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FINANCIAL AID
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- GI Bill (overview)
- GI Bill - Active Duty (Ch. 30)
- GI Bill - Selected Reserve (Ch. 1606)
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- Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008
NEW GI BILL DETAILS
- ALCOASTs
- Eligibility
- Payments
- What Can I Use My Benefits For?
- Licensing & Certification Exam Reimbursement
- Activating Your Benefit
- Yellow Ribbon Provision
- Duration of Benefit
- CGA Grads
- Transferring Benefits to Dependents
- Procedure for Transferring Benefits
- Re-distributing Benefits Among Transferees
- Deductions from Initial 36-month entitlement
- Top-up
- Buy-up
- Deciding Whether to Switch Benefits
POST-9/11 VETERANS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2008 - OVERVIEW
The so-called new GI Bill (Chapter 33) program provides up to 36 months of full-time education benefits. This 36 months of benefits is called your entitlement.
The information provided here is taken from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA's) web site, the statutes enacted by Congress, and the Code of Federal Regulations which implements congressional statutes.
The Coast Guard has implemented the new program via five ALCOASTs: ALCOAST 447/08, ALCOAST 044/09, ALCOAST 250/09, ALCOAST 377/09, ALCOAST 443/09, ALCOAST 684/09.
Eligibility
You may be eligible if you served at least 90 aggregate days (i.e., they don't have to be consecutive) on active duty after 10 September 2001 and are still on active duty or were
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honorably discharged from active duty, or
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honorably released from active duty and placed on the retired list or temporary disability retired list, or
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released from active duty and transferred to the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve, or
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released from the active duty for further service in a reserve component of the Armed Forces.
You may also be eligible if you were honorably discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability and you served 30 continuous days after 10 September 2001.
Your current status (retired or otherwise no longer in uniform) is irrelevant.
NOTE to Reservists: Time spent in boot camp, "A" school, drilling (weekend or annual), or on active duty under Title 14 orders are not considered "active duty" for purposes of eligibility for this program.
Payments
The maximum monthly amount payable under the new GI Bill varies depending on a number of factors:
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whether you're pursuing a degree or non-degree program,
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whether you're attending a publicly- or privately-funded institution,
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the type of institution you're attending,
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whether you're a full- or part-time student,
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whether you're currently in uniform, a veteran, or a dependent,
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how long you were on active duty, and
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whether you're moving from certain highly rural areas to attend college.
The DVA calculates certain benefits under the new GI Bill based on whether you're considered a full-time student or a less-than-full-time student. "Full time" for these purposes is considered 24 undergraduate semester credits per school year.
There are three main benefits under the new GI Bill:
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payment for tuition and fees,
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a monthly housing allowance, and
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a stipend for books and supplies.
Access to each of these three main benefits depends on one or more of the factors listed above.
In addition, there is also a one-time payment of $500 for certain individuals relocating from very rural areas.
In general, if you're eligible to receive benefits you'll receive the applicable maximum for each of the three main benefits based on
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length of your active duty service shown in the following table and
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what's called "rate of pursuit", the number of credits you’re taking divided by the number of credits your school considers to be full-time attendance, rounded to the nearest tenth. (If you're in a non-academic program, it's the number of hours you're in class per day divided by the number of hours per day your school considers to be full-time attendance.)
|
Aggregate period of active duty service after 10 september 2001 |
percentage of maximum benefit payable |
|---|---|
|
At least 36 months |
100 |
| At least 30 continuous days and discharged due to service-connected disability | 100 |
| At least 30 months < 36 months | 90 |
| At least 24 months < 30 months | 80 |
| At least 18 months < 24 months | 70 |
| At least 12 months < 18 months | 60 |
| At least 6 months < 12 months | 50 |
| At least 90 days < 6 months | 40 |
The percentages listed on the table above apply to each of the three main benefits described above the table.
What Can I Use My Benefits For?
It depends on a number of factors:
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whether you're on active duty,
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whether you're pursuing a degree,
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whether you're attending school more than half-time or half-time or less,
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whether you're attending an "institution of higher learning",
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whether you're pursuing flight training, an apprenticeship, on-the-job training, or a correspondence program,
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whether you're seeking reimbursement for a licensing or certification test,
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whether you're seeking reimbursement for a "national test".
Click here for more details.
Activating Your Benefit
Before you can use your new GI Bill benefit, you must first apply for the benefit (also called activating it). Click here for more information on this process.
If you're a dependent, your sponsor must first have transferred the benefit to you, after which you fill out a slightly different form (whether PDF or on-line).
It can take the DVA six months to process activation requests, so plan ahead.