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Tuition Assistance Top-Up


On October 30, 2000 , the President signed into law an amendment to the Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty education program that permits VA to pay a Tuition Assistance Top- up benefit. The amount of the benefit can be equal to the difference between the total cost of a college course and the amount of Tuition Assistance that is paid by the military for the course. Tuition Assistance Top-Up is not additional Tuition Assistance. It is a Chapter 30 MGIB benefit. The payment is made to the individual claimant, not to the Institution. It is made in one lump-sum payment.

Note: Member cannot receive MGIB for tuition and request Tuition Assistance from the Coast Guard for the same amount. This is called double dipping and is illegal. Member should always apply for TA first, and then if necessary, use MGIB.

Eligibility

To be eligible there are two requirements:

  1. Eligible to receive Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) benefits. This means a person must meet the Chapter 30 MGIB basic eligibility requirements, and be either a veteran or have served at least 24 months if still on active duty.
  2. Receive Tuition Assistance (TA) from the military (Coast Guard). The person must receive TA for the course(s) for which the member is claiming Top-Up. Any course approved for TA by the USCG Institute is approved for Top-Up payments. Member will receive TA Authorization form (CG-1560) for any course(s) approved for TA.

Note: VA determines member's eligibility for MGIB. If member is eligible for MGIB, the TA Authorization form establishes member's eligibility for Top-up. No certifications from the school are needed.

The Top-Up program is not available to reservists who are covered by Chapter 1606.

How to Request TA-Top-Up

If member has not previously filed a claim for MGIB, the following action will need to be taken:

Step Action
1 Request tuition assistance from CG Institute by completing TA application.
2 Have the ESO certify the application, sign it, and then fax to CG Institute.
3 CG Institute will review, approve, and provide TA Authorization form (CG-1560) to the member.
4 Member will complete an application for VA education benefits, VA Form 22-1990.
5 Member will indicate "Top-Up" on the VA application in item 1A under the MGIB-Active Duty block.
6 Member will send TA Authorization form, along with the application for VA education benefits, to the VA Regional Processing Office that handles the claim for that region.

If member previously filed a claim for MGIB and wasn't denied benefits, he/she can simply submit the signed TA Authorization form received by the CG Institute to the VA education benefits, to the VA Regional Processing Office that handles the claim for that region.

Very Important: These claims are handled differently from claims for MGIB without TA. For TA Top-Up claims, member will not need to check in with the school official who certifies VA benefits. The VA won't need an enrollment certification on VA Form 22-1999. The member will not need to check for approval of the program for VA benefits; approval isn't an issue. That's because TA Top-Up is payable for any course for which TA is payable under DOD criteria.

Last Modified 9/16/2009