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GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert BlogPosts Tagged ‘Tuition Assistance’
November 15th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
I joined the military only having 15+ college credits. I am now wanting to finish high school or get my GED online. Can I use my GED to do so? Marion
Hi Marion, I’m not sure I understand your question completely as I’m confused about you having 15 college credits without a high school diploma or GED, but you can’t use your Post 9/11 GI Bill to earn a GED. It can only be used for a college degree program and you aren’t eligible for Montgomery GI Bill benefits without a high school diploma or GED or if you have 12 hours of college credit hours, so if you do indeed have 15 college credits you could be eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill, but you can’t use it to complete your high school education.
If you’re still in the military, you should be able to take your GED testing free of charge and if you need to take some classes prior to taking the exam, Tuition Assistance should be able to pay for those classes. Programs such as the Army’s High School Completion Program (HSCP) are in place for situations just like yours and by using Tuition Assistance you’ll still have your GI Bill to use for your college degree.
November 8th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I was wondering if I switched over to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and decided to use it for two years while still on active duty, then when I get out of the military will I still be able to pursue college full-time and if so will I still get housing allowance and for how long? I read that while on active duty, you get the Post 9/11 GI Bill to go to school, however, you are not eligible for housing allowance, but what about when I get out? – Chris
What you read Chris is correct. If you choose to use your Post 9/11 GI Bill while on active duty, you do not get the housing allowance. Once you are discharged, you will get it while in school, provided your rate of pursuit is greater-than-half-time and you are not taking exclusively online classes.
Before answering your other question, my question to you is have you considered using the Tuition Assistance Program? Each service branch has one and it can pay up to $250 per semester credit in tuition (up to a yearly cap of $4,500). If your tuition costs more, or you hit your cap early in the academic year, you can use the Tuition Top-Up program to pay what TA will not. While the amount paid by the Top-Up program does come out of your GI Bill entitlements, it is used up at a much slower rate.
If you already have the Montgomery GI Bill and switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you will get the same number of months of Post 9/11 GI Bill entitlement as you had left under the MGIB. If you first exhaust your MGIB and then switch, you can get an additional 12 months of entitlement.
Once you are out, you can go to school full-time and get your tuition and eligible fees paid for by the VA (up to the in-state maximum) for as long as you have entitlements. Besides getting the housing allowance, you will also qualify for the $1,000 per year book stipend.
Just remember, the more you use your GI Bill now, the less you will have to use when you get out. I suggest you go to your Education Office and ask about both the Tuition Assistance and Tuition Top-Up programs.
October 1st, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Good afternoon: I am a spouse to an active duty military officer and I wanted to find out if I am able to use either tuition assistance or the GI Bill for a vocational trade school? I reside in Washington State and this would fall under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The total tuition amount would be roughly $10,000 for completion of the program. Thank you – Kymberly
Unfortunately Kymberly, the actual Tuition Assistance program does not apply to spouses, nor would the Post 9/11 GI Bill pay for your vocational trade school. One of the quirks of the Post 9/11 GI Bill is it will generally only pay for degree-producing courses. However, with that said, it may pay for some non-degree courses, if they are taught at a school that also teaches degree-producing courses. (Do you think they could have made it anymore complicated?)
You did not mention which school you were looking at going to, so I couldn’t look it up for you, however, you can look it up using the VA Find a School program. Select Institution of Higher Learning for a Program Type and click on the state where your school resides. If your school comes up, you may have a chance of the VA paying for your course. Always first check with the VA to see if your course would be covered by the Post 9/11 GI Bill before enrolling.
Also, just so you know, if the Post 9/11 GI Bill will pay for your school, you would not get the housing allowance because your spouse is still serving on active duty and drawing BAH for the both of you.
If you find the Post 9/11 GI bill will not pay for your training, you can look for alternative financial assistance funding.
September 21st, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I’m using Navy TA and my Post 9/11 GI Bill for Top-Up and I’m going to hit my annual TA cap before I graduate next year. I don’t want to wait 3 months until my cap starts over. Will the VA pay for the full amount of the class after I run out of TA money? If so what do I need to do to make this happen? – Mike
Whether the VA pays the full amount or not depends on how much per credit hour your classes cost. The VA would pay up to the in-state maximum for state where your school is located. Any amount over that would be your responsibility, unless your school happens to be a Yellow Ribbon school. If so, your school could pay up to half of the difference and the VA would pay an equal amount. Also note, you will use up your remaining Post 9/11 GI Bill entitlement faster than you would using Tuition Top-Up, but because you are close to graduating, I don’t imagine that is a concern. It could be though, if you ever plan on transferring benefits to your spouse or a child.
To inform the VA of your intention to use just the Post 9/11 GI Bill and not Tuition Top-Up for your next term, go to the VONAPP website and fill out another VA Form 22-1990.
August 30th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I am currently using my GI Bill Chapter 30 benefits for college and for this term, I would like to use TA to pay for 1 class. How can I get a letter from the VA stating that they are only paying for one class? – Flor
Flor, somewhere along the line, I’m missing something in your question. If you are using Tuition Assistance (TA), your service branch will pay up to $250 per credit with a $4,500 annual cap. If your tuition is less than that amount, VA would not get involved. If it is more than that, then you could use Tuition Top-Up and the VA would pay the amount of tuition over the $250 per credit, up to your monthly GI Bill amount, and deduct the amount from your entitlement.
If you just want to tell the VA you are using TA for this term, then just send them a new VA Form 22-1990 with the TA box checked and explain in the remarks section what you are doing this term. If you go back to using your GI Bill after this term, then send in another VA Form 22-1990.
I guess I’m also questioning why you are not using TA anyway until you hit your annual cap. It is free money and even with Top-Up, you would use less of your Montgomery GI Bill benefits than you would otherwise.
August 26th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
Can I use my GI Bill while I am still in the Army? Ben
Hi Ben, You can use your GI Bill while still in the Army, but many service members find that it makes more financial sense to use Tuition Assistance to take college courses while in the military and save their GI Bill for after separation.
Tuition Assistance may pay for up to 100 percent of your tuition costs for attending school and some schools offer a book allowance to active duty service members. This is a benefit that you lose after leaving the military so it makes sense to use it while you are still on active duty and save your GI Bill for later.
You didn’t mention which GI Bill you have, but once you are eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill you can use it at any approved school in the country while on active duty. The Post 9/11 GI Bill will pay for all of your tuition and fees, but you will not receive the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance while on active duty.
If you are eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill, you can use it while on active duty after serving for 2 continuous years. While on active duty the Montgomery GI Bill will only pay for the actual costs of the classes you take which might only be a fraction of the benefits you can get from the MGIB after leaving the military. However, in some cases it still may be the best way to go for active duty service members.
July 30th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
Can I use my GI Bill while on active duty? If so how do I use it to pay for a course? — Clarence
You can Clarence, but I would suggest using Tuition Assistance first as it doesn’t cost you anything, if you stay under the $250 per credit and $4,500 annual cap.
If your tuition costs more than what the VA will pay, or you hit your annual cap early and you want to take more classes, then submit VA Form 22-1990 by using the VONAPP Website or download the form, fill it out and submit it using the instruction on the form.
You also could use a combination of TA and your GI Bill – it’s called Tuition Top-Up. If your tuition exceeds what TA pays, your service branch still pays the full amount, but the VA pays the difference back to your branch. In turn, the VA converts the amount they had to pay into months and days of benefit and deducts that amount from your GI Bill benefits. It is a great way to extend your GI Bill education benefits.
July 5th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I did 5 years active and then switched to Texas National Guard. Can I use both my TA from the Guard and my GI Bill at the same time? – Arthur
You can. The way it usually works is your branch responsible to pay your Tuition Assistance (TA), pays for all of your tuition and they, in turn, bill the VA for the portion of your tuition TA doesn’t pay. The VA converts the dollar amount into entitlement and deducts that amount from your GI Bill months of benefits.
TA normally pays up to $250 per credit hour for tuition, up to a $4,500 annual maximum cap. If your tuition runs more than the per credit amount, the amount over $250 times the number of credits you are taking is deducted from your GI Bill. If you do the math, you’ll see the $4,500 annual cap is enough for 18 credits per year. If you take more than 18 credits per academic year, the additional credits times the actual per-credit hour amount would also come out of your GI Bill. But, by using TA, you can maximize your GI Bill.
Keep in mind, you are still subject to either the 10-year delimiting date of the Montgomery GI Bill or the 15-year date of the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
June 30th, 2010
by Jeffery Anderson
by Jeffery Anderson
My daughter just graduated from an ROTC program and is commissioned as a 2Lt. Even though she branched AG Reserve, she has applied to volunteer for an active duty position. If she does go active duty for 1 year, will she be eligible for the New GI Bill and be able to use it for a graduate school masters program once she returns? She will still be in the reserves. She has a six year commitment. Gary
Hi Gary,
The answer to your question is going to depend on the type of ROTC program your daughter attended. It sounds to me like she attended a regular ROTC program and did not use an ROTC scholarship to pay for her tuition. Students who are commissioned after completing a program with an ROTC scholarship usually have an active duty requirement after receiving their commission.
If your daughter did not use an ROTC scholarship, then she should be able to earn Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits while serving on active duty. If she serves for at least 90 days on active duty, she can become eligible for 40 percent of the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. If she stays on active duty for at least 36 months, she can become eligible for the full benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill which can provide 36 months of benefits. At least 12 months of active duty would provide her with 60 percent of the full benefits.
Your daughter can use those benefits to earn her master’s degree and she might be able to get a head start on that degree by using Tuition Assistance while on active duty.
If your daughter used an ROTC scholarship, then she may not be able to earn the Post 9/11 GI Bill while on active duty. Again, I don’t think that is the program she is in as an ROTC scholarship usually requires up to 4 years of active duty service to pay back the government for the scholarship. During that active duty time service members are not allowed to become eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill or the Post 9/11 GI Bill. If they remain in the military after their required time is complete, their active duty time can begin to count for the GI Bill.
June 25th, 2010
by Ron Kness
by Ron Kness
I have been hearing that students attending on-line only classes may be eligible for 1/2 the housing stipend, do you have any info? I will be retiring in Dec. 2010 and the degree I am pursuing is not offered at any of the colleges where I am retiring to. I am using Tuition Assistance (TA) while I am active, will that be deducted from my Montgomery GI/Post-9/11 GI Bill? — Sandra
Yes Sandra, I have been hearing about online students getting a partial Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance; it is part of the Post 9/11 GI Bill Fix legislation. Right now, it is hung up due to an unexpected $33 million price tag associated with it. Good luck trying to decipher what it really says.
In case it doesn’t pass, the way around not getting the housing allowance is to take one on-campus class related to your degree plan at a college near you. One class is all it takes to get the housing allowance.
Tuition Assistance in itself does not come out of your GI Bill benefits, as that is paid by your branch of service. If you are using Tuition Assistance Top-Up, along with TA, the top-up portion paid by the VA to your branch of service, is deducted from your GI Bill benefits.
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