The most important question you need to answer if you’re planning to use your GI Bill is: Do I have the Post 9/11 GI Bill or the Montgomery GI Bill?
It’s possible that you have both, depending on when you were in the service.
Here’s the quick answer:
You most likely have the Post 9/11 GI Bill if:
- You served for at least 90 days on active duty after Sept 11, 2001 (or at least 30 days with an honorable discharge and service connected disability)
- You received a Purple Heart after Sept 11, 2001 with an honorable discharge
- You are a dependent that was transferred benefits from a qualifying veteran
You most likely have the Montgomery GI Bill if:
- You served before Sept 11, 2001 and you remember getting your military pay reduced by $100 a month for the first 12 months of service.
- It’s possible that you have both the Post 9/11 and the Montgomery GI Bill. If you do, there is a maximum 48 months of eligibility (instead of 36 months).
Here’s the deal though:
Your service record is unique, and the easiest way to be 100% sure which GI Bill you have is to log onto eBenefits to get your Statement of Benefits.
But there is one catch:
You can only check your Statement of Benefits if you’ve previously applied for the GI Bill.
If you’ve never applied to get your GI Bill benefits, you will have to submit an application FIRST, by going to this page on VA.gov.
You now submit the application online, but it will take 30 days to get back the official decision about your benefits.
I’ll show you below exactly how to look up your Statement of Benefits online, as well as explain the specifics of each GI Bill, and how to best take advantage of each.
How to Quickly Find Out Which GI Bill You Have:
Some call it a VA letter, some call it a Certificate of Eligibility, and the VA calls it a Statement of Benefits.
But…
They all mean the same thing, and if you’ve previously applied for your GI Bill benefits, it will be listed on the government website. You can print this out for your records or to complete the process with your chosen school.
Here are the 7 steps to quickly figure this out. You can also read this full article to learn more about how to get your GI Bill certificate of eligibility.
Step 1. Go to the VA.gov website here.
Step 2: Under the “Education” Section, click the link “Check your Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits”
Step 3: Click the green button “Sign In or Create an Account”
Step 4: Login with your DS or CAC login
Step 5: Click the green button “Check Your GI Bill Benefits”
Step 6: View your GI Bill “Statement of Benefits”/Certificate of Eligibility
Step 7: Click “Get Printable Statement of Benefits” Blue Button (Shown Above)
Is it possible to have both the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Montgomery GI Bill?
If you are eligible to receive educational benefits from more than one GI Bill program, you will have to choose which one to receive benefits from.
Each program has its own pros and cons depending on what you want to use it for.
On first glance, the Post 9/11 GI Bill seems to provide the most amount of benefits; however, if you are currently using the Montgomery GI Bill and partook in the buy up program, you won't be able to use that once you transfer to the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
If you need help in making the decision on which GI Bill program to receive benefits from, you may call the GI Bill hotline at 888-GI-BILL-1 (888-442-4551) anytime from Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm.
Can I qualify for GI Bill benefits if I am in the National Guard or the Reserves?
As we have discussed earlier, members of the National Guard and the Selected Reserve are qualified to receive educational benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill- Selected Reserve.
Furthermore, if you are a member of the Reserves who lost education benefits when the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) ended in November 2015, you may qualify to receive restored benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
What is the Post 9/11 GI Bill?
The Post 9/11 GI Bill is the most recent educational benefit program implemented by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), which was passed into law towards the end of 2010. It provides financial assistance in pursuing continuing education covered under the following categories:
- Institutions of higher learning for undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs
- Non-college degree programs and vocational/ technical training
- On-the-job training and apprenticeship
- Flight and correspondence training
- Entrepreneurship training
- Independent and distance learning
Requirements
To qualify for this benefit, you must meet one of the following requirements:
- Served at least 90 aggregate days on active duty on or after September 11, 2001,
- Served at least 30 continuous days on active duty on or after September 11, 2001 before being discharged due to a service-connected disability,
- Received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001 and was honorably discharged, or
- A dependent child using transferred benefits
Benefits
If you qualify, you can receive the following benefits, the actual amounts of which are calculated based on the length of time you were on active duty as well as your rate of pursuit, among other factors depending on the benefit you are availing:
- Tuition and fees (in-state costs for public schools, or an amount not exceeding the prescribed national maximum for the type of education or training you are pursuing)
- Monthly Housing Allowance (applicable for those studying at on at least a 50% rate of pursuit, and prorated depending on the location of the majority of your classes)
- Books and Supplies Stipend (a maximum of $1,000 per academic year)
In addition to these benefits, you may also receive a one-time rural benefit if you are relocating from a rural area to a school at least 500 miles away or only accessible from your residence via air travel. The VA also provides further assistance for matters such as licensing and certifications, tutorial assistance, and work-study programs.
Check all the benefits you can get from the Post 9/11 GI Bill here.
You can also view the current payment rates through this link.
If you want to find out how much you can get based on the school that you want to attend, use the GI Bill Comparison Tool.
How do I find my Post 9/11 GI Bill Statement of Benefits?
If you are not yet receiving benefits from the Post 9/11 GI Bill but are qualified to do so, you can apply through this link. Otherwise, you can check how much benefits you have left by viewing your GI Bill Statement of Benefits.
If you don’t have any plans of using your entitlement benefits soon, do take note that you can only use the GI Bill on some things within a certain period of time. And if you were discharged before 2013, your entire GI Bill benefits expire after 15 years. But, what if you don’t want your hard earned benefits to go to waste?
Here’s the good news:
You can opt to transfer up to 36 months of your remaining GI Bill entitlement benefits to your spouse or dependents, provided that you meet certain qualifying requirements.
How do I transfer my Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to my spouse or dependents?
To be able to transfer entitlement benefits to your spouse or dependents, you must meet one of the following requirements:
- You have completed at least 6 years of active duty service and have agreed to serve for 4 more years, or
- You have completed at least 10 years of active duty service but cannot commit to serve 4 more years due to a policy or statute, but agree to serve for the maximum amount of time possible
Furthermore, the recipient of your transferred benefits must be enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS).
You can file for a transfer of benefits through the Department of Defense. Once it is approved, the recipient of transferred benefits has to apply for benefits through the VA website.
Check out more information about transferring GI Bill benefits here.
What is the Montgomery GI Bill?
The Montgomery GI Bill is an older GI Bill program by the VA that provides financial assistance for continuing education. It covers education and training that are covered under categories similar to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which are:
- Institutions of higher learning for undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs
- Non-college degree programs and vocational/ technical training
- On-the-job training and apprenticeship
- Flight and correspondence training
- Entrepreneurship training
- Independent and distance learning
It also covers payments for licensing and certification tests. In some cases, this benefit can also be used to pay for remedial courses, deficiency courses, and refresher courses.
The Montgomery GI Bill is divided into 2 categories- the Montgomery GI Bill- Active Duty (MGIB-AD) and the Montgomery GI Bill- Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR). The requirements and benefits for each category are different, and we will detail each one below.
Montgomery GI Bill- Active Duty
Requirements
The basic requirements in order to qualify for benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill- Active Duty are as follows:
- At least 2 years of active duty service, and
- A high school diploma, GED, or 12 credit hours in college
The VA has additional specific requirements to determine your eligibility category including when you entered and left the military, whether you left the service voluntarily, as well as whether you had pay reductions. You can check the full list of requirements here.
Benefits
You can use up to 36 months of entitlement benefits within 10 years after your discharge from active duty service. The actual amounts that you can receive depends on several factors, such as:
- Your entitlement category
- The length of time you have served on active duty
- The type of education program under which you are availing benefits
- Whether you qualify for a college kicker/ fund
- How much you have paid into the $600 buy up program
You can check out the current payment rates through this link. If you want to find out how much you can get based on the school that you want to attend, use the GI Bill Comparison Tool. If you want to start receiving GI Bill benefits, visit this link to see the steps on how to apply.
Montgomery GI Bill- Selected Reserve
Requirements
You are qualified to receive educational benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill- Selected Reserve if you are a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, or Air National Guard, and meet the following requirements:
- You agreed to serve for 6 years in the Selected Reserve or you are an officer in the Selected Reserve who agreed to serve 6 years on top of your original service obligation,
- You have a high school diploma, a high school equivalency diploma, or a GED,
- You have completed your Initial Active Duty for Training (IADT), and
- You remain in good standing during your service in a Selected Reserve unit
Benefits
As a qualified recipient, you can receive up to 36 months of entitlement benefits which amounts to up to $384 per month.
You are eligible to use these benefits for 14 years after your initial 6 year service obligation, provided that you remain enlisted in the Selected Reserve. This duration can be further extended if you are called to active duty, where in such case, you will get an extra 4 months plus the length of time you were on active duty as an added time frame to use your benefits.
In the event that you are already separated from the Selected Reserve and still want to use your benefits, you may do so, provided that you meet one of these requirements:
- You separated due to a disability not connected to misconduct,
- You involuntarily separated for reasons other than misconduct between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2014, or
- Your unit was deactivated between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2014
You can check out the current payment rates through this link.
If you want to find out how much you can get based on the school that you want to attend, use the GI Bill Comparison Tool.
If you want to start receiving GI Bill benefits, visit this link to see the steps on how to apply.
As you can see, there are many ways to take advantage of your GI Bill benefits. However, the actual benefit amounts are not the same for everyone.
If your eligibility percentage is low, or if there are other factors affecting how much you can receive from your entitlement benefits, you might be wondering if there are other VA programs that can help you offset whatever education costs that will not be covered by your GI Bill benefits.
Here is the good news:
There are several VA programs that either supplement the GI Bill or work independently of it. One of these is the Yellow Ribbon Program.
What is the Yellow Ribbon Program?
The Yellow Ribbon Program is an additional benefit that can help you pay for out-of-state, private, or graduate school tuition costs that are not covered by or are in excess of your existing GI Bill benefits.
This is a voluntary program that schools elect to participate in, and comes at no entitlement charge to your benefits. You can check whether the school you want to attend is participating in the Yellow Ribbon by clicking here.
You can also find out more information about this program including the list of requirements and the steps on how to apply by visiting the VA website.
