Questions on the GI Bill (Tuition Aid)

[BONE WSO]

The yellow ribbon program is very complicated and how much money you get largely depends on what state the school is in and how their tuition and fee structure is setup. Some states like California are very bad for the GI Bill because most of the cost of school is in the fees, and the GI bill pays tuition.

I considered getting out and going to get an MBA and did a substantial amount of research before deciding to stay in. I stumbled on this website where the guy went from the Army to Harvard and he made a chart breaking down the top MBA programs by how much you would receive annually from the GI Bill w/yellow ribbon.

https://militarytobusiness.blogspot.com/2009/07/post-911-gi-bill-mba-fact-and-fiction.html

You can also look at the main VA website to find out which schools participate, the amounts of money each will give you, and how many students are eligible. The best deal out there is Dartmouth for an MBA. They have no limits on the number of students using yellow ribbon and the total benefit is over $80k/year, basically a free MBA from a top 5 school.

https://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_info/ch33/YRP/States/nh.htm

Edited March 9, 2010 by BONE WSO

[Guest Nav_Guy]

As a ROTC Scholarship grad, I understand that to be eligible for the 100% benefits I need to serve my 4 years for ROTC then 36 months active service. How does this work with the Yellow Ribbon program? Can I apply immediately or after 3, 4, or 7 years?

[MilitaryToFinance]

You have to do 7 years as an ROTC grad. In order to be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon program you have to be entitled to 100% of the 9/11 GI Bill. That means you have to serve your 4 year ADSC from your ROTC scholarship and then an additional 36 months before you are eligible for 100% of the GI Bill.

BONE WSO thanks for the link. Depressing that HBS would get so little benefit from the GI Bill since that was high on my list. Kellogg is also high on my list and it gets a decent amount. They certainly made it a complicated system to say the least.

[pittsdriver]

I have heard that whatever the school will pay for with the yellow ribbon program, the VA will match that amount even if it is more than the max in state tuition they pay for, is that correct? I could have swore at the TAP workshop that is what the VA guy was telling us.

[Duck]

I am trying to pool some knowledge and experience from people who have info on the Post 9-11 GI Bill, because it seems like most base education offices are completely useless with some of the features the bill provides (i.e. Flight Training).

I spent 2 hours on the phone with the VA trying to figure out some of the math with respect to transfering benefits to the wife/kids and when exactly the eligibility starts.

This link (https://gibill.va.gov/apply-for-benefits/road-map/2-collect-your-information.html) states that "Payback time for ROTC or Service Academy does not count as qualifying service."

So does this mean that to get to be able to transfer 100% of my eligibility to my kids I need to A) pay off my 4 year service commitment to ROTC, B) spend 6 additional years in, and then C) sign up for another 4 years? 14 years of service? Am I figuring this right?

I also was looking at getting my 737 type rating through Higher Power Aviation, which costs around 10 months of eligibility according to HPA. Looking at the Post 9-11 benefit tiers, it looks like after 90 aggregate days of service you can get 40% of eligibility which is 14+ months of the 36 total months. So am I right to assume since I have more than 4 years (ROTC payback) and 90 days of service in, I could go ahead and accomplish this?

I appreciate all the help with this. I know others have been looking for this info as well, so as soon as I get any more info I will post back.

[Jaded]

I was able to transfer my benefits after 6 years of total service and I incured an ADSC of an additional 4 years starting the day I signed the form. I have a commission from ROTC that came with an initial commitment of 4 years. The Post 9/11 GI Bill ADSC is concurrent with (and ends before) my pilot training commitment.

If you are trying to be most cost efficient with the benefits, using it on a type rating (or on your spouse) is not a great plan. Giving it to your kid or using it on school after you separate is better, since you'll get the housing allowance as well.

I think we've talked about this at length, but my search skills are weak. Stupid form won't let you search for "GI bill".

[Duck]

Yeah, had the same problem with the search. I agree with the maybe not being the most cost efficient way of doing things, however I am just unsure of how long this good deal of the GI bill will last, especially with how expensive it has to be. Call me paranoid. I also have no plans on staying all the way to 10 years. After hearing some projections from AFPC and several General briefings, it seems like there are going to be plenty of opportunities to get out through VSPs and RIFs in the near future. I would be floored to have 26 months of eligibility to pass on (if it's still around and I stomach out 10 years) and a 737 type rating to make me competitive for civilian employment. Thanks for the input! It contradicts the GI bill website, but that's good news!

[jumpnjive]

Do you want to transfer your benefits or use them for the type rating? I have used post 9/11 benefits for all my flight training/educational expenses. If you want to use it for a type rating at a flight training center, I think they pay upward to 10k a year for for those expenses. However, you will not get any BAH or book allowance for such training. The best route to go, if possible, is to enroll in a flight program with a local university. If the "program" you enter happens to need specific flight time such as turbine time, type rating, multi time, etc., the VA will cover all of it! I know most university programs end at a commercial/CFI rating for single engine, but I know that a few colleges have extra classes that you can take for a university charter program to gain turbine/high altitude endorsements, in which case the VA would cover since its within you degree program. They will cover any degree program and all related expenses’ including required parking passes, insurance, boarding fees, ect. as well as pay E-5 BAH +1k a year for books. I am sure you know most of this already; I am just trying to shed some light on what I know. If you are not interested in a university and only care about the 737 type rating, I would imagine you can get 10k of that covered by the VA with your 14 month eligibility, but would have to pay the rest out of pocket....The post 9/11 GI Bill is an amazing benefit opportunity. Aspiring pilots can get a degree/flight time for almost nothing, and doctors can get their first 3 years of school for free. Anyway you look at it you should be getting a lot more than expected, but enrolling in a college is the best way to maximize the benefit.

[Spaceballs]

I currently have the MGIB and I'm looking into advancing my ratings. I currently just have my PPL, but I'd like to get a commercial rating and pick up an instrument along the way. I've been reading a lot on the VA website and random postings I found through google, but it's pretty confusing. Does anyone have experience in the best way to use the GI Bill toward flight training?

What I've gathered is that the MGIB will pay a higher amount, but it will only pay 60%.

Then the Post 9/11 will pay a set amount, but it covers the entire training up to that point.

My goal is to get my instrument rating this summer, commercial by the end of the year/early 14, and eventually a CFI. I'd like to use the GI benefits as efficiently as possible so I don't break the bank. I have a Part 141 school nearby, which I'm in contact with and they said they have a lot of people use their GI Bills there. Over $200/hr for an ifr-rated plane with an instructor is just incredibly pricey. I paid $65/hr for the plane and $15/hr for the instructor in college when I got my PPL. Unfortunately there isn't a college nearby that I can enroll in to extend the benefits and get the required hours due to that. Thanks!

Edited March 26, 2013 by Cgjohnst

[Spaceballs]

Hey guys, how many of you would let your spouses use your GI Bill? I'm pretty curious about this. So many of my friends don't have their GI Bill anymore because their wives all used them for school. Most of their wives who finished school already don't even work. I've been planning to save mine in case I get force shaped and I decide to go for a different line of work. At the base newcomer's brief I went to today, some ladies from the AF&RC were talking to my wife about working with them. My wife told them she has her Bachelors, but not her Masters and she doesn't want to take out loans for it. The girls immediately all told her that she can use my GI Bill to get it and that most of them had used their husbands' GI Bills. It just seems ludicrous to me to throw it away if they aren't going to make a career out of it. My wife and I both want her to be a stay at home mom when we have kids. She seems to be getting a lot of flak lately about not using my GI Bill. Does it make sense to let her use it?

Thanks guys.

[nunya]

My wife used part of mine to finish her BS and she's a stay at home mom. If I don't go back to school when I get out, I'll give the rest to my son if he needs it. I agree it didn't make financial sense in the short term, but now she has it if she ever has to work. The real reason, however, was that she wanted it and she's proud to be the only college graduate in her family. We often do irrational things to keep our marriages going.

Edited March 18, 2014 by nunya

[Toro]

It just seems ludicrous to me to throw it away if they aren't going to make a career out of it. My wife and I both want her to be a stay at home mom when we have kids. She seems to be getting a lot of flak lately about not using my GI Bill. Does it make sense to let her use it?

Fuck everybody else. If that's what the two of you have decided, you are absolutely correct in holding onto it. If you haven't come up with a plan to use it by the time your kid is born, I would recommend transferring it to him/her, or at least by three years prior to when you plan on separating (three years is the ADSC you will incur by transferring).

[nunya]

(three years is the ADSC you will incur by transferring).

4 years now.

[FUSEPLUG]

I certainly would let her use it. My legit B.S. degree coupled with my joke TUI MBA will certainly be enough to get me someplace in life (read Delta, United, Southwest, American, etc.) BUT... I refuse to incur any additional ADSC (see FY 14 Force Management thread for my feelings on Active Duty Air Force).

Last I heard, it was a 4 year ADSC to transfer the Post 9/11 GI Bill. I may very well have misread that though. Perhaps someone can enlighten us all on that topic. I've heard conflicting numbers.

[nunya]

Last I heard, it was a 4 year ADSC to transfer the Post 9/11 GI Bill. I may very well have misread that though. Perhaps someone can enlighten us all on that topic. I've heard conflicting numbers.

Page 8: https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi36-2107/afi36-2107.pdf

[HossHarris]

Transfer it now to get the adsc out of the way. Don't use any of it if you even think you might have kids. Save it for them when college costs $100k/semester.

[one1]

I would let my wife use my GI Bill if I absolutely thought I wouldn't want to get a legit graduate degree in the future. There is also MyCAA which is a lot like TA for spouses. The crazy thing is, it is was easier for my wife to use MyCAA than it was for me to get approved for TA.

Here is the MyCAA fact sheet in case you haven't heard about it... https://www.militaryonesource.mil/12038/Project%20Documents/MilitaryHOMEFRONT/MyCAA/FactSheet.pdf

I personally wouldn't plan on giving my children my GI Bill unless if they were close to graduating high school. I do not trust that it will be around in 20 years. I especially do not believe that there is any chance that the GI Bill will be as great in 20 years as it is now. Have a separate college fund for the kids that you control 100%.

Edited March 19, 2014 by one1

[Champ Kind]

Transfer immediately.

As for what to use it on... Return on investment. Remember that.

[FUSEPLUG]

I do not trust that it will be around in 20 years. I especially do not believe that there is any chance that the GI Bill will be as great in 20 years as it is now. Have a separate college fund for the kids that you control 100%.

C'mon, man. These are military benefits you're talking about. They would never THINK of pulling that rug from under us!

[Vertigo]

I transferred mine to the spousal unit to get her BSN.

It's already paying dividends.

[C-21.Pilot]

Transfer it NOW....

You can always get it back in your name down the road.

[Toro]

Page 8: https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi36-2107/afi36-2107.pdf

For anybody else who doesn't feel like downloading the pub and doing a word search, here you go:

Post-911 GI Bill Transfer of Education Benefits - 4 years (see note 17)

17. ADSC will be 4 years with the following exceptions:

a. For those individuals eligible for retirement on 1 August 2009, no additional service is required.

b. For those individuals who have an approved retirement date after 1 August 2009 and before 1 July 2010, no additional service is required.

c. For those individuals eligible for retirement after 1 August 2009 and before 1 August 2010, 1 year of additional service is required.

d. For those individuals eligible for retirement on or after 1 August 2010 and before August 2011, 2 years of additional service is required.

e. For those individuals eligible for retirement on or after 1 August 2011 and before 1 August 2012, 3 years of additional service is required.

[nsplayr]

Here is the MyCAA fact sheet in case you haven't heard about it... https://www.militaryonesource.mil/12038/Project%20Documents/MilitaryHOMEFRONT/MyCAA/FactSheet.pdf

Not a real viable option for most posting on here I would imagine...

"Those who are not eligible include: Spouses married to service members in pay grades: E-6 and above; W-3 and above; and O-3 and above."

Have your wife get on it (sts) while you're an LT I guess?

To the OP: Remember this...happy wife, happy life. If she wants to use it and has a good plan then great. If not then f*ck what all the other hens are squawking about and do your own thing as a family.

Edited March 19, 2014 by nsplayr

[Rusty Pipes]

I know a few guys who transferred it over and are still under the ADSC. Their ex-wives think that is hysterical right now... ouch!!! Seriously though, like others have suggested I am most definitely saving it for my kids... as long as some politicians don't decide to yank it from me it will be worth way more then than it is right now.

[Warrior]

Related transfer question-when you transfer to your kids, how does that work? I have one kid, so I could transfer it to him. But what if we have another kid later and the first one ends up at the Zoo? Can kid number two use it?