G.I. Bill Benefits: Financial Support for Education and Housing

Post-9/11 GI Bill

If you have at least 90 days of aggregate active duty service after September 10, 2001, and are still on active duty, or if you are an honorably discharged veteran or were discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days, you may be eligible for this VA-administered program.

If you have eligibility for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and any other GI Bill program, you must make an irrevocable election of the Post-9/11 GI Bill before you can receive any benefits.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill has a few specific components that are unavailable in other GI Bill programs: Yellow Ribbon Program Transfer of Entitlement Option.

Yellow Ribbon Program

The Post-9/11 GI Bill will pay you:

• All resident tuition & fees for a public school
• The lower of the actual tuition & fees or the national maximum per academic year for a private school

Your actual tuition & fees costs may exceed these amounts if you are attending a private school or are attending a public school as a nonresident student.

Institutions of higher learning (degree-granting institutions) may elect to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program to make additional funds available for your education program without an additional charge to your GI Bill entitlement. These institutions voluntarily enter into a Yellow Ribbon Agreement with VA and choose the amount of tuition and fees that will be contributed. VA matches that amount and issues payments directly to the institution.

Available Benefits and Eligibility

Only veterans entitled to the maximum benefit rate, as determined by service requirements, or their designated transferees may receive this funding. Active duty service members and their spouses are not eligible for this program. Child transferees of active duty service members may be eligible if the service member is qualified at the 100% rate.

To receive benefits under the Yellow Ribbon Program:

• You must be eligible for the maximum benefit rate under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
• You must not be on active duty or a spouse using transferred entitlement.
• Your school must agree to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program.
• Your school must have not offered Yellow Ribbon to more than the maximum number of individuals, as stated in their participation agreement.
• Your school must certify your enrollment to VA and provide Yellow Ribbon Program information.

You may be eligible if you fit the following circumstances:

• You served an aggregate period of 36 months in active duty after September 10, 2001.
• You were honorably discharged from active duty for a service-connected disability, and you served 30 continuous days after September 10, 2001.
• You are a dependent eligible for Transfer of Entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill based on the service eligibility criteria listed above.

Transfer of Entitlement Option

The transferability option under the Post-9/11 GI Bill allows service members to transfer all or some unused benefits to their spouse or dependent children. The Department of Defense (DoD) determines whether or not you can transfer benefits to your family. Once the DoD approves benefits for transfer, the new beneficiaries apply for them at VA.

Type of Assistance

Eligible service members may transfer all 36 months or the portion of unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (unless DoD or the Department of Homeland Security has limited the number of transferable months). If you're eligible, you may transfer benefits to the following individuals:

• Your spouse
• One or more of your children
• Any combination of spouse and child

Available Benefits and Eligibility

Family members must be enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS) and be eligible for benefits at the time of transfer to receive transferred benefits.

The option to transfer is open to any member of the armed forces active duty or Selected Reserve, officer or enlisted who is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and meets the following criteria:

• Has at least six years of service in the armed forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of approval and agrees to serve four additional years in the armed forces from the date of election.
• Has at least 10 years of service in the armed forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of approval, is precluded by either standard policy (by Service Branch or DoD) or statute from committing to four additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute.
• Is or becomes retirement-eligible and agrees to serve an additional four years of service on or after August 1, 2012. A service member is considered to be retirement-eligible if he or she has completed 20 years of active federal service or 20 qualifying years as computed (pursuant to section 12732 of title 10 U.S.C.).
• Transfer requests are submitted and approved while the member is in the armed forces.

Transfer Process

While in the armed forces, transferors use the Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) website to designate, modify, and revoke a Transfer of Entitlement (TOE) request. After leaving the armed forces, transferors may provide a future effective date for use of TOE, modify the number of months transferred, or revoke entitlement transferred by submitting a written request to VA.

Upon approval, family members may apply to use transferred benefits with VA by printing, completing, and mailing the VA Form 22-1990e to your nearest VA regional office. You can also apply online here: http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp. VA Form 22-1990e should only be completed and submitted to VA by the family member after DoD has approved the request for TEB. Do not use VA Form 22-1990e to apply for TEB.

Other Factors to Consider

Marriage and Divorce

• A child's subsequent marriage will not affect his or her eligibility to receive the educational benefit; however, after an individual has designated a child as a transferee under this section, the individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time.
• A subsequent divorce will not affect the transferee's eligibility to receive educational benefits; however, after an individual has designated a spouse as a transferee under this section, the eligible individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time.

Reallocation of Benefits

If a service member wants to reallocate transferred benefits, they can do so using the TEB Portlet in MilConnect at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect.

If transferred benefits are totally revoked for a dependent, a service member must resubmit a transfer request for the dependent via MilConnect. A veteran cannot re-transfer benefits to a dependent if the dependent's transfer eligibility was previously totally revoked.

Nature of Transfer

Family member use of transferred educational benefits is subject to the following rules:

Spouses

• May start to use the benefit immediately
• May use the benefit while the member remains in the Armed Forces or after separation from active duty
• Are not eligible for the monthly housing allowance while the member is serving on active duty
• Can use the benefit for up to 15 years after the service member's last separation from active duty

Children

• May start to use the benefit only after the individual making the transfer has completed at least 10 years of service in the armed forces
• May use the benefit while the eligible individual remains in the armed forces or after separation from active duty
• May not use the benefit until he or she has attained a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate), or he or she has reached age 18
• Is entitled to the monthly housing allowance stipend even though the eligible individual is on active duty
• Is not subject to the 15-year delimiting date, but may not use the benefit after reaching 26 years of age

Types of Training

The following assistance is approved under the Post-9/11 GI Bill:

• Correspondence training
• Cooperative training
• Entrepreneurship training
• Flight training
• Independent and distance learning
• Institutions of higher learning undergraduate and graduate degrees
• Licensing and certification reimbursement
• Vocational/technical training, non-college degree programs
• National testing reimbursement
• On-the-job training
• Tuition Assistance top-up
• Tutorial assistance
• Vocational/technical training

Benefits and Eligibility

For approved programs, the Post-9/11 GI Bill provides up to 36 months of education benefits, generally payable for 15 years following your release from active duty. Institutions of higher learning participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program may make additional funds available for your education program without an additional charge to your GI Bill entitlement. The following payments may also be available:

• Monthly housing allowance
• Annual books and supplies stipend
• One-time rural benefit payment

Other Factors to Consider

Full tuition and fees are paid directly to the school for all public school in-state students. For those attending private or foreign schools, tuition and fees are capped at the national maximum rate. If you're attending a private or a public institution of higher learning (either private or public) as a nonresident, out-of-state student, you may be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program and entitled to additional education-related costs not covered by VA. Not everyone is eligible for this assistance.