By Carl Surran
New GI Bill Adds Huge Education Benefit
Fall 2008
Military members, including Reserve and Guard members, who have served at least 90 consecutive days on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, soon can take advantage of a new top-flight education benefit: the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008.
Under this “new GI Bill,” the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will pay a qualified student’s tuition and fees directly to any college up to amounts equal to the cost of attending the state’s most expensive public college. Payments under the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) go directly to students and are level everywhere.
The plan also will pay a new monthly living allowance directly to students, equal to the local Basic Allowance for Housing rate for a married E-5. This stipend will not be paid to students on active duty, part-time students, or for online courses.
The third payment in the new GI Bill is $1,000 a year for books and supplies.
A key provision is the transferability of education benefits to military spouses and children. An eligible active-duty member with six years of service who re-enlists for four years may transfer up to 36 months of unused benefits to a spouse. A member may transfer benefits to children after 10 years’ service.
Benefits will take effect Aug. 1, 2009 but will not be paid retroactively to the date the bill was signed into law (June 30, 2008). The transferability provision applies only to members on active duty or in drill status on or after Aug. 1, 2009.
MGIB benefits, however, already have been increased 20 percent, boosting a full-time student’s monthly benefit to $1,321. MGIB still could prove a better deal for students in areas where rents are low and tuition costs are modest or waived for in-state veterans. Only MGIB covers vocational training; the new bill applies toward an associate’s degree or higher.
Active service of 90 days to six months since 9/11 will entitle a member to 40 percent of the new benefit, and longer service will deliver a larger percentage. Members serving more than 36 months on active duty since 9/11, or those separated since then for disability after serving at least 30 consecutive days, earn full benefits.
The VA has posted a fact sheet at its website, www.gibill.va.gov, and offers a toll-free number, 1-888-GIBILL1.
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