transferred benefits in the future — even after he has retired.
By doing it this way, if you do not use all of your benefits, he could take the unused ones from you and give them to her. However, if she never had received any benefits, then he can’t give her any after retiring.
This is an important point that many servicemembers and families do not know about until it is too late, plus it is a good way to maximize the use of GI Bill benefits.
April 24th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I would like to transfer my GI Bill to my son. Who must I speak to regarding this situation and which forms must I fill out? Please let me know. Thank you. – Gilbert
Gilbert, you don’t have to speak to anyone as it is all done through the Internet, if you qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer option.
But to qualify for the transfer option, you first must still be serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, which includes active duty and the Selected Reserves (National Guard and the Reserves from the various military branches).
Next, you must have already served for at least six years and lastly, you have to have at least four years left on your enlistment at the time you make a transfer request to get your request approved. If you are within four years of retiring, then the four years is reduced to less amount of time.
Providing you meet these three service obligations, then you can go to the milConnect website and enter into your son’s account how many months of benefits you would like to give him. Once you click on the Submit button, you will see the Status Block change to “Submitted”.
Come back to this website in 8 to 10 weeks and see if the status has changed to “Request Approved”. When the status changes, then your son will have to submit VA Form 22-1990e from the eBenefits website to get his Certificate of Eligibility. He will need to hand in a copy of that certificate when he enrolls in school.
April 23rd, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Hi, I am wondering what benefits I am entitled to as a National Guardsman being deployed overseas? My total time overseas is approximately 179 days, but with pre-deployment training it is approximately 221 days. This does not include my technical training, additional schooling and basic training. I am planning on attending a military friendly college when I return to the states. Thank you. — Ed
As you most likely know already Ed, the only way National Guardsmen get the Post 9/11 GI Bill is by deploying on a Title 10 order in support of a contingency operation for at least 91 days after September 10, 2001. So with that said, your 179 days would put you at the minimum benefit of 40%. That tier covers eligible time from 90 days out to six months.
However, if some of your additional training time is eligible time, or you could extend your orders by one day (180 days), then you would move into the next category (6 months to 1 year) and gain an additional 10% moving up to the 50% tier. But to tell if your additional time is eligible or not, you have to look at the title code of the order.
The only ones that qualify right now as eligible Post 9/11 GI Bill time are Title 10 and Section 502(f) of Title 32 for the purpose of responding to a national emergency.
So Ed, you will have to dig out copies of your additional training orders and look to see what USC code they fall under to see if they qualify as eligible time for Post 9/11 GI Bill.
April 20th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I have heard that there are certain states that pay for veterans tuition if attending a state school. But since the state pays for the tuition the VA would still give you extra money per semester since there is no tuition fees. Is this true? If so, where would I be able to find out more info on which states offer this? I am current residence in Texas with the old GI Bill, but I am thinking of changing to the new bill. I appreciate your help! – - Jeremy
What you heard about the VA giving you extra money because it would not have to pay tuition, Jeremy, is totally false in the case of using the Post 9/11 GI Bill but can be true if you are using Chapter 30. Generally what happens in these cases is all you get from using your Post 9/11 GI Bill to go to school in these tuition-free states is your monthly housing allowance and the book stipend once each semester, so in my estimation, it is not a good use of your New GI Bill benefits. You are still burning up the same amount of benefits, but you are getting very little in return.
But since you asked, the tuition-free states are:
- Texas
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Montana
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Each state’s program is administered differently. In the case of Texas for example, they have the Hazelwood Act. Under that program, if you meet the eligibility requirements, you can get up to 150 semester hours of school tuition free. However, this is after you have used up your Post 9/11 GI Bill. But by using your Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA is paying for your tuition and eligible fees, so you are getting good use out of your New GI Bill benefits. That is just one example of how that state runs their tuition-free program.
But also in Texas, you can go to school using your MGIB and you can get both your MGIB and Hazelwood Act benefits. Different GI Bills, different rules. You can see what each state offers by using the map on the homepage of GIBill.com
April 19th, 2012
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I was under the impression my active duty Ch. 30 MGIB benefits were used up or exhausted. Later I joined the Air National Guard and became eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. I applied for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and received a certificate for the time that remained under the Ch. 30 benefits. I submitted a request to revert back to Ch. 30, but my request was denied. I have since learned that my delimited date for Ch.30 should have been reset based on performance of more than 90 days of active duty that wasn’t considered training. In submission of the appeal, what pertinent information should I include? Which regulations can I site regarding the 90-day active duty rule; particularly when I know that VBA had documentation on file to support the update of my file? Thanks in advance. – - Felicia
I don’t understand Felicia what you are trying to appeal. As I see it, the issue isn’t whether your Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) benefits had expired or not. The issue is you still had MGIB benefits left at the time you switched to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and that is why you received that same number of Post 9/11 GI Bill months.
What you should have done if you had known is had your MGIB delimitation date updated first to start at your most recent discharge date, used up your remaining Chapter 30 benefits and then switched to the Post 9/11 GI Bill to get the additional 12 months of benefits, but since you have already switched, that is no longer an option.
The VA is very specific in noting that switching to the Post 9/11 GI Bill is a one-way street and if you do so, it is irrevocable. In block 9f of VA Form 22-1990, it says”By electing Chapter 33, I acknowledge that I understand the following:
• I may not receive more than a total of 48 months of benefits under two or more programs.
• If electing chapter 33 in lieu of chapter 30, my months of entitlement under chapter 33 will be limited to the number of months of entitlement remaining under chapter 30 on the effective date of my election. (Author’s note: It doesn’t mention if those benefits have expired or not.) However, if I completely exhaust my entitlement under chapter 30 before the effective date of my chapter 33 election, I may receive up to 12 additional months of benefits under chapter 33.
• My election is irrevocable and may not be changed. I elect to receive chapter 33 education benefits in lieu of the education benefit checked below, effective . . .. I understand that my election is irrevocable and may not be changed.”
In just this little paragraph, it references irrevocability twice. Many veterans don’t take that information seriously and think there is a work-around – and there isn’t.
You can submit an appeal if you want, but what are you basing your appeal on? The VA did exactly what you ask them to do. They switched you over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill with Chapter 30 benefits left, so what is there to appeal?
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