New GI Bill Forum

[Rotor]

Fake ID: Someone else also mentioned it above. I don't think you have to make an election between SLRP and the new GI Bill. You can qualify for both-- it's just the time served as obligated service under SLRP doesn't count for qualifying service under the new GI Bill. But even if you only do 90 days beyond your SLRP OBLISERV, you'll get SOMETHING from the GI Bill.

I don't have a lot of experience with SLRP, but does the taxable bill all come in one year? I would have thought it would have been spread across the OBLISERV period. Yikes. Even so, you are correct, it does reduce your net benefit for the program.

That said, under the new GI Bill, your benefits will vary by your state (tuition) and specific location (BAH). But to look at a law school hypothetical, let's guess ~$10K/year as the highest instate tuition and ~$1200/mo.

That'd be $30K in tuition (3 year program) and $32K for BAH (9 mo/year for 3 years...I don't think they'll pay during summer term unless you're taking classes.) Add $1K/year books, $1200 lifetime tutoring stipend and one time $2K certification exam (i.e., Bar Exam), that's about $68K benefit...not much change from SLRP. What I don't know is if the living stipend will be tax free like real BAH. Now, if you live in a high cost of living area, you'll get more in BAH, but pay out more to actually live, so any increase will be eroded a bit.

As for the 1 Aug commence date, you don't need to worry about that. That's just the day it becomes effective. As long as you have creditable service after 9/11 (min 90 days...3 years for 100% vestiture) and haven't expended all MGIB benefits, you'll qualify for the new GI Bill. (Yes, it really is that good a deal in that respect)

[Rotor]

I had a VA tranistion seminar yesterday and came out with a few nuggets that might be helpful for the other vets out there:

The GI Bill payments will be tax free (as are all disbursments from VA).

They aren't yet taking applications, but when they do, it'll be via the online application like any other benefit. Your school has to certify enrollment before payment can be made (duh), and there is usually someone in the schools' FINAID offices specifically assigned to handle VA benefits. Find out who that is and they should be able to help make sure the wickets at both ends are completed so you can get funded as quickly as possible. Apply as soon as the window opens...VA expects to be CRUSHED this August with apps.

I was also happy to hear that even though I will be opting out of school provided health care programs included in the mandatory tuition and fees, the rep didn't think the VA would decrement the amount of the health care refund from the payment as long as the remaining tuition was above the state max.

(The final numbers: Tax advantage saves ~9.5K/yr and may help with FAFSA calc for 2L/3L; health care refund another ~1.5k/hr... it's all on paper, but an 11K day is not too shabby!)

Overall it sounds like things are coming together, but no one (not even the honest VA rep) thinks it's going to be smooth. Semper Gumby.

Edit: ...no new info on Yellow Ribbon.

[Cole S. Law]

I had a VA tranistion seminar yesterday and came out with a few nuggets that might be helpful for the other vets out there:

The GI Bill payments will be tax free (as are all disbursments from VA).

They aren't yet taking applications, but when they do, it'll be via the online application like any other benefit. Your school has to certify enrollment before payment can be made (duh), and there is usually someone in the schools' FINAID offices specifically assigned to handle VA benefits. Find out who that is and they should be able to help make sure the wickets at both ends are completed so you can get funded as quickly as possible. Apply as soon as the window opens...VA expects to be CRUSHED this August with apps.

I was also happy to hear that even though I will be opting out of school provided health care programs included in the mandatory tuition and fees, the rep didn't think the VA would decrement the amount of the health care refund from the payment as long as the remaining tuition was above the state max.

(The final numbers: Tax advantage saves ~9.5K/yr and may help with FAFSA calc for 2L/3L; health care refund another ~1.5k/hr... it's all on paper, but an 11K day is not too shabby!)

Overall it sounds like things are coming together, but no one (not even the honest VA rep) thinks it's going to be smooth. Semper Gumby.

Edit: ...no new info on Yellow Ribbon.

I didn't even realize that the student health coverage was a compensable "fee". Good info update. Thanks.

[Rotor]

quote]

I didn't even realize that the student health coverage was a compensable "fee". Good info update. Thanks.

I don't know that it is in every case, but at most of the schools I applied to it was all rolled up in the cost of the base tuition/mandatory fees. So, as long as the bill from the law school with the medical removed is equal than/higher than the state rate, you'll still get the full state rate. (at least according to the advisor)

[Zojirushi]

Here is a useful calculator for the new GI Bill: http://www.gibill2008.org/calculator.html
I tried to reverse engineer it to see where the numbers came from for Texas public tuition. Looks like it uses Tuition and Fees from Texas A&M for a 15 hour semester. The reason I included fees is if you only go off the credit hour cost, the amounts are nowhere near each other.

Also I work in the VA office at a university that is considering implementation of the Yellow Ribbon Program. Our school is considering using it as a recruiting tool (read not available to those veterans already attending/offered finaid packages). It will be a really good deal. I believe VA wants to know if schools will be participating by the end of Feb. at which point they will be releasing a list of participating schools online. The school also decides what percentage they will split with VA above and beyond the highest public tuition, how many veterans they will offer this program to on a yearly basis, and which colleges within the school will utilize it (trad, grad, etc.). Clearly there are a lot of variables and the program will vary between schools.

[Rotor]

OK fellow vets, after the discussion we've been having in the Yellow Ribbon Program thread, I went out and actually bought the current version of the Navy Times to see what they have in there about the bill. Much of the information is a rehash of things we already know and have discussed, but these are the things I found new and interesting (and encouraging on all counts).

1. VA will start taking applications online for the certificates of eligibility beginning 1 May.
2. The VA has hired 530 new claims processors, they are on board and training now.
3. There will be four claims processing centers which will be ready by 1 June.
4. The goal is to process applications in 24 days.
5. There is a deadline of Dec 2010 to make the entire process fully automated.
6. The desire is to have the automation complete immediately (but I read elsewhere they received no contract bids from their Request for Proposals, so I don't think that will happen). TheVA's deputy assistant secretary for information and technology told a congressional panel that if it is not ready by the time the program launches, they will hire 260 clerks to process the checks.
7. They are still trying to work out what the process will be for reimbursement if a student drops out, but there is talk that they may consider WHY and may not recoup for valid reasons (no further information, but gave family emergency as an example). Not that this would happen to any of us....of course.

So, I'm a little more at ease about the processing side of the program-- not that I think it will be entirely smooth. But you can bet I'm going to be online on 1 May to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. ((I'm sure moving states between then and school won't throw a wrench into the works....right.... )

[dapoetic1]

If they deposit the full tuition with the school and you are on a full ride what happens to the money?

The New GI Bill will work like a scholarhip.
You know how they say you can get federal loans up to the cost of attendance minus any outside funds. Well VA benefits under the new GI Bill will be outside funds. The Old GI Bill went to the student in the form of a monthly check. The new one gets paid directly to the school in the form of a tuition payment by a 3rd party. So if you got a scholarship from a school for full tuition, and the GI bill was going to supplement your tuition by $5,000 the school may limit your scholarship by $5,000.

However, if you receive VA benefits and federal loans and the amount of the GI Bill tuition paid to the school plus the amount of federal loans you are approved is more than the cost of attendace all of that money will be paid to the school and you will receive a reimbursement for the excess amount at some time during the semester.

[Cole S. Law]

OK fellow vets, after the discussion we've been having in the Yellow Ribbon Program thread, I went out and actually bought the current version of the Navy Times to see what they have in there about the bill. Much of the information is a rehash of things we already know and have discussed, but these are the things I found new and interesting (and encouraging on all counts).

1. VA will start taking applications online for the certificates of eligibility beginning 1 May.
2. The VA has hired 530 new claims processors, they are on board and training now.
3. There will be four claims processing centers which will be ready by 1 June.
4. The goal is to process applications in 24 days.
5. There is a deadline of Dec 2010 to make the entire process fully automated.
6. The desire is to have the automation complete immediately (but I read elsewhere they received no contract bids from their Request for Proposals, so I don't think that will happen). TheVA's deputy assistant secretary for information and technology told a congressional panel that if it is not ready by the time the program launches, they will hire 260 clerks to process the checks.
7. They are still trying to work out what the process will be for reimbursement if a student drops out, but there is talk that they may consider WHY and may not recoup for valid reasons (no further information, but gave family emergency as an example). Not that this would happen to any of us....of course.

So, I'm a little more at ease about the processing side of the program-- not that I think it will be entirely smooth. But you can bet I'm going to be online on 1 May to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. ((I'm sure moving states between then and school won't throw a wrench into the works....right.... )

Thanks for the data Rotor. Fingers crossed for being able to pay my Sep 09 rent on time.

[AndyB617]

OK fellow vets, after the discussion we've been having in the Yellow Ribbon Program thread, I went out and actually bought the current version of the Navy Times to see what they have in there about the bill. Much of the information is a rehash of things we already know and have discussed, but these are the things I found new and interesting (and encouraging on all counts).

1. VA will start taking applications online for the certificates of eligibility beginning 1 May.
2. The VA has hired 530 new claims processors, they are on board and training now.
3. There will be four claims processing centers which will be ready by 1 June.
4. The goal is to process applications in 24 days.
5. There is a deadline of Dec 2010 to make the entire process fully automated.
6. The desire is to have the automation complete immediately (but I read elsewhere they received no contract bids from their Request for Proposals, so I don't think that will happen). TheVA's deputy assistant secretary for information and technology told a congressional panel that if it is not ready by the time the program launches, they will hire 260 clerks to process the checks.
7. They are still trying to work out what the process will be for reimbursement if a student drops out, but there is talk that they may consider WHY and may not recoup for valid reasons (no further information, but gave family emergency as an example). Not that this would happen to any of us....of course.

So, I'm a little more at ease about the processing side of the program-- not that I think it will be entirely smooth. But you can bet I'm going to be online on 1 May to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. ((I'm sure moving states between then and school won't throw a wrench into the works....right.... )

Thanks for the data Rotor. Fingers crossed for being able to pay my Sep 09 rent on time.

i second that emotion!

[AndyB617]

so rotor, when you say "start accepting apps for certificates of eligibility in may 1, 2009" you mean, apps for the new gi bill right? because i just talked to the financial aid rep at the school i'm going to next year, and she said that i'll be receiving an "invoice" in the mail about the beginning of june with the tuition that i owe for the year. now, i understand that the payments won't go out till august, but do you think that they would be able to tell the school that i'm eligible, or send them a letter? i know this may be speculation, but you read the article, so i figured i'd ask. thanks!

[Rotor]

so rotor, when you say "start accepting apps for certificates of eligibility in may 1, 2009" you mean, apps for the new gi bill right? because i just talked to the financial aid rep at the school i'm going to next year, and she said that i'll be receiving an "invoice" in the mail about the beginning of june with the tuition that i owe for the year. now, i understand that the payments won't go out till august, but do you think that they would be able to tell the school that i'm eligible, or send them a letter? i know this may be speculation, but you read the article, so i figured i'd ask. thanks!

I think the HOW is going to be up to each school how they want to handle it. I think for me (assuming Stanford doesn't come through at least) I should be able to set up payment arrangements and defer at least SOME of the bill until VA makes payment. If your school won't work with you that way, take loans for the amt due and when the VA check hits your account, you get a refund of the previously disbursed funds, which you can use as you want (pay down loans to reduce non deferred interest would be my plan A; if you have credit card debt, pay off the 15-20+% cards first then go after the lower 6+% loans. If you have no CC debt and only have subsidized loans, invest and make a little while the loaned money is free.

[rtg1281]

I have heard that as long as you havent used the entirety of the "old" GI Bill that you will be eligible for the Post 9/11 one.

If one has to used *nearly* all the old benefits, how would this effect the new benefits? Most of the literature Ive read seems to indicate that as long as you have ANYTHING left of the old you will still recieve your percentage of benefits for the full three years. Is this correct?

[LSATfromNC]

I have heard that as long as you havent used the entirety of the "old" GI Bill that you will be eligible for the Post 9/11 one.

If one has to used *nearly* all the old benefits, how would this effect the new benefits? Most of the literature Ive read seems to indicate that as long as you have ANYTHING left of the old you will still recieve your percentage of benefits for the full three years. Is this correct?

I do not believe so; I believe you get month for month. However, even if you have zero time left, you are still eligible for other benefits such as the bar exam stipend.

[Rotor]

I have heard that as long as you havent used the entirety of the "old" GI Bill that you will be eligible for the Post 9/11 one.

If one has to used *nearly* all the old benefits, how would this effect the new benefits? Most of the literature Ive read seems to indicate that as long as you have ANYTHING left of the old you will still recieve your percentage of benefits for the full three years. Is this correct?

I do not believe so; I believe you get month for month. However, even if you have zero time left, you are still eligible for other benefits such as the bar exam stipend.

This is my understanding as well. If you have 1 month left of MGIB, you can get 1 month of the post 9/11 (plus the items not month limited like mentioned ^.

[rtg1281]

I have heard that as long as you havent used the entirety of the "old" GI Bill that you will be eligible for the Post 9/11 one.

If one has to used *nearly* all the old benefits, how would this effect the new benefits? Most of the literature Ive read seems to indicate that as long as you have ANYTHING left of the old you will still recieve your percentage of benefits for the full three years. Is this correct?

I do not believe so; I believe you get month for month. However, even if you have zero time left, you are still eligible for other benefits such as the bar exam stipend.

This is my understanding as well. If you have 1 month left of MGIB, you can get 1 month of the post 9/11 (plus the items not month limited like mentioned ^.

This was the correct answer.
So I checked it out and I have 19 months/19 hours left as of June 08. Does anyone know if the "clock" runs per class. Or am I just really screwed and will have like 4 months of eligibility when schoo.l starts this fall? The Navy really srewed me on this one. I had to dip into MGIB benefits because TA would only cover 4 classes a year! The Navy is the only service with such a low TA limit. Wishful thinking, but does anyone know of any waivers or increases i could try for?

[Cole S. Law]

Talked to a financial aid rep at one of the school's I've been accepted to. He stated that the GI payments come off the borrowing amount. For example, if go to a school with a 40K/year estimated cost of attendance and get 10K from the GI Bill and have a 10K scholarship your student loan borrowing limit is 20K/year. This is what I expected, but I thought I'd share the info now that I have semi-confirmed it.

[SethD2767]

E

[Rsrcht]

http://military-education.military.com/ ... tions.html
This article mentions that the new GI bill will also cover school health insurance (not many details) among other things.

[LSATfromNC]

http://military-education.military.com/ ... tions.html
This article mentions that the new GI bill will also cover school health insurance (not many details) among other things.

I fully intend to apply for veterans medical benefits once I have no income coming in I did not even know I was eligible for medical benefits while in undergrad.

[Rotor]

http://military-education.military.com/ ... tions.html
This article mentions that the new GI bill will also cover school health insurance (not many details) among other things.

This was a regulatory clarification that the "health insurance fee" charged by most (all?) schools could be covered since previous language suggested it may not be an "educational expense". For me, I'm going to opt out of the campus health care since I'll have Tricare as a retiree, but the other fees are so high and the max rate relatively low, I'll still be maxed out. But it will reduce my loan payment on the back side by a few bucks per month. Yippee.

[Rsrcht]

I've heard a rumor that something is in the works to allow vets to be eligible for another 12 months of post 9/11 GI Bill if already signed up for chapter 30 GI Bill. This is more useful, apparently if you've used some or all of your ch30 GI Bill money. I'm not sure on the details. I'm hoping somebody here has heard more? I'll post more info if I find out more about it.

[LSATfromNC]

I've heard a rumor that something is in the works to allow vets to be eligible for another 12 months of post 9/11 GI Bill if already signed up for chapter 30 GI Bill. This is more useful, apparently if you've used some or all of your ch30 GI Bill money. I'm not sure on the details. I'm hoping somebody here has heard more? I'll post more info if I find out more about it.

Hell Yeah!

[Rsrcht]

Here is the link, look at page 6 where it talks about 48 months of combined benefits, it is unclear.
http://www.vtc.odu.edu/downloads/GIBill.ppt

It was presented at the Student Veterans of America's national conference in San Francisco so they may have covered it there in more detail.

[Rsrcht]

I looked up the CFR and called the VA about how to deal with the 48 months of combined benefits.

If you were to switch over from the regular GI Bill to the post 911 GI bill, then your total # of months of entitlement will remain the same, up to a total of 36 months.

If you exhaust all 36 months of your regular GI Bill benefits first, then enroll in the post 911 GI Bill, you will receive up to 12 months of post 911 GI Bill in addition to your 36 months of regular GI Bill, depending upon how many more months beyond 36 you have to use to finish a semester.

The gentleman on the phone for the VA said that the regular GI bill could go over the 36 month period if you are in the middle of a semester/term, in which case, you could hypothetically use an additional 2 months for a total of 38 months. Once the term is over, you can make the switch and you would have to subtract the 2 months from the additional 12 to determine how many post 911 GI Bill months you would be eligible for.

He said there was no time limit to make the switch to the Post-911 GIBILL within the 15 years of entitlement. He said that I could continue to use my regular GI Bill benefits beyond August 1, 2009 and exhaust said benefits before enrolling at a date beyond August 1, 2009.

So as an example, lets say that I have about 14 months left on the regular GI Bill. I can use them through 1L next year and 2L the following year, upon which I would probably use about 4 months beyond my original 36 months because it would be mid semester (9 month year). I would be eligible for about 8 months of 9-11 GI Bill during 3L.

[LSATfromNC]

I looked up the CFR and called the VA about how to deal with the 48 months of combined benefits.

If you were to switch over from the regular GI Bill to the post 911 GI bill, then your total # of months of entitlement will remain the same, up to a total of 36 months.

If you exhaust all 36 months of your regular GI Bill benefits first, then enroll in the post 911 GI Bill, you will receive up to 12 months of post 911 GI Bill in addition to your 36 months of regular GI Bill, depending upon how many more months beyond 36 you have to use to finish a semester.

The gentleman on the phone for the VA said that the regular GI bill could go over the 36 month period if you are in the middle of a semester/term, in which case, you could hypothetically use an additional 2 months for a total of 38 months. Once the term is over, you can make the switch and you would have to subtract the 2 months from the additional 12 to determine how many post 911 GI Bill months you would be eligible for.

He said there was no time limit to make the switch to the Post-911 GIBILL within the 15 years of entitlement. He said that I could continue to use my regular GI Bill benefits beyond August 1, 2009 and exhaust said benefits before enrolling at a date beyond August 1, 2009.

So as an example, lets say that I have about 14 months left on the regular GI Bill. I can use them through 1L next year and 2L the following year, upon which I would probably use about 4 months beyond my original 36 months because it would be mid semester (9 month year). I would be eligible for about 8 months of 9-11 GI Bill during 3L.

This is for informational purposes, right I fully intend on switching over on May 1.