bullet GI Bill Information: Ask the Expert Blog
GI Bill Home >> Blog >> New GI Bill >> What Did the New Post 9/11 GI Bill Legislation Change?

What Did the New Post 9/11 GI Bill Legislation Change?

January 17th, 2011
by Ron Kness
What did the new Post 9/11 GI Bill legislation change? — George

It’s official George – President Obama signed GI Bill 2.0 (also known as the Post 9/11 GI bill Fix) into law. As with all legislation it has some good and bad points. Most of the changes will go into effect on August 2011 or later. Below is a brief synopsis of the highlights (and lowlights) from this latest legislation -

Highlights:

  • Both AGR and Title 32 time to count toward Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility, where before National Guard members didn’t qualify unless they went on a Title 10 active duty order.
  • Active duty servicemembers and their eligible spouses will be able to draw up to $1,000 annually in the book stipend.
  • Online-only students now qualify for a housing allowance of up to $673.50 a month for full-time enrollment.
  • Veterans seeking to attend public schools at all degree levels – undergraduate through doctorate – will have 100 percent of the tuition and fees paid by VA. The in-state limits were eliminated.
  • The Post-9/11 GI Bill will be able to be used by veterans for vocational, technical, certificate, on-the-job-training, and apprenticeship programs.
  • Placement exams to apply for school, such as LSAT, GRE, GMAT, SAT and ACT, will be covered under the Post 9/11 GI Bill for veterans who need to take them to get into college.
  • Eligible NOAA and USPHS personnel will now be able to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill transfer option to transfer benefits to dependents.
  • Voc-Rehab participants will be able to use their New GI Bill housing stipend instead of the VR&E subsistence rate.

Lowlights:

  • Break pay (or interval pay) will end. Veterans will have to find other means of financial support during these non-school periods to pay their living expenses. The good thing is entitlement will not be charged for the non-school periods.
  • Veterans enrolled at less than full-time will see their housing stipend prorated to match the number of credit hours taken each term. No longer will the 51% rate of pursuit get the same as 100% rate of pursuit.
  • Private school tuition will be capped at $17,500 a year, so veterans having tuition exceeding that amount will have to find alternative means to pay for the difference. If the school is a Yellow Ribbon school and the veteran is at the 100% tier, that program will still apply.
  • These new rules will again throw the VA into disarray, so expect longer processing times and payment errors. Some forecasters are estimating it will take the VA up to 18 months to adapt the application and enrollment process to match the new rules. Here we go again!

From one of my sources, work on GI Bill 3.0 is already started to try and fix some of the unintended consequences of GI Bill 2.0.

Tags: ,
Posted in New GI Bill | 16 Comments »

16 Responses to “What Did the New Post 9/11 GI Bill Legislation Change?”

  1. How Much Will My Housing Allowance Be for Georgia? | Post 9/11 GI Bill (Housing Allowance) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    February 10, 2011 at 9:03 am

    [...] starting in the fall, the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance will be directly tied to how many credits you are taking. Right now everyone gets [...]

  2. Any Idea When I Will Hear Back on My Post 9/11 GI Bill Application? | Post 9/11 GI Bill (Applying for Benefits) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    February 25, 2011 at 3:02 pm

    [...] school your tuition and eligible fees will be paid for 100% starting in August. The passage of the GI Bill 2.0 legislation eliminated the in-state maximum chart. If you are attending a private school, the VA [...]

  3. Can I Start and Stop My Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits At Will? | Post 9/11 GI Bill (Education Benefits) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    March 21, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    [...] so you know, that rule will change in August. Starting then, the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance amount will directly tie to how many credits you are taking, You still have to be [...]

  4. Does State Residency Matter When Attending a School On the GI Bill? | New GI Bill (GI Bill Payments) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    April 22, 2011 at 9:02 am

    [...] the GI Bill 2.0 information I have received and read, the $17,500 figure applies only to private and foreign [...]

  5. Jim says:
    May 11, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    If i joined the national guard after active duty, can i still get the gi bill 2.0 after i used up my post 911 from active duty? (asking cause i m going to use up my post 911 after august 2011)

  6. Nicholas Schwab says:
    May 12, 2011 at 3:59 am

    The POST 9/11 GI Bill was to be extended 12 months for those who never used it, but qualified. August 1st, the POST 9/11 extension has been cancelled. Unless I can exhaust my benefit and apply for it before August 1st, I wont qualify. Can anybody help me?

  7. Ron Kness says:
    May 13, 2011 at 1:20 pm

    I don’t know where you got your information, but all of it is wrong. If you currently have the Montgomery (MGIB) GI Bill, but also qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, once you exhaust your MGIB, you can switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill and get an additional 12 months of benefits. If you switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill with months left on your MGIB, you don’t get the additional 12 months.

  8. Ron Kness says:
    May 13, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    The GI Bill 2.0 is just a bunch of changes that were made to the Post 9/11 GI bill and not a separate GI Bill in itself. Under the VA’s Rule of 48, if you qualify for multiple GI Bills, the most you can get is 48 combined months of benefits, so if you used up 36 months of your Post 9/11 GI Bill, you could possibly get an additional 12 months under the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserves. Just know it pays about $339 per month in benefits and you have to pay all your own education-related expenses. However, you would also qualify for Federal Tuition Assistance and whatever benefits your state pays its militia members, in addition to the monthly drill pay.

  9. Can I Use the Post 9/11 GI Bill Book Stipend for the Use of Ebooks? | Post 9/11 GI Bill (GI Bill Payments) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    July 11, 2011 at 9:01 am

    [...] way makes no sense at all –  you still have to buy books. However, with the passage of the GI Bill 2.0, that will change. Starting on October 1st, active duty personnel and spouses will receive the book [...]

  10. How Much Will the Post 9/11 GI Bill Pay for Attendance at Foreign Schools? | GI Bill Schools (GI Bill Payments) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    July 29, 2011 at 9:02 am

    [...] the passage of the GI Bill 2.0, the pay structure will go up to $17,500 per year. So if your tuition and fees are below that, you [...]

  11. EN2 Marcus Briggans says:
    August 28, 2011 at 12:49 am

    You’ll have to forgive me if I’m asking a question that’s already been answered but I need to know. I’m in my final year in the Navy, and I want to go to school and live in Los Angeles. Am I allowed to pick which GI Bill I want to use? If I use the post 911, is the 17,500 per year supposed to cover school expenses and rent, or is there a separate amount given for living expenses? Does it all come from the 40,000 we earned for being in, and when that’s gone the rest is up to us, right? I thought my PTS was going to be approved but now it seems like I’m getting out sooner than I expected.

  12. Can I Use the New GI Bill or Am I Stuck With the Montgomery GI Bill? | GI Bill Transfer (Post 9/11 GI Bill) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    October 27, 2011 at 9:02 am

    [...] you now can use your Post 9/11 GI Bill for a cosmetology course. One of the changes from the GI Bill 2.0 that took effect on October 1st now allows the New GI Bill to pay for vocational-type courses [...]

  13. Do I Need to Take 12 Credits for the Full Semester to Get the Post 9/11 GI Bill Housing Allowance? | Post 9/11 GI Bill (Housing Stipend) | GI Bill Expert | GIBill.com « GI Bill Expert Blog says:
    February 16, 2012 at 9:02 am

    [...] class starts and then it would bump up to the full amount. That was a change brought about by the GI Bill 2.0 where you are now paid by the number of credits you are taking in addition to the zip code of your [...]

  14. Jeff Sockwell, AT1(Ret) says:
    April 25, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    I am taking 25 weeks of 400-level courses toward a Cisco networking certification. I already have a Bachelor’s degree so this will count as full-time college but not toward a degree. Rather, it will be an undergrad certificate. Will I receive the housing allowance or some fraction thereof?

  15. Jeff Sockwell, AT1(Ret) says:
    April 25, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    I should mention that the courses are all online.

  16. Ron Kness says:
    April 25, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    You should get the online housing allowance of $673.50 per month.

Leave a Reply