In 2008 Congress passed an extension to the GI Bill (The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008) that significantly improved benefits for all military veterans who served post-9/11. The main benefits given in this bill are somewhat confusing, so I’ll try to explain them in a simple manner in this post.
Educational tuition benefits for FOUR Academic Years
Basically, the bill guarantees that you will be given some amount of money each academic quarter/semester to help your tuition fees. The amount of money you are given depends on the following variables:
-The State you are in
-The State the school you want to attend is in
-Which school you want to attend
-Number of months you’ve served after 9/11.
These are just some of the major variables. Actually calculating how much money you are entitled to is a complicated and painful process. Thankfully, the people over at Military.com created a GI Bill Helper that will (among other things) accurately and easily tell you how much money you can get from the GI Bill. Just fill out the simple 10-minute questionnaire and let it do the rest of the work for you.
The “Yellow Ribbon Program” for expensive private schools
Private schools are more expensive than public schools. The GI Bill benefits (before the 2008 changes) usually covered up to 100% of the expenses for public schools, but not for private ones. This all changed with the introduction of the Yellow Ribbon Program, which basically made it so that now veterans can get 100% of their expenses paid for even at private schools.. It accomplishes this by splitting the cost of the tuition in between the private school, the Federal government, and in some cases scholarships. All this is arranged so that it’s exactly the same for the veteran (you) as applying to a public school.
However, there is a catch. Not all private schools support the Yellow Ribbon Program. The ones that do are referred to as “Military Friendly”. You can get a list of “Military Friendly” private schools according to degree, state, and other parameters over at Military.com. Check this list to see if the private school you are thinking about attending is listed.
A Living Stipend
This is simply a monthly paycheck to cover your living/housing expenses while attending college. It differs from state to state, zip code of the college you are attending, your pay grade, whether you have any dependents, and other factors. Again, you can find a rate calculator at Military.com.
Benefits Extended to 15 Years from 10
It used to be that you could only claim these benefits 10 years after you last day of service. This limit has been extended to 15 years.
You can now attend international schools with money from the GI Bill
You can now attend some schools outside the US and still have your tuition/housing paid with the GI Bill. I still haven’t found a list of international schools that the GI Bill will pay for, but soon as I do I’ll post it here.
Annual stipend of up to $1000 for books and miscellaneous expenses
The government now sends you an annual paycheck for 4 years to cover miscellaneous expenses. The check amount differs from person to person. I haven’t found a calculator yet for it, sorry =/ I guess you could try looking at military.com, but I haven’t found anything there.
$2000 To Cover Certification Test Fees
If you are planning on taking a certification test(s), you can apply for a stipend to cover the test fees.
And that’s all the major changes introduced in the new GI Bill (post 9/11 GI Bill). If you have any further questions about any of this, you can get a free GI Bill benefits guide from Military.com here. Basically, when I was finding all this info out I found Military.com to be the most useful source of information, so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check them out. Good luck.
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