To qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) veterans must have served at least 90 cumulative days of active duty service after September 10, 2001, and received an honorable discharge. Three years of cumulative service or a discharge due to a service connected injury will qualify that veteran for 100% of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Less than 3 years of cumulative service the veteran will qualify for a lower tier of benefits (see below).

Please see the complete benefit information here: Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).

Service members using their Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits while on active duty will have their tuition/fees paid for and receive an annual book stipend, but they do not qualify for the monthly housing allowance.

Active duty servicemembers with less than 3 years of Post-9/11 service will receive lower benefits depending on what tier of benefits they qualify for. For example if an active duty servicemember has served 2 years of active duty then they will qualify for 80% of the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

To see how this works at your school, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

Veterans who have served at least 90 days of active duty service after September 10, 2001, will qualify for Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). Unlike in REAP (Chapter 1607), benefits for active duty service are based on cumulative active duty service, not the single longest deployment. National Guardsmen and reservists with three years of active duty service post-9/11 now qualify for full benefits under Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).
 
Thanks to New GI Bill 2.0, Active Guard Reservist (known as AGRs) and Guardsmen responding to national emergencies will have their service count toward Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility. These same Guardsmen will be retroactively credited for their service back to September 10, 2011. If they were already using the Post-9/11 GI Bill prior to these recent changes, they will be paid for any benefits they would have been entitled to. This change takes affect October 1st, 2011.

As a general rule annual training and other training schools for National Guard and reservists do not qualify toward eligibility.

The following chart outlines the breakdown of benefits based on amount of service.

Please see the complete benefit information here: Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).

Veterans who served at least 30 days of post-9/11 active duty service and were discharged due to a service-connected disability characterized as honorable will qualify for the full Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). Although it is not absolutely clear from the VA rules, but it appears that servicemembers whose only active duty was during BASIC or advanced skills training still qualify.

Thanks to New GI Bill 2.0, disabled servicemembers who are eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill should also consider using Vocational Rehabilitation. For more details click here.

Any veteran or service member who served at least 90 days of active duty service post-9/11 will qualify for Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). Those veterans who did not opt in to the Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30) and/or participated in the VEAP (Chapter 32) program are still be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Officers who graduated from service academies or received ROTC scholarships do qualify for Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). However, time spent satisfying the ROTC/Service Academy active duty obligation does not count toward the active duty service necessary to qualify for the benefits.

These requirements are typically 5 years for academies and 4 years for ROTC grads. For example if an ROTC grad served 6 years after graduating college, their first 4 years would not count but their subsequent 2 years of service would qualify that office for 80% of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

If an ROTC graduate becomes a reserve officer and then is activated on federal orders it is possible that this active duty service would qualify for Post-9/11 eligibility.

Service members who enlisted under the student loan repayment plan (SLRP) qualify for Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). However, the initial three years of service do not count toward Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility. For example, a service member who took SLRP and served 5 years of active duty service would have 2 years of qualifying service toward Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (80% rate). Reenlistment student loan repayment programs do not affect GI Bill benefits.

Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) allows the Secretary of Defense to provide currently serving troops the opportunity to transfer education benefits to a spouse or to one or more of the individual's children at the Secretary of Defense’s discretion. Congress also just created a program for the children of servicemembers who die on active duty, the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship. For more information see Fry Scholarship below.

All GI Bill programs, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), will pay for students attending graduate school. If a student veteran completes one degree using the GI Bill and has remaining months of eligibility they may pursue other degrees.

All GI Bill benefits are prorated for part-time students. The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) prorates the monthly living allowance and annual book stipend for part-time student.  Part-time students will have their living allowance prorated based on how many classes they are taking.

For example a student is taking 7 credits at a school that consider 12 credits full time, that student will receive 60% of the normal living allowance rate. Below is a chart showing how your enrollment would affect your GI Bill benefits.

Please note that students who are considered “exactly half-time” do NOT qualify for a living allowance under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Also please take notice of the difference between enrolling in 7 units and 8 units. Taking one more unit is worth 20% of the BAH, approximately an additional $269/month in benefits.

The Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30), REAP (Chapter 1607) and Select Reserve GI Bill (Chapter 1606) also prorate their monthly benefits.

To see how your benefits will be affected by being a part-time student, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

Exclusively online students (or distance learners) may qualify for a lower living allowance (approximately $667/month) starting October 1st, 2011. However, a student only needs to take one class in an actual classroom to qualify for the full living allowance.

To see how your benefits will be affected by being an online student, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will now cover students attending vocational schools and participating in Apprenticeships and On-Job-Training (OJT). This new addition starts October 1st, 2011.

Due to a quirk in the wording of New GI Bill 2.0, non-degree granting public schools qualify for the private school rate of $17,500/year and not the unlimited in-state tuition/fees.

To see what benefits you will receive to attend a vocational school, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

For a complete explanation of the new GI Bill visit our Post-9/11 GI Bill overview page.

Tuition payments under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) are made directly to the school for the entire quarter, semester or term. Thanks to New GI Bill 2.0, the old complicated and unfair state tuition cap system will be abolished starting August 2011. The new tuition system will expedite processing of GI Bill benefits and give students a generous benefit that they can count on year to year.

Tuition benefits vary depending on whether the student is attending a public or a private college. The VA will cover:

Public Schools: 100% of in-state tuition/fees. This includes tuition/fees for any undergraduate or graduate program. Out-of-state students will also receive the in-state rates.

Private Schools: $17,500/year. This rate will increase annually, indexed to the rising cost of tuition nationally (approximately 5%/year).

Those students who were attending a private college/university prior to January 2011, in the following seven states will be allowed to keep their higher tuition/fees rate till July 31, 2014.

More expensive schools may participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program to make attendance more affordable. If you want to know how much tuition/fees your benefits will cover let out GI Bill benefits calculator do the math for you.

If a veteran goes to a cheaper school than the cap, he or she will not receive a check for the difference between the actual tuition cost and the tuition cap.

Veterans who have served less than three years on active duty since September 10, 2001, qualify for a percentage of the tuition benefits under Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). The VA will pay a percentage of the tuition and fees charged, regardless of whether those charges are well below the state caps. Our GI Bill benefits calculator will handle this rule as well. See details under the eligibility requirements for Active Duty or National Guard/Reserves.

Although typically the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) provides a higher benefit than previous programs, some veterans may receive a higher benefit from MGIB (Chapter 30) or REAP (Chapter 1607). For more guidance on which program is right for you, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.
Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) offers a total 36 months of education benefits, the equivalent of four academic years.

To assist students attending private universities or those students being charged out-of-state rates at public universities, there is the Yellow Ribbon Program. If a school agrees to become a yellow ribbon school, they will offer scholarships or tuition forgiveness for student veterans. The VA will then match dollar for dollar what the university provides, up to the full cost of tuition. If you are interested in getting your school to participate in the Yellow Ribbon GI Bill Program or want more information please visit our Yellow Ribbon Program site.

Veterans will be paid a monthly housing allowance based on the military's Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate for an E-5 with dependents. The living allowance can range from $667/month in Bellville, OH, to $2,751/month in Manhattan, NYC.

To qualify for the living allowance a servicemember must be:

• Enrolled more than half time (7 credits or more at most colleges)
• Not on active duty orders

Part-time students will have their living allowance prorated based on how many classes they are taking. For example a student is taking 7 credits at a school that consider 12 credits full time, that student will receive 60% of the normal living allowance rate.

Exclusively online students (or distance learners) may qualify for a lower living allowance (approximately $667/month) starting October 1st, 2011. However, a student only needs to take one class in residence (in an actual classroom) to qualify for the full living allowance.

These veterans may receive a large benefit from MGIB (Chapter 30).

Veterans who have served less than three years on active duty since September 10, 2001 qualify for a percentage of the living allowance benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). See details under the eligibility requirements for Active Duty or National Guard/Reserves.

For more guidance on which program is right for you, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

The book stipend will help cover the cost of books, supplies, equipment and other educational fees. Veterans will receive a lump sum payment accompanying the living allowance for the first month of each quarter, semester or term. The payment will be $41.67 for every credit enrolled, but no more than $1,000 per calendar year. (e.g., a student enrolled in 12 units will receive $500 for that academic term).

Veterans who have served less than three years on active duty since September 10, 2001 qualify for a percentage of the book stipend under Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). See details under the eligibility requirements for Active Duty or National Guard/Reserves.

The old Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) was for active duty servicemembers and was designed as a recruitment tool. With the passage of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), MGIB (Chapter 30) is still on the books, and the benefit was increased by nearly 20%. The current monthly rate for MGIB is $1421/month for a full time student. In addition, yearly increases to the MGIB are now indexed to the rising cost of education, which means that benefit will keep up with the explosive rise in education costs. All the same qualifications still apply for MGIB, including the $1,200 buy-in.

Although nine times out of ten the Post-9/11 GI Bill provides a higher benefit than previous programs, some veterans may receive a higher benefit from MGIB. For more guidance on which program is right for you, please use our GI Bill benefits calculator.

The Reserve Education Assistance Program, commonly known as REAP or Chapter 1607, was created to help deploying reservists and is still on the books. REAP benefits are still calculated based on a service member's single longest deployment, and not his or her total aggregate service.
Because the value of REAP is based on a percentage scale of MGIB (Chapter 30), and the value of the MGIB was increased to $1421/month, the value of REAP has also increased. Here is the new sliding scale:

Furthermore, there are still some unresolved VA regulation issues for reservists who get activated from the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR) and then want to use their education benefits after they separate from the military. IAVA recommends that Reserve and National Guard service members consider using Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits first.

For more guidance on which program is right for you, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

The Select Reserve GI Bill is for currently serving reservists and National Guard with no active duty service beyond BASIC and skills training. With the passage of Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), no changes were made to the Select Reserve GI Bill program and the monthly rate is still $337/month. For information on this program, please visit the VA website.

Choosing between GI Bill programs is made easier by visiting our GI Bill benefits calculator, which shows what each GI Bill program has to offer you.
While Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) is usually the superior benefit, the following veterans should consider using the old GI Bill:

• Distance Learners: Receive a reduced living allowance with Post-9/11 GI Bill.
• Attending schools with low BAH rates.
  
• Active Duty who got out in 2002 or 2003: Qualify for a lower percentage tier.
• Active Duty who only have less than 1 year of MGIB remaining: Can get 12 additional month by burning all your remaining MGIB first.

Veterans wishing to participate in an apprenticeship/On-Job-Training (OJT) now qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). A veteran will receive a monthly living allowance based on the zip code of their employer and a modest monthly supply stipend of $82/month. Below is chart detailing what a participant will receive under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

As the veteran’s wage increases with the employer (required for the employer to participate), the monthly living allowance will decrease every six months.

If you want to know how you will receive if you participate in one of these programs, please visit our GI Bill benefits calculator.

Veterans transferring into the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will generally receive 36 months of educational assistance, approximately 4 academic years’ worth of an education. A veteran who used benefits from one of the older GI Bill programs will likely have additional education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

If you visit our GI Bill benefits calculator and click on the “Months Remaining” tab it will calculate you how many months of benefits you will be entitled to if you transfer over to the new GI Bill.

Former active duty veterans who are currently using the MGIB (Chapter 30), may qualify for 12 additional months of new GI Bill benefits due to a loophole caused by VA regulations. If a veteran uses all 36 months of their MGIB benefits (every last day) and then transfers over to the new GI Bill they will be given 12 additional months of benefits. However, if a veteran transfers over from the MGIB with any remaining benefits (even one day) they will only receive the same number of months as they had with the old GI Bill.

For example, a veteran with 5 days left on the old MGIB who transfers over to the new GI Bill will only get 5 days of benefits with the new GI Bill. If that veteran had burned the rest of their MGIB benefits they would have received an additional 12 months.

If the veteran never used MGIB (Chapter 30) benefits, but had used other benefits such as REAP (Chapter 1607), Select Reserve GI Bill (Chapter 1606) or VEAP (Chapter 32) he or she can receive up to total 48 months of educational benefits but no more than 36 months in any one particular program. For example, a veteran who used 10 months of REAP (Chapter 1607), will be entitled to 26 more months of REAP (Chapter 1607) benefits or 36 months of Post 9/11 GI bill benefits.

What is New GI Bill 2.0 and what did it change? When do they take affect?

New GI Bill 2.0 was legislation that helped guarantee benefits for veterans who were not eligible for the original version of the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) and increased benefits for over 400,000 veterans and their families across the country. Here are some of the improvements:

• Disabled Veterans: Raising monthly vocational rehabilitation benefits by nearly $800/month. This will help 21,000 disabled veterans, the size of the annual field of runners at the Boston Marathon, be able to afford to live and go to school. (August 2011)
• Improved Tuition Benefits: Simplifying the confusing tuition cap system and increasing the benefit rate in 45 states. SPC Weaver’s tuition benefit in California will increase by $8,000/year. Over 58,000 students will now receive higher tuition benefits, equal to the combined student population of Princeton, Harvard, Yale, MIT and William and Mary. (August 2011)
• Distance Learners: Granting over 25,000 full-time distance learners, a monthly living –allowance, including disabled veterans, single parents who provide at-home childcare, and rural veterans. (October 2011)
• Vocational Training: Authorizing generous New GI Bill benefits for apprenticeship and on-the-job training. This will help over 6,000 veterans participate in vocational training; the same number of workers that were needed to build the Hoover Dam. (October 2011)
• Trade Schools: Approving benefits for students studying at trade schools like a fire academy, truck driving school or a barber college. Approximately 6,000 students will now be able to attend a trade school next year, enough to staff the entire Los Angeles Fire Department. (October 2011)
• Full Time National Guard: Including full-time service in the National Guard as qualifying service toward New GI Bill eligibility. This will help over 85,000 previously excluded National Guardsmen, enough to fill the entire football stadium at the University of Texas. (October 2011)
• Active Duty: Granting over 19,000 active duty servicemembers using their GI Bill benefits an annual book stipend of $1,000/year, enough to fill an entire military division. (October 2011)
• New Recruits: Saving new enlistees to the military $1,200 by not requiring them to sign-up for the old and inadequate GI Bill. This will help 180,000 new service members per year, equivalent to the entire fighting force of the U.S. Marine Corps

Although New GI Bill 2.0 will help many student veterans receive better benefits, there are some provisions that close loopholes in the Post-9/11 GI Bill and therefore will reduce benefits for other veterans.

• Part-Time Students: Prorates the monthly living allowance for the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). This closed a loophole that was allowing part-time students to receive double the benefits as full-time students. Click here to learn more about part-time students.
• Active Duty Servicemembers: Ensures that active duty servicemembers receive the same tuition benefits as veterans (In-State tuition at public schools and $17,500/year for private schools). A loophole in the Post-9/11 GI Bill previously granted unlimited tuition/fees benefits only for active servicemembers.
• Summer/Winter Break Pay: Essentially abolished interval payments for periods of time between academic terms. This was a very contentious provision that many veteran groups, including IAVA opposed.
• Private Students in Seven States: Student veterans attending high cost private schools in seven states that had high tuition reimbursement rates (AZ, MI, NH, NY, PA, SC TX) would have seen their tuition benefits drop. However, thanks to strong advocacy from IAVA and new legislation passed in July 2011, those students will be allowed to keep their higher rates till July 2014. Click here to read more about the grandfather clause for students in these seven states.
• Non-Federal Financial Aid: The VA will now only pay for tuition/fees that are not paid by other sources. So if you are receiving any “tuition specific” financial aid the VA will no longer double pay those tuition costs. Federal financial aid, anything you get from filling out the FAFSA, is excluded from consideration. Click here to read more about Financial Aid and the GI Bill.

Service connected disabled veterans may qualify for vocational rehabilitation, commonly referred to as “Voc Rehab.” If the VA determines that the veteran should to attend college to prepare themselves for entering the work place, they will pay the entire cost of tuition/fees and provide a wide range of services to help these disabled student veterans succeed in college.

Thanks to New GI Bill 2.0, student veterans who qualify for both Voc Rehab and the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will receive a dramatically higher monthly living allowances through the voc rehab program ($1,334/month). Prior to New GI Bill 2.0 these veterans were receiving as little as $554/month.

If you change schools after starting to use the GI Bill, complete and submit a “Request for Change of Program or Place of Training,” VA Form 22-1995, through the VA’s online benefits program, called VONAPP.

Thanks to New GI Bill 2.0’s simplification of the GI Bill benefits and the VA’s automation of Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) processing the VA has been processing Post-9/11 GI Bill claims relatively quickly this term. In order to expedite the processing of your claim follow our step by step guide on how to apply for GI Bill benefits.

In response to these delays the VA released a new “Post-9/11 GI Bill Hip Pocket Guide” for students, a lessons-learned summary for school certifying officials and a checklist for returning students. We have incorporated these new VA resources into our own “Getting Started” checklist, which has already helped thousands of veterans sign up for their GI Bill benefits.

Some of the key lessons-learned included:

• Early submission of enrollment certifications is essential to timely payment.
• Schools don’t need to wait to see a veteran’s Certificate of Eligibility to submit the enrollment certification.
• It is critical to VA’s processing that students are correctly identified as Post-9/11 GI Bill participants to prevent misrouting of claims.
• Correct direct deposit information, for the veteran and the school, is essential for accurate payment routing.
• Apply for federal financial aid because you never know what free money you might qualify for.

Please keep in mind that although the steps above will help speed the processing of a GI Bill claim, some basic rules still apply. While tuition and fees payments are made immediately after the VA processes a GI Bill claim, the living allowance is paid “arrears,” at the end of each of month. For example, time spent enrolled during August will be paid September 1st and time spent enrolled in September will be paid October 1st.

If your school has certified you and it has been over a month since you received your benefits, we recommend reaching out to either one of your two senators or your Congressman and asking for help. You should call their local regional office and ask for their staffer that handles veteran issues. A congressional request can usually shake loose a stalled benefit check.

The VA keeps an updated list of approved education programs (schools and vocational) called the

. When you visit the site be sure to broaden search by select “all types” under the Program Type.

Schools that have not been approved for GI Bill benefits must be accredited by the VA. Domestic programs must contact their

and international program must the

and provide the required information.

The VA does not yet have a system for verifying enrollment with the Post 9/11 GI Bill. So there is no need to worry that you missed your WAVE call with the new GI Bill.

To apply for your GI Bill benefits visit our “Getting Started Checklist.” It will take you through steps to determine which benefit is right for you, apply and receive your money in a timely fashion.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) can be used to pay for a tutor up to $100/month (no more than $1,200 total). The tutoring must be used to correct a deficiency that is affecting the student’s ability pass a particular course. The student also must be enrolled more than half time (same requirement to get a living allowance with the new GI Bill).

The student must fill out a VA form 22-1990T and have it signed by the tutor and the school certifying official before the VA will pay the $100/month. Use of the tutoring benefit does NOT affect your remaining GI Bill eligibility.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) does not repay student loans.

Veterans' education benefits are not considered in determining eligibility for federal financial aid (they even took it off the FAFSA form). However, every state/school sets its own policies for determining how veterans' education benefits affect state/local aid. We strongly encourage all veterans to apply for federal financial because many veterans qualify for additional educational funds like Pell Grants, worth over $5,500/yr.

Recent legislative modifications to the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) have changed what tuition/fees the VA will reimburse. The VA is now considered a “payer of last resort”, meaning that they will only pay for tuition/fees that are not already paid for by other financial aid. For example if a veteran is receiving an ROTC scholarship that will cover the full cost of tuition/fee, the VA will not pay anything toward tuition/fees. Prior to August 2011 they would have paid tuition/fees regardless of any scholarships received by the veteran.

There are several exceptions to the “payer of last resort” rule. The following types of financial aid are excluded from consideration when determining a student’s GI Bill benefits:

• Title IV Federal Financial Aid: Benefits a student would be eligible for by filling out the FAFSA form (e.g., Pell Grants) do not count against your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.
• General Scholarships: General scholarships given directly to the veteran or intended to cover any type of expenses are also excluded. Only scholarships given directly to the university to cover specifically tuition/fees and nothing affect GI Bill benefits.
• Yellow Ribbon Program Contributions: Yellow Ribbon contributions can still be used to pay for the full cost of tuition/fees that are not covered by other sources.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill can be used by active duty servicemembers to cover costs not paid for by Federal Tuition Assistance. However, since active duty servicemembers are not eligible for the housing allowance and they will be burning their remaining months of benefits at the same rates as if they were receiving the housing allowance IAVA strongly cautions servicemembers from using their Post-9/11 GI Bill while on active duty.
 

The VA has recently issued a ruling on students studying overseas. They break these veterans into two categories.

The first category involves students studying at overseas programs which have a main campus back in the states (e.g., BYU in Israel). These students will receive the same level of benefits as student attending the school's main campus. Please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator and enter the zip of the main campus.

The second category involves students studying at foreign programs (e.g., the London School of Economics). These students will receive tuition payments up $17,500/year. They will also receive the national average BAH rate, set at $1,333/month. (To calculate benefits for foreign schools on our calculator just use the zip code: 00000).

The VA keeps an updated list of approved international education programs. Schools that have not been approved for GI Bill benefits must be accredited by the VA. Domestic programs must contact their local state approving agencies and international programs must the VA site and provide the required information.

Veterans studying overseas will still qualify for Chapter 30 (MGIB) and Chapter 1607 (REAP) benefits. For more guidance on which program is right for you, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will cover the in-state cost of tuition/fees at any public college and university in the nation. Starting August 1st, 2011, if you are an out-of-state student, the VA will pay the in-state rate for the same program you are enrolled (undergraduate or graduate).

Since the VA will reimburse tuition/fees for students attending private schools up to $17,500/year an out-of –state student should consider weigh their school choices carefully.

IAVA has been a staunch advocate for granting out-of-state students tuition benefits equal to at least what student attending private schools receive and will continue to work in Washington to fix this inequity.

Failing a course will not affect your GI Bill benefits, however withdrawing or receiving an incomplete grade for a course may affect your benefits. As long as you receive a grade (pass or fail) the VA will not ask for your GI Bill money back.

However, if a student drops a course(s) or withdraws from school the VA will immediately stop paying education benefits for those classes and the student may be billed for the education benefits they have already been paid for that term. Students are strongly encouraged to notify the VA immediately of a withdrawal to minimize overpayments.

The VA will bill a student in this situation unless circumstances beyond the student's control prevented the student from continuing in school or caused the student to reduce credits. These mitigating circumstances are presumed to exist the first time a student drops 6 or less credits. After the first drop a veteran must prove to the VA that mitigating circumstances were the cause of the drop/withdrawal.

Examples of mitigating circumstances include:

• Mental or physical illness or injury afflicting the student during the enrollment period.
• Illness or death in the student’s immediate family.
• Unavoidable change in the student’s conditions of employment.
• Unavoidable geographical transfer resulting from the student’s employment.
• Immediate family or financial obligations beyond the control of the claimant that require him or her to suspend pursuit of the program of education to obtain employment.
• Discontinuance of the course by the school.
• Unanticipated active military service, including active duty for training.
• Unanticipated difficulties with childcare arrangements the student has made for the period during which he or she is attending classes.

If VA rules that mitigating circumstances do not exist than the student will be charged for any education benefits they received for that academic term (e.g., tuition/fees, living allowance and book stipend).
 

Mandatory school health insurance premiums (e.g., students have to waive out) will be covered under the fees benefits with the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). However, individual medical costs are the responsibility of the student.

When New GI Bill 2.0 passed in January 2011, tuition benefits for most students increased however for a small group of students attending expensive private schools their tuition benefits would have decreased significantly. In July 2011 Congress passed a law that allowed students who were enrolled in a private college/university prior to January 2011, in the following seven states to keep their higher tuition/fees reimbursement rates from the 2010-11 academic year.

Those rates will last till the student graduates or until July 2014 (whichever is earlier). If you want to know how much tuition/fees your benefits will cover let our GI Bill benefits calculator do the math for you.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) covers refresher, remedial and failed courses (CFR §21.9590(a)(2)). A refresher course helps a student learn basic material in order to be prepared to succeed in a class required for a degree. A remedial course is designed to help a student to overcome a deficiency in a subject or handicap. A failed course, or deficiency course, is a required course for a degree/certificate that the student failed to pass before.

A servicemember must visit https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB/  to fill out the application to transfer benefits. This application must be completed while the member is still serving in the military.

The form will require a servicemember to designate:

• who the benefits will be transferred to,
• the number of months to be transferred and
• the period of time the dependent has to use the benefits.

A servicemember may transfer part or all of their remaining education benefits as they see fit between their family members.

Once the transferability application is completed and approved the spouse or child can simply apply to the VA for the GI Bill benefits like they were a veteran themselves. Please check our Getting Started Checklist for a complete run down on how to apply for benefits.

A veteran may revoke or modify transferred benefits at any time. After the servicemember retires or separates from the military a servicemember may not add new transferees, but can still modify transfers to dependents who are already receiving transferred benefits. A divorce will not automatically affect transferred benefits to a spouse or dependents, a servicemember must specifically request the benefits to be revoked or modified. Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits are not considered martial property upon divorce.

To see if you qualify to transfer your benefits click on “Can I Transfer” tab of our GI Bill benefits calculator. For more rules about transferring benefits click here.
 

Failure to complete the additional 4 year requirement will mean any education benefits used by a spouse or dependent will be considered an overpayment and be charged to the servicemember. Exceptions to this are made for servicemembers who die while finishing the their service commitment, discharge due to a pre-existing medical conditions, hardship as determined by DoD or a physical or medical condition that was not caused by the servicemember’s willful misconduct that interfered with the performance of duty.

Unfortunately, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) does not currently allow retirees to transfer their unused education benefits. IAVA is strongly advocating for the EARNED Act, which would allow retirees from 9/11 to August 2009 to transfer unused benefits to a spouse or child. Please keep checking NewGIBill.org and the GI Bill Wire for the latest updates on this legislation.

Congress recently passed the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship, which grants the children of servicemembers who die in the line of duty their own Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits. These children are entitled to the full new GI Bill and they have until their 33rd birthday to use the benefits. The VA will start issuing payments on August 1st, 2010 but any student eligible for this program will receive retroactive payments back to August 2009.

To qualify for transferability a servicemember must:
1.    Qualify for the education benefits themselves.
2.    Served at least 6 years on Active Duty or in the National Guard or Select Reserves.
3.    Agree to commit to 4 more years of service from the date the servicemember applies.
4.    Have a spouse or dependent(s) enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS) to transfer benefits to.

A veteran may revoke or modify transferred benefits at any time. After the servicemember retires or separates from the military a servicemember may not add new transferees, but can still modify transfers to dependents who are already receiving transferred benefits. A divorce will not automatically affect transferred benefits to a spouse or dependents, a servicemember must specifically request the benefits to be revoked or modified. Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits are not considered marital property upon divorce.

There are different rules on how a spouse vs. a dependent can use this new benefit.

The VA recently announced that in order for a child to qualify for transferred benefits, they must be under the age of 23 and if they are over the age of 18 they must already be enrolled in college. IAVA is currently working diligently to expand eligibility to adult children.

The American Council on Education will create a college transcript based on your military experience that you can take to your school to possibly get free college credits. Take 5 minutes and maybe you can skip an entire quarter or semester. Visit ACE’s Military programs site and click on “Military Guide Online.”

Active duty service must be completed after September 10, 2001, to count towards the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33).   National Guard and reserve training and state call-ups for non-federal emergencies do not qualify.

Active duty served to satisfy an enlistment requirement for the following does NOT qualify toward Post-9/11 GI Bill.

• ROTC students (4 years),  [Officer]
• Service academy graduates (5 years) [Officer]
• Servicemembers who took advantage of the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) (3 years)

Thanks to New GI Bill 2.0, Active Guard Reservist (known as AGRs) and Guardsmen responding to national emergencies will have their service count toward Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) eligibility. These Guardsmen will be retroactively credited for their service back to September 10, 2011 and if they were enrolled in school prior to this recent change they paid for any benefits they would have been entitled to. This change takes affect October 1st, 2011. As a general rule annual training and other schools for National Guard and reservists do not qualify toward eligibility.

Boot camp and other initial entry training programs only qualify toward Post 9/11 active duty service once a service member has completed 2 years of other active duty service including Boot Camp. For example, a National Guard soldier who has been activated for 18 months cannot count their basic training and advance skills training toward Post 9/11 service unless the combined service would be 24 months or more.

This benefit is not retroactive. A veteran will NOT receive a check for education benefits he or she has already used. However, veterans with the qualifying service can switch into Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). 

Any veteran who paid the $1,200 buy-in for MGIB (Chapter 30) and elects to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will be refunded the buy-in. The buy-in or a portion of the buy-in will be refunded on the last payment of the monthly living allowance. If a veteran has already used some of their MGIB (Chapter 30) benefits they will receive prorated refund. If the veteran does not receive a living allowance check upon using their last month of new GI Bill entitlement the buy-in will not be returned.

The VA ruled that individuals will not receive an increased amount under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) for additional contributions ($600 buy-up) paid under MGIB Chapter 30 or REAP (Chapter1607). This $600 will not be refunded if a veteran transfers from the old GI Bill to the new GI Bill.

Enlistment and reenlistment kickers will continue to apply to veterans under Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). Any additional monthly benefits will be simply added to the monthly living allowance. For example, if a veteran is entitled to a $200/month enlistment kicker and a $1400/month living allowance, then that veteran will receive $1,600/month.

Unfortunately, under the VA’s final rules state that they will not pay kicker or college fund bonuses if the veteran is not receiving a living allowance (e.g., while on active duty or exclusively distance learning). IAVA is actively fighting to reverse the VA’s interpretation.

To see how your benefits will be affected by kickers and the college fund, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

To qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) the veteran must have received an honorable discharge or been discharged due to a service-connected disability under honorable conditions.

A veteran who did not receive an honorable or medical discharge, may still qualify for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits if the veteran can prove that a physical or mental condition, not already characterized as a disability and not a result of the veteran’s own misconduct, interfered with the performance of their duty. A veteran can also petition the Secretary of their military branch to approve a hardship waiver. Lastly, veterans can apply to have their discharge upgraded usually after 6 months. Veterans groups like the American Legion have been very helpful to veterans facing these types of discharges.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill pays generous benefits for part time students. For example:

Tuition and Fees: Tuition benefits are the same for full-time and part-time students.

Living allowance: Paid to students who are enrolled more than half time. A student enrolled one unit above exactly half time will qualify for a prorated monthly living allowance. For example a student is taking 7 credits at a school that consider 12 credits full time, that student will receive 60% of the normal living allowance rate.

Book Stipend: The payment will be $41.67 for every credit enrolled, but no more than $1,000 per academic year. (e.g., a student enrolled in 12 units will receive $500 for that academic term).

To see how your benefits will be affected by being a part-time student, please check out our GI Bill benefits calculator.

While New GI Bill 2.0 closed many of the loopholes in the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), veterans who want to maximize and stretch their GI Bill benefits still have a few options.

Private Student Tuition Loophole: Students attending private school receive up to $17,500/year in tuition reimbursement. However, this new yearly rate is not prorated for part-time students nor is it lowered for students who do not attend school for the entire year.

For example, if a student were to attend school at a slower pace, let’s say only one semester a year, the VA would pay $17,500 in tuition each semester. So if a veteran had the time and the school didn’t mind someone taking 8 years to finish a 4-year school the VA would reimburse tuition costs up to $140,000  in tuition benefits (enough to pay for Harvard for sure).
This loophole does not apply to public students only because the VA will pay all of their in-state tuition costs regardless of the student’s academic load.

Part-time students: The difference between taking 6-8 credits is worth thousands of dollars to you. The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) prorates the monthly living allowance based on how many classes they are taking. Below is chart breaking down those prorated rates.

For example a student is taking 7 credits at a school that consider 12 credits full time, that student will receive 60% of the normal living allowance rate. However, a student taking 8 credits will receive 80% of the normal living allowance, a jump of over $180-$570/month. A student taking just six units will receive no living allowance.

Boot camp and other initial entry training programs only qualify toward Post 9/11 active duty service once a service member has completed 2 years of active duty service including the boot camp. For example, a National Guard soldier who has been activated for 18 months cannot count their basic training and advance skills training toward Post 9/11 service unless they have also done 6 months of boot camp and advance skills training (totaling 24 months of combined service).

The Rural Benefit is a one-time payment of $500 (no entitlement charged) for recipients of the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) to pursue a program of education if they reside in a county with 6 persons or less per square mile (as determined by the most recent decennial census) and EITHER:

1. physically relocates at least 500 miles to attend an educational institution OR
2. travel by air to physically attend an educational institution if no other land-based transportation exists

If the VA has issued a mistaken payment or a duplicate check or the student never attended single class those checks can be returned directly to the VA.
However, if the overpayment was due to a change in enrollment by the student (e.g., dropping a class after the school certified their enrollment), then the VA will bill the student directly. In that situation a school should refund any overpayments directly to the veteran and then the veteran will be responsible for repaying the VA.

Become an IAVA Member Veteran and receive important updates via email. Membership with IAVA is free and it only takes a minute to sign up. Click here to join. You can also follow @newgibill on Twitter for the latest GI Bill news.

Join IAVA as a Member Veteran and stay up to date with all of the important issues, as well as network with other student veterans such as yourself. Membership with IAVA is free. Click here to join today. You can also follow @newgibill on twitter for latest GI Bill news.

Deciding which college you should attend can be one of the most important and daunting decisions you will have to make during your educational career. The VA has just published a list of “Factors to Consider When Choosing a School” and we strongly encourage you to read this list before picking a college.

Here are some things to consider when choosing a college:

• Start with the end in mind: Brainstorm where you want your education to take you. This will help focus your search and allow you to compare schools more effectively.
• Not all degrees/certificates are the same: Be sure that your degree/certificate will be well respected in the job market and that your certificate will actually qualify you for the job you want. Don’t be that veteran who spends most of their GI Bill benefits and two years of their life studying to be ER Technician, only to find out that the certificate they received from their school doesn’t even qualify them to mop the floor after a surgery.
• Double check college recruiter/website claims: If you got an email promising you $100K/year for the rest of your life and all you needed to do was invest $10K now, you would delete it in a second. If a college website/recruiter is making promises that sound too good to be true, they probably aren’t true. The Department of Education has a great college navigator that can help you separate fact from fiction.
• Don’t over mortgage your education: Incurring crushing student loan debt is like buying a million-dollar home on a McDonald’s salary. This debt will stay with you for the rest of your life, so please be sure that post-college earning potential will let you afford to repay your loans.
• Military Friendly Schools: The best way to know if the college you are applying to is veteran friendly is to ask veterans already attending there. Contact your local Student Veterans of America chapter, Also when asking a school whether your military credits will transfer, be sure to ask whether any of those credits will count toward your major. Because if the school offer 40 credits for your military education and none of them count toward your major you won’t have saved yourself much time.

Owing the VA money is called an “overpayment” and like any bill from the government you should take it seriously. Once the VA sends you a letter notifying you of an overpayment, they can start docking your monthly living allowance within 30 days to recover what you owe to the VA.

A student veteran can usually petition the VA Debt Management Office to set up a repayment plan within 180 days of that first letter from the VA. Failure to make any payments or set up a payment plan could result in you being reported to a credit agency, so please take those VA letters seriously.

However, the VA makes many errors in processing Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Their official goal is to get it right 95% of time, which means even when they are doing everything right 1 in 20 veterans will have an error on their GI Bill benefits. So if you feel that the VA has made a mistake, check into and don’t be afraid to fight for your rights. 

The first step to appealing a VA debt letter is to call (888) GIBILL1 and have them review your file and figure out what went wrong. Most problems can be solved at that level.

However more complicated case might require Congressional intervention. We recommend reaching out to either one of your two senators or your Congressman and asking for help. You should call their local regional office and ask for their staffer that handles veteran issues. A congressional request can usually get the VA to take a serious look at your file.
 

Veterans and spouses who qualify for Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) have up to 15 years to use their new education benefits. The 10 year limit still applies to MGIB (Chapter 30) and REAP (Chapter 1607) benefits.  The clock for using education benefits starts immediately after the veteran’s last active duty stint of 90 consecutive days and did NOT reset when the new GI Bill was passed. Children of veterans who use transferred benefits have until they are 26 years old.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will now reimburse students for taking national tests that are used for determining admission to a college/university (e.g., SAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc.) or used for obtaining college credit (AP exams). However, the Post-9/11 GI Bill will not pay for test prep courses. Students using this benefit will be charged one month of Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement for every $1,460 they are reimbursed.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) will now reimburse students for taking multiple certification and accreditation exams. Click here for a list of VA approved certification and accreditation tests. Students using this benefit will be charged one month of Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement for every $1,460 they are reimbursed.

Unfortunately, the VA no longer offers payments for summer and winter breaks, also known as “interval pay.” IAVA opposed the abolition of interval pay and strongly supports restoring it for users of the GI Bill.

The military home of record is not used in determining GI Bill benefits. Only the zip code of the school the veteran is attending will affect benefit amounts.