Dealing with Delayed Post-9/11 GI Bill Living Stipends

Though the Post-9/11 GI Bill claims processing is now automated and schools are getting paid three times more quickly this academic year, living stipends are not making their way to veterans and their families with the same speed.

Unlike the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), the Post-9/11 GI Bill provides payments for tuition and fees directly to the schools. Under MGIB, students pay their tuition up-front and then receive a monthly reimbursement payment from the VA, as long as school enrollment is verified. One additional benefit of the Post-9/11 GI Bill is a monthly living stipend, equivalent to the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for an E-5 with dependents in a student's geographic area. The amount of these monthly stipends can vary greatly with students in Mansfield, Ohio receiving $801, for example, while New York City GI Bill students qualify for $2,751. These stipend payments are made directly to students, not to the school.

Some Servicemembers and Families Are Missing Their Stipends

In addition to multiple comments and questions sent to GIBill.com's "Ask the Expert" blog, the "My Story" posts on the Post-9/11 GI Bill Facebook page are full of frustration, particularly from veterans who even in late October hadn't received stipend payments for the fall semester. Grace Gaddi is concerned about losing her car and getting evicted. Ashley Jones, a military spouse, posted that her family is now behind on bills, has used up their savings, and their credit card interest rates are going up. (To research the best credit cards, check out our sister site, Cardratings.com.) Van Mego finally received his stipend; he was expecting $2,600, but his deposit was $800--and he didn't know why.

To further their frustration, these servicemembers and their families don't know where to go for resolution. Brian McBeth posted, "The VA Education System has serious problems--does anybody in charge at the VA care? Your phone system and "Ask a Question" are unreliable and unresponsive. Hire more people and fix the damn system." McBeth isn't the only one. Corey Maillette, as of October 20, hadn't received a check yet this semester. He recommended that people contact their state senators if they had similar problems.

The VA did not respond to requests for comments by press time, but Keith Wilson, the Veteran Benefits Administration's director of education services, was quoted by the American Forces Press Services as saying, "We have experienced a fundamental improvement in our ability to pay people timely, but we hope to cut it down even more. What we would like to see is a 10-day turnaround on these things, and we are confident we will get there."

Can Increased Post-9/11 GI Bill Participation Be to Blame?

Numbers published recently by the American Forces Press Services show that promotion and outreach efforts of Defense Department and Veterans Affairs officials are paying off for veterans and servicemembers: this fall, more than a quarter million students attended 6,000 universities and colleges, thanks to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. This includes 50,000 spouses or dependents, who are taking advantage of the new GI Bill feature that allows the transfer of military education benefits.

These numbers are up significantly--80,000 students--from fall semester 2009. Despite the significant increase in participation, payments to schools are taking an average of 17 days this semester, down from an average of 48 days from 2009.

Part of the reason for this faster turnaround is the automation of GI Bill claims. There are 12,000 employees who process GI Bill claims, and up until this past fall, processing was very manual. However, now this process is "fully automated," and includes the administration and payment of living stipends. However, it is unclear if the processing time statistics apply to both payments made directly to the school and stipend payments made directly to students.

Furthermore, the VA's newly automated system is expected to correct the January 2010 error that caused incorrect stipends to be sent out as a result of the BAH rate being used. The VA would not disclose how many students were affected or when payments would be made, but the Marine Corps Times reported in early September that lump sum payments of up to $230 will be issued to affected students.

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