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If u are a reservist or NG then u qualify for yellow ribbon only if u are eligible for 100% of post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. This requires at least 3 yrs of cumulative active duty time after 9/11. I don't think u can use yellow ribbon with the other reserve GI Bills (chapter 1606/1607) since it's only a provision of the post 9/11 bill.

I have recently been accepted to the University of Minnesota Law School. I am a veteran from Connecticut. It is a state school but I will be charged Out of State Tuition. Will the Post 9/11 GI Bill 2.0 cover 60% of the the out of state tuition or will I be covered under the $17500 limit?

^ Post 9/11 GI Bill 2.0 will cover the full cost of in-state tuition, regardless of whether you are in-state or not. The $17,500 fixed rate applies only to private schools. It ends up working out that it pays more at many state schools.

Thanks for the quick answer. So the best way for me to calculate how much the GI bill will be I should still use the 60% or are they only using the percentage for the housing and book stipend?

I think I misunderstood what you were asking earlier. I do not know what it will mean for you if you are only 60% eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The changes on VA's website don't really reflect what it means for those who were not already 100% eligible.

jorgepesok wrote:Thanks for the quick answer. So the best way for me to calculate how much the GI bill will be I should still use the 60% or are they only using the percentage for the housing and book stipend?

I am getting 70%. According to a benefits calculator example I saw on the VA website somewhere that means it will cover 70% of all tuition/fees for a public school or 70% of the max private school rate + 70% of the housing rate and book stipend.

Here's something else I just found:

http://www.newgibill.org/calculator

That's what I'm trying to figure out whether they are going to cover 60% of the $31,200 of the in-state tuition, or are they going to restrict me to 60% of the $17,500 since I am being charged out of state tuition. This issue is very frustrating because the answer could have me paying an extra $10,000. I appreciate all the help.

P.S. The financial aid people at UMN are not very helpful or friendly over th phone

jorgepesok wrote:That's what I'm trying to figure out whether they are going to cover 60% of the $31,200 of the in-state tuition, or are they going to restrict me to 60% of the $17,500 since I am being charged out of state tuition. This issue is very frustrating because the answer could have me paying an extra $10,000. I appreciate all the help.

P.S. The financial aid people at UMN are not very helpful or friendly over th phone

I don't think that the VA differentiates between whether you are paying in-state tuition vs. out-of-state, only whether the school is public vs. private. So even if you pay the out-of-state rate at a public school they will cover 60% of it. The $17,500 only comes into play if it's a private school. At least that is what I gathered from their site and from confirming with the VA Rep at UT. Does UMN have a VA rep? They are usually in the registrar's office as opposed to the financial aid office.

helloscriptkitti wrote:

jorgepesok wrote:That's what I'm trying to figure out whether they are going to cover 60% of the $31,200 of the in-state tuition, or are they going to restrict me to 60% of the $17,500 since I am being charged out of state tuition. This issue is very frustrating because the answer could have me paying an extra $10,000. I appreciate all the help.

P.S. The financial aid people at UMN are not very helpful or friendly over th phone

I don't think that the VA differentiates between whether you are paying in-state tuition vs. out-of-state, only whether the school is public vs. private. So even if you pay the out-of-state rate at a public school they will cover 60% of it. The $17,500 only comes into play if it's a private school. At least that is what I gathered from their site and from confirming with the VA Rep at UT. Does UMN have a VA rep? They are usually in the registrar's office as opposed to the financial aid office.

this is incorrect.

if it's a private school, they use $17,500

if it's a public school, they use the in-state tuition/fees

fatduck wrote:

helloscriptkitti wrote:

jorgepesok wrote:That's what I'm trying to figure out whether they are going to cover 60% of the $31,200 of the in-state tuition, or are they going to restrict me to 60% of the $17,500 since I am being charged out of state tuition. This issue is very frustrating because the answer could have me paying an extra $10,000. I appreciate all the help.

P.S. The financial aid people at UMN are not very helpful or friendly over th phone

I don't think that the VA differentiates between whether you are paying in-state tuition vs. out-of-state, only whether the school is public vs. private. So even if you pay the out-of-state rate at a public school they will cover 60% of it. The $17,500 only comes into play if it's a private school. At least that is what I gathered from their site and from confirming with the VA Rep at UT. Does UMN have a VA rep? They are usually in the registrar's office as opposed to the financial aid office.

this is incorrect.

if it's a private school, they use $17,500

if it's a public school, they use the in-state tuition/fees

creditied response.

Thanks for this info! I stand corrected. The people at Texas told me that if I used VA benefits then they would charge me the out-of-state rate instead of the Non-resident tuition exemption that I was given and that the GI Bill would cover it. I guess there's a bunch of confusion with the new rules and I need to get some things in writing b4 I decide on a school.

Yea, I just spoke to the UMN Law's veterans representative and they said that so far what they expect is that the GI Bill will cover the in-state tuition part. They are still not sure what is going to happen when it comes to my 60% eligibility and that I will most likely still be responsible for the out-of-state difference. Some more bad news is that they report what I owe AFTER they deduct my scholarship, so I wont even be able to use the scholarship money to cover the difference.

I better end up making a boat load of money as a lawyer because this is too frustrating and too expensive!

jorgepesok wrote:Yea, I just spoke to the UMN Law's veterans representative and they said that so far what they expect is that the GI Bill will cover the in-state tuition part. They are still not sure what is going to happen when it comes to my 60% eligibility and that I will most likely still be responsible for the out-of-state difference. Some more bad news is that they report what I owe AFTER they deduct my scholarship, so I wont even be able to use the scholarship money to cover the difference.

I better end up making a boat load of money as a lawyer because this is too frustrating and too expensive!

Did your scholarship specifically state that it has to be used solely for tuition and fees? The Texas rep did tell me that I would be able to use my scholarship residual to cover any remaining tuition/fees/housing expenses. I think that it's all in the way that the school processes your bill. Texas will process my scholarship as a 'stipend' so that it's not necessary to use towards tuition. I think in this case the VA will pay for tuition first. Hopefully I am not wrong again

helloscriptkitti wrote:

jorgepesok wrote:Yea, I just spoke to the UMN Law's veterans representative and they said that so far what they expect is that the GI Bill will cover the in-state tuition part. They are still not sure what is going to happen when it comes to my 60% eligibility and that I will most likely still be responsible for the out-of-state difference. Some more bad news is that they report what I owe AFTER they deduct my scholarship, so I wont even be able to use the scholarship money to cover the difference.

I better end up making a boat load of money as a lawyer because this is too frustrating and too expensive!

Did your scholarship specifically state that it has to be used solely for tuition and fees? The Texas rep did tell me that I would be able to use my scholarship residual to cover any remaining tuition/fees/housing expenses. I think that it's all in the way that the school processes your bill. Texas will process my scholarship as a 'stipend' so that it's not necessary to use towards tuition. I think in this case the VA will pay for tuition first. Hopefully I am not wrong again

this right, but only up to COA. So don't think if you get a full ride to texas and get VA benefits you'll be having an extra 40k. It only goes up to COA.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after September 11, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

unc0mm0n1 wrote:

helloscriptkitti wrote:

jorgepesok wrote:Yea, I just spoke to the UMN Law's veterans representative and they said that so far what they expect is that the GI Bill will cover the in-state tuition part. They are still not sure what is going to happen when it comes to my 60% eligibility and that I will most likely still be responsible for the out-of-state difference. Some more bad news is that they report what I owe AFTER they deduct my scholarship, so I wont even be able to use the scholarship money to cover the difference.

I better end up making a boat load of money as a lawyer because this is too frustrating and too expensive!

Did your scholarship specifically state that it has to be used solely for tuition and fees? The Texas rep did tell me that I would be able to use my scholarship residual to cover any remaining tuition/fees/housing expenses. I think that it's all in the way that the school processes your bill. Texas will process my scholarship as a 'stipend' so that it's not necessary to use towards tuition. I think in this case the VA will pay for tuition first. Hopefully I am not wrong again

this right, but only up to COA. So don't think if you get a full ride to texas and get VA benefits you'll be having an extra 40k. It only goes up to COA.

I'm not sure if I understand this... If VA pays COA, then wouldn't the scholarship/stipend go directly to you via refund? Also with Post 911, you would also get the BAH stipend directly so depending on when/how your scholly is refunded you should have decent cash flow.

What am I missing here?

Glad someone started this tread, though it looks to be a lot of GI Bill and Post 9/11 GI Bill, anyone looking at using the VR&E program. I used it for the last year of my undergrad and am going to be applying the remaining to Law School this fall. I've heard about the switch from a flat stipend to BAH rates though I have seen nothing from the VA about it and my case manager only has "heard" about it as well. Also anyone have any experience in transferring their case from one office to another? I've got to change from the DC office to one in Roanoke I believe due to the regions they cover and am not sure how easy of a process this is.

Glad to see other vets on here making use of the benefits.

-D

@nOO law

This is what I am gathering:

VA pays for tuition and fees for a public school based on your percentage of eligibility for Post 9/11 based on the school's 'in-state' rate. If u qualify for 100% Post 9/11 then it covers all in-state tuition and fees for that public school. If you receive a scholarship from the school in addition to post 9/11 benefits AND that scholarship is not restricted to use for tuition and fees only, then u can use your GI-Bill FIRST to cover your tuition and fees. The remainder of your scholarship money can then be used to cover other expenses, up to whatever the school determines is the COA, which could result in a totally free ride + your BAH money in your pocket (esp if you have in-state residency). Not sure what happens to the rest of that scholarship money if it exceeds the COA. None of the schools seem to know either. It would be nice if they just refunded it all to us

On an uglier note, if your scholarship stipulates that it is only to be used towards tuition and fees, then the VA will be the payer of LAST resort. Meaning they will only cover any left over tuition and fees (not exceeding the in-state rate) after your scholarship has been used. Your other COA expenses can not be funded with the GI-Bill money. You would have to use your BAH for those expenses and possibly borrow/self-fund the remainding balance.

I guess no one will know for sure how this will all pan out until the new bill takes effect in Aug. But it seems that the public schools I have talked to (Texas and Michigan) will try to make it work to my benefit because it also benefits their yield rate. Otherwise, in my opinion they really don't have much of an edge over an equally ranked private school + substantial scholly. Hopefully this will be the case for u also...

I have heard that there are restrictions on officers who commission through ROTC scholarship programs or Service Academies. Does anyone know what these are?

helloscriptkitti wrote:@nOO law

This is what I am gathering:

VA pays for tuition and fees for a public school based on your percentage of eligibility for Post 9/11 based on the school's 'in-state' rate. If u qualify for 100% Post 9/11 then it covers all in-state tuition and fees for that public school. If you receive a scholarship from the school in addition to post 9/11 benefits AND that scholarship is not restricted to use for tuition and fees only, then u can use your GI-Bill FIRST to cover your tuition and fees. The remainder of your scholarship money can then be used to cover other expenses, up to whatever the school determines is the COA, which could result in a totally free ride + your BAH money in your pocket (esp if you have in-state residency). Not sure what happens to the rest of that scholarship money if it exceeds the COA. None of the schools seem to know either. It would be nice if they just refunded it all to us

On an uglier note, if your scholarship stipulates that it is only to be used towards tuition and fees, then the VA will be the payer of LAST resort. Meaning they will only cover any left over tuition and fees (not exceeding the in-state rate) after your scholarship has been used. Your other COA expenses can not be funded with the GI-Bill money. You would have to use your BAH for those expenses and possibly borrow/self-fund the remainding balance.

I guess no one will know for sure how this will all pan out until the new bill takes effect in Aug. But it seems that the public schools I have talked to (Texas and Michigan) will try to make it work to my benefit because it also benefits their yield rate. Otherwise, in my opinion they really don't have much of an edge over an equally ranked private school + substantial scholly. Hopefully this will be the case for u also...

That makes sense.

I was figuring that full ride + 100% Post 9/11 = $$$ but it makes sense that it would depend on how your school characterizes the scholly. It would be nice if all schools could pay out scholarships in a way that benefits the student.

Thanks for the reply.

nOO law wrote:

helloscriptkitti wrote:@nOO law

This is what I am gathering:

VA pays for tuition and fees for a public school based on your percentage of eligibility for Post 9/11 based on the school's 'in-state' rate. If u qualify for 100% Post 9/11 then it covers all in-state tuition and fees for that public school. If you receive a scholarship from the school in addition to post 9/11 benefits AND that scholarship is not restricted to use for tuition and fees only, then u can use your GI-Bill FIRST to cover your tuition and fees. The remainder of your scholarship money can then be used to cover other expenses, up to whatever the school determines is the COA, which could result in a totally free ride + your BAH money in your pocket (esp if you have in-state residency). Not sure what happens to the rest of that scholarship money if it exceeds the COA. None of the schools seem to know either. It would be nice if they just refunded it all to us

On an uglier note, if your scholarship stipulates that it is only to be used towards tuition and fees, then the VA will be the payer of LAST resort. Meaning they will only cover any left over tuition and fees (not exceeding the in-state rate) after your scholarship has been used. Your other COA expenses can not be funded with the GI-Bill money. You would have to use your BAH for those expenses and possibly borrow/self-fund the remainding balance.

I guess no one will know for sure how this will all pan out until the new bill takes effect in Aug. But it seems that the public schools I have talked to (Texas and Michigan) will try to make it work to my benefit because it also benefits their yield rate. Otherwise, in my opinion they really don't have much of an edge over an equally ranked private school + substantial scholly. Hopefully this will be the case for u also...

That makes sense.

I was figuring that full ride + 100% Post 9/11 = $$$ but it makes sense that it would depend on how your school characterizes the scholly. It would be nice if all schools could pay out scholarships in a way that benefits the student.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah it would be nice to just get a boatload of money to go to law school but many law schools have noticed this loophole and are starting to close it. For instance, Harvard won't allow me to get any other type of grant aid if I accept the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

unc0mm0n1 wrote:

nOO law wrote:

helloscriptkitti wrote:@nOO law

This is what I am gathering:

VA pays for tuition and fees for a public school based on your percentage of eligibility for Post 9/11 based on the school's 'in-state' rate. If u qualify for 100% Post 9/11 then it covers all in-state tuition and fees for that public school. If you receive a scholarship from the school in addition to post 9/11 benefits AND that scholarship is not restricted to use for tuition and fees only, then u can use your GI-Bill FIRST to cover your tuition and fees. The remainder of your scholarship money can then be used to cover other expenses, up to whatever the school determines is the COA, which could result in a totally free ride + your BAH money in your pocket (esp if you have in-state residency). Not sure what happens to the rest of that scholarship money if it exceeds the COA. None of the schools seem to know either. It would be nice if they just refunded it all to us

On an uglier note, if your scholarship stipulates that it is only to be used towards tuition and fees, then the VA will be the payer of LAST resort. Meaning they will only cover any left over tuition and fees (not exceeding the in-state rate) after your scholarship has been used. Your other COA expenses can not be funded with the GI-Bill money. You would have to use your BAH for those expenses and possibly borrow/self-fund the remainding balance.

I guess no one will know for sure how this will all pan out until the new bill takes effect in Aug. But it seems that the public schools I have talked to (Texas and Michigan) will try to make it work to my benefit because it also benefits their yield rate. Otherwise, in my opinion they really don't have much of an edge over an equally ranked private school + substantial scholly. Hopefully this will be the case for u also...

That makes sense.

I was figuring that full ride + 100% Post 9/11 = $$$ but it makes sense that it would depend on how your school characterizes the scholly. It would be nice if all schools could pay out scholarships in a way that benefits the student.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah it would be nice to just get a boatload of money to go to law school but many law schools have noticed this loophole and are starting to close it. For instance, Harvard won't allow me to get any other type of grant aid if I accept the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Are you sure about this? Schools are specifically not allowed to consider veteran aid when determining merit aid. Their contribution to the Yellow Ribbon may change this...but for just straight up GI Bill/Housing Allowance they can't consider.

Kswizzie wrote:I have heard that there are restrictions on officers who commission through ROTC scholarship programs or Service Academies. Does anyone know what these are?

The only restriction is that you cannot count your service commitment for academy/ROTC scholarship for GI Bill eligibility. So, if you have a 5 year pay-back, you would have to serve 8 years post commission to be 100% eligible. (or 5 years + 90 days to be 10% eligible)

Considering Ch30/MGIB prohibited participation by academy grads (and I think ROTC Scholly), I don't see it as a "restriction" but an expansion. Makes sense to me that we don't get to double dip those service commitment years.

blowhard wrote:

unc0mm0n1 wrote:Yeah it would be nice to just get a boatload of money to go to law school but many law schools have noticed this loophole and are starting to close it. For instance, Harvard won't allow me to get any other type of grant aid if I accept the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Are you sure about this? Schools are specifically not allowed to consider veteran aid when determining merit aid. Their contribution to the Yellow Ribbon may change this...but for just straight up GI Bill/Housing Allowance they can't consider.

You're right that they can't consider benefits when determining financial aid, which means loans, but I don't think this is the case for merit aid. Also, I don't believe Yellow Ribbon benefits can exceed the cost of tuition, so even if you get a nice scholarship offer from the school, use the GI Bill, and then tack on YR, it will only cover the remaining balance. This is even if the school says it provides a $5000 YR program. If $2000 is all that you have remaining in tuition, YR will only cover that. At least one school I know of will count YR against any merit scholarship offer they have made, so you can't stack both on top of each other.

Jeffro wrote:

blowhard wrote:

unc0mm0n1 wrote:Yeah it would be nice to just get a boatload of money to go to law school but many law schools have noticed this loophole and are starting to close it. For instance, Harvard won't allow me to get any other type of grant aid if I accept the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Are you sure about this? Schools are specifically not allowed to consider veteran aid when determining merit aid. Their contribution to the Yellow Ribbon may change this...but for just straight up GI Bill/Housing Allowance they can't consider.

You're right that they can't consider benefits when determining financial aid, which means loans, but I don't think this is the case for merit aid. Also, I don't believe Yellow Ribbon benefits can exceed the cost of tuition, so even if you get a nice scholarship offer from the school, use the GI Bill, and then tack on YR, it will only cover the remaining balance. This is even if the school says it provides a $5000 YR program. If $2000 is all that you have remaining in tuition, YR will only cover that. At least one school I know of will count YR against any merit scholarship offer they have made, so you can't stack both on top of each other.

Currently, many people including myself, receive our merit aid back to defray cost of living after the GI Bill/YR takes care of tuition. This may go away under the changes made this year (making the VA a last payer) depending on how they are classified and how willing the schools are to adapt their scholarships to remove them from the requirements. Previously, the school decided if they applied when it was applied to the account.