Posts Tagged ‘Transferred Benefits’

According to the rules, she can’t use her transferred Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits unless she has turned 18 or graduated from high school, so if she will be under 18 at graduation, I would have her submit VA Form 22-1990e as soon as she has her diploma in hand. If she will turn 18 before graduation, then submit it on her birthday. It can take 8 to 10 weeks to process so if she will start school in late August or early September, she should get it in plenty of time to register.

The VA will pay her tuition and eligible fees up to the resident rate, which for WSU is showing as $10,798. If she is a non-resident, that amount jumps to $22,076.

Monthly, she will get a housing allowance payment from the VA either deposited into her bank account or by check, depending on which option she chooses on her 22-1990e. Out of that housing allowance, she will have to pay her room and board.

Her housing allowance is calculated based on the zip code of her school and the number of credits she takes. If she takes is going full-time, then she would get $1,074 per month or $9,666 for a nine-month academic year. The school’s website shows room and board at $9,662 per year, so her Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance should cover her room and board in full.

She will also get a book stipend at the beginning of each semester. It is paid at the rate of $41.67 per credit (up to the $1,000 yearly maximum). For twelve credits that amounts to $500. WSU’s website is showing a yearly estimated book cost of $936, so it should cover her books.

No Kevin, the clock on your Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) benefits doesn’t start until you get out of the Reserves. As far as rolling your MGIB over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the advantage is the higher pay structure of the New GI Bill, but with only one year of Post 9/11 GI Bill eligibility – the year you were recalled – you would only have a 60% benefit.

Under the MGIB, you would get $1,473 per month to go to school full-time and you have to pay all your own education expenses. Under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the VA would pay up to 60% of your tuition and eligible fees and you would get 60% of the housing allowance and book stipend.

As you know, your housing allowance amount is determined by the location of your school and the number of credits you are taking, along with your eligibility percentage. So if your school considers 12 credits to be full-time and you are taking 9 credits, with your 60% eligibility, you would get 60% of 9/12^th of the full amount. For example if the full housing amount is $1,400, your 9/12ths of that amount would $1,050. Sixty percent of $1,050 is $650. You will have to work the numbers both ways for your particular situation to see which one would be the best for you, but at 60% eligibility, most likely the MGIB would be your best bet.

If you have at least four years left on your enlistment, you can make a transfer request to your son. Just know he will inherit that same eligibility percentage. Of course, one way to up that percentage is to go on another one-year deployment or two before making a transfer to him. With him being only two years old, you have time on your side.

It depends on how many months of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits you gave her when you made your initial transfer request. Entitlement use is based on a 30-day month, so if she is going to school full-time, she would use one month of entitlement for each month in school. If she is on 4-month semesters, 3 semesters would calculate out to 12 months of entitlement use. I would recommend looking at her Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) to see how many months she originally had.

The only thing I can think of that could speed up her use of benefits is if she is taking an aviation program or a high-cost technology accelerated course. Those types of training use up benefits at a faster rate than other courses.

If you did not transfer all of your benefits to her, then go back in and make another transfer request. You can give any or all of your unused Post 9/11 GI Bill months of entitlement.

The other thing that could come into play is if you had used some of your Montgomery GI Bill entitlement and then switched over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you would have only received the same number of months you had left under the MGIB and not a full 36 months. So while you might have requested to transfer 36 months, the VA would have only transferred the number of unused months you had left. If her CoE shows she had 36 months, then I would contact the VA and ask why her use is accelerated.