States that offer free law school w/ National Guard Service Forum

[legalbeagletls]

Is there a list or resource available to see what states would offer 100% free law school tuition while serving in the National Guard?

Through reading past threads, I know of two:
-New Jersey
-Illinois

Another one that I need to confirm is
-Connecticut

I am looking at enlisting in the Army, though I am not sure whether to go Reserves or National Guard.

Ultimately, I would like to get a portion of Law School funded through military service.

[SemperLegal]

Is there a list or resource available to see what states would offer 100% free law school tuition while serving in the National Guard?

Through reading past threads, I know of two:
-New Jersey
-Illinois

Another one that I need to confirm is
-Connecticut

I am looking at enlisting in the Army, though I am not sure whether to go Reserves or National Guard.

Ultimately, I would like to get Law School funded through military service.

If you serve three years on Active duty or active orders, you can go to any public law school for free with a housing stipend. Go big or go home

[legalbeagletls]

[/quote]

If you serve three years on Active duty or active orders, you can go to any public law school for free with a housing stipend. Go big or go home[/quote]

My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

[TheSpanishMain]

If you serve three years on Active duty or active orders, you can go to any public law school for free with a housing stipend. Go big or go home

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

Pretty sure this is false. Access to the Post 9-11 is based on days of active duty service, with 36 months = 100% eligibility. A lot of reservists/guardsmen have somewhere between 50-100% eligibility due to having some active duty time for deployments/mobilization.

[legalbeagletls]

If you serve three years on Active duty or active orders, you can go to any public law school for free with a housing stipend. Go big or go home

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

[SemperLegal]

If you serve three years on Active duty or active orders, you can go to any public law school for free with a housing stipend. Go big or go home

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

Pretty sure this is false. Access to the Post 9-11 is based on days of active duty service, with 36 months = 100% eligibility. A lot of reservists/guardsmen have somewhere between 50-100% eligibility due to having some active duty time for deployments/mobilization.

That is what I was referring to:

Post-9/11 Service


Percentage of Maximum Amount Payable

At least 36 cumulative months
(Includes Entry Level or Skills Training time)


100%

At least 30 continuous days on active duty and discharged due to service-connected disability
(Includes Entry Level or Skills Training time)


100%

At least 30 cumulative months
(Includes Entry Level or Skills Training time)


90%

At least 24 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


80%

At least 18 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


70%

At least 12 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


60%

At least 6 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


50%

90 aggregate days
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


40%

In six years of reserves you will have between 3-6 months of Entry Level or Skills Training and rate 0%. You would get the Reserve Montgomery GI Bill which caps at like $300 a semester.

If you get activated for a year long deployment, you will get around 60% (and not be eligible for Yellow Ribbon), and between 80-90% if you get activated twice (Still no Yellow Ribbon).

Hope that helps

[legalbeagletls]

If you serve three years on Active duty or active orders, you can go to any public law school for free with a housing stipend. Go big or go home

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

Pretty sure this is false. Access to the Post 9-11 is based on days of active duty service, with 36 months = 100% eligibility. A lot of reservists/guardsmen have somewhere between 50-100% eligibility due to having some active duty time for deployments/mobilization.

That is what I was referring to:

Post-9/11 Service


Percentage of Maximum Amount Payable

At least 36 cumulative months
(Includes Entry Level or Skills Training time)


100%

At least 30 continuous days on active duty and discharged due to service-connected disability
(Includes Entry Level or Skills Training time)


100%

At least 30 cumulative months
(Includes Entry Level or Skills Training time)


90%

At least 24 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


80%

At least 18 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


70%

At least 12 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


60%

At least 6 cumulative months
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


50%

90 aggregate days
(Cannot include Entry Level or Skills Training time)


40%

In six years of reserves you will have between 3-6 months of Entry Level or Skills Training and rate 0%. You would get the Reserve Montgomery GI Bill which caps at like $300 a semester.

If you get activated for a year long deployment, you will get around 60% (and not be eligible for Yellow Ribbon), and between 80-90% if you get activated twice (Still no Yellow Ribbon).

Hope that helps

Thank you for Clarifying.

[legalbeagletls]

Has anyone on this board gone to law school for free while serving in the National Guard?

[twenty]

The Army offers two-year GRFD scholarships and "three year" DEDNG scholarship (though that will tie you down to the state you contract with) if you commission through ROTC. From what I understand, the SMP program covers (or at least, used to) 100% of tuition for undergrads, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if that extended to law students as well.

[haus]

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

Keep in mind, you might feel that full-time active duty is not an option, but be prepared for the possibility that the National Guard may not see eye to eye with you on this. Being called upto active duty does happen, and it is not necessarily based on what would be in your best interest.

[SemperLegal]

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

Keep in mind, you might feel that full-time active duty is not an option, but be prepared for the possibility that the National Guard may not see eye to eye with you on this. Being called upto active duty does happen, and it is not necessarily based on what would be in your best interest.

A thousand times this. Trust me, even post wars, the "One Weekend a month" mindset is truly dead. In 6 years, I would be shocked if you didn't deploy.

[TheSpanishMain]

Moving to a state, enlisting in the Guard, going to basic training and AIT, only to lock yourself in to law school in that state seems more disruptive than just doing three years of active duty and getting out anyway.

[JazzieShizzle]

Unfortunately going full time active duty is not an option for me right now. My understanding is that if I serve a six year contract as a reservist, I would also be eligible for the post 9/11 GI bill.

Keep in mind, you might feel that full-time active duty is not an option, but be prepared for the possibility that the National Guard may not see eye to eye with you on this. Being called upto active duty does happen, and it is not necessarily based on what would be in your best interest.

A thousand times this. Trust me, even post wars, the "One Weekend a month" mindset is truly dead. In 6 years, I would be shocked if you didn't deploy.

Definitely all this. Also, depending on what happens in your state, National Guard members could be more likely to activate than Reservists. The National Guard is run by the state, so they can be called up for state emergencies, whereas Reserves is federal, so we only get activated for national emergencies/war/stuff like that.

I'm not sure if all active duty counts towards the GI Bill or if it has to be federal service. Maybe someone in the Guard could answer that? I googled, but couldn't find a solid answer.

OP: I do not recommend joining the military solely for money for school. GI Bill benefits are great, but they are certainly earned. Not to say you shouldn't do it, just know that military service does come at a cost. FWIW, if you do decide to enlist for money for school, active duty is the way to go. I don't know why you say active duty isn't an option for you, but you have to have active service to qualify for the Post-911 GI Bill, so there's really no way around it.