GI-Bill
Virginia Veteran’s Justin Brown to Testify on behalf of VFW
Jul 16th
Economic Opportunity Subcommittee (Chairman Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D.) of House Veterans’ 
Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on State Approving Agencies (SAA). Federal law requires that each state designate an SAA to be responsible for approving and supervising programs in educational institutions and training establishments, including all public and private schools and all establishments offering apprenticeship and other on-the-job training, that offer education and training to veterans and other eligible persons under provisions of the Veterans Education Assistance Program. These programs must have SAA approval before veterans and other eligible persons may receive educational benefits (GI Bill) from Department of Veterans Affairs.
Listen to it Live at 1 PM Eastern at http://vetaudio340.house.gov/340
Popularity: 11% [?]
56 Virginia schools join Yellow Ribbon program
Jul 14th
Published: July 14, 2009
| MORE: • On the Web: GI Bill |
In Virginia, 56 schools are among 1,100 nationwide that have entered into agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve financial aid for veterans under the Post-9/11 GI Bill Program.
The program pays up to the highest amount in tuition and fees charged for public in-state undergraduates. But that amount may be exceeded by veterans attending a private institution or graduate school, or who do not qualify for in-state tuition.
Under the Yellow Ribbon Program, degree-granting institutions can contribute up to 50 percent of those additional expenses, with the VA matching the amount for eligible students.
Veterans are eligible for the program if they served at least 36 months on active duty after Sept. 10, 2001, or served at least 30 continuous days and were discharged because of a service-related injury.
The program applies only to schoolwork pursued on or after Aug. 1.
Virginia schools that have signed agreements with the VA include traditional four-year schools such as the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond.
Schools such as ITT Technical Institute and the University of Phoenix, as well as the new South University in Glen Allen, also are participating in the program.
– Karin Kapsidelis
Popularity: 8% [?]
More Than 1,100 Colleges and Universities Partner with VA to Improve GI Bill Benefits
Jul 13th
VA PRESS RELEASE
July 13, 2009
Out-of-State, Private and Graduate Educations Made More Affordable
WASHINGTON – Over 1,100 colleges, universities and schools across the country have entered into “Yellow Ribbon” program agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve financial aid for Veterans participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Over 3,400 agreements were received from the 1,100 schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program. “This is a strong response to a new benefit,” Keith Wilson, Director of VA’s Education Service, said. “We are pleased so many institutions are supporting our Veterans.”
“The Post-9/11 GI Bill is an important part of fulfilling our promise to the men and women who have served our country so honorably,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. “Implementing this landmark legislation and providing even more veterans with a quality education is a top priority for VA. We are grateful so many schools are joining us as partners in this unprecedented effort.”
The Yellow Ribbon program, a provision of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, funds tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate. Institutions can contribute up to 50 percent of those expenses, and VA will match this additional funding for eligible students.
The Yellow Ribbon program is reserved for Veterans eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the 100 percent benefit level. This includes those who served at least 36 months on active duty or served at least 30 continuous days and were discharged due to a service-related injury.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill, passed by Congress last year, is the most extensive educational assistance program authorized since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944.
The maximum benefit allows every eligible Veteran, servicemember, reservist and National Guard member an opportunity to receive an in-state, undergraduate education at a public institution at no cost.
Provisions of the program include payments for tuition and fees, housing, and a books and supplies stipend. Benefits are payable for training pursued on or after August 1, 2009. The tuition and fee benefit is paid directly to the school.
For information on specific schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon program, go to www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List.htm.
Additional information about the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon program, as well as VA’s other educational benefits, can be obtained by visiting VA’s Web site www.gibill.va.gov or by calling 1-888-GIBILL-1 (or 1-888-442-4551).
Popularity: 6% [?]
Four Unknown Facts about the Post 9/11 Gi-Bill
Jul 12th
1. Exhaust the old GI-bill benefits and you get 12 additional months of the new GI-Bill! That is 48 months of educational benefit vice 36!
You must fully exhaust your Chapter 30 benefits to be eligible for the 12 additional months of Chapter 33 benefits and this does not work in reverse. As in, you cannot exhaust 36 months of Chapter 33 benefits and then have 12 months of Chapter 30 eligibility.
Also, keep in mind these additional 12 months would not have to be at your undergraduate institution they could be at any graduate institution and would pay up to the most expensive in state undergraduate rate-unless they are participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program which will split the difference between the highest in state rate and the full cost of the program. Depending on your situation you could use Chapter 30 and pay for a good portion of your graduate degree—or at least have a healthy stipend for 12 months and less debt.
http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/CH33/Yellow_ribbon.htm
2. The Big Loophole for Part-time Students
The above only applies if you are pursuing a full-time program. If you are interested in going to school part time then it is in your advantage to take 1 credit hour more than half-time, typically seven credit hours, and you will receive the full BAH rate but only be charged half a month of entitlement. At this rate you could receive up to 72 months of GI-Bill benefits and receive the full BAH rate for the entirety of these 72 months. This could also be utilized for the 12 additional months of Chapter 33 eligibility if you exhaust your Chapter 30 benefits.
3. Once You Leave Chapter 30 (the old GI-Bill) There is No Coming Back!
If you switch to Chapter 33 there is no returning to Chapter 30. So make sure that you are aware of this implication and have an idea of how it is you want to pursue your degree. If you have already registered to utilize Chapter 33 fall benefits this can be reversed up until the point you receive your first stipend deposit. If you would like to reverse this decision then you need to act now.
4. How are the student fees going to be paid to veterans?
You will receive $42.00 per credit hour of attendance with your first BAH direct deposit payment up to a max of $1,000 per a year.
If you need any additional information or have any other questions please feel free to contact me by email. jbrown@vfw.org
Justin Brown
A Virginia Vet
Popularity: 100% [?]
How can I be a Democrat and U.S. Marine?
Jul 9th
I have been following the content on the Veterans of Foreign Wars Facebook page for a couple of months now and I am seriously frustrated with some of the VFW’s members’ political opinions. I experienced similar frustration with members of my Marine Corp unit when talking politics. I often hear divisive rhetoric which sounds like regurgitations of something they heard from a Rush Limbaugh or Anne Coulter fan.
An Associate Press news feed was posted on the VFW’s Facebook page with a photo of Nancy Pelosi attached. The article described efforts made by Congressional Democrats to use approximately $100 billion of the war funding bill to transfer education benefits from military members who do not utilize the benefits to their children. You would think veterans might be grateful for the legislation which recognizes and rewards service members for their sacrifice.
Their comments are at best ignorant. Their ideas lack critical thought, uniqueness or any quantitative or qualitative data. I could not believe the Facebook responses such as: “This is entirely a political game”, “She is worse than any terrorist plotting to kill Americans”, “Pelosi should be arrested for treason during a time of war” and “Speaker has recently proved that she will say anything if she thinks it will put her in a better light”. These people assume that Speaker Pelosi is the wacky, liberal bitch, the far right political pundits make her out to be. These comments have not only been directed towards the Speaker, but all “liberals”.
I have heard directly from those who have worked with her in congress, that she is a remarkably kind, polite and intelligent individual. After sitting at a veteran’s roundtable with her, I know she is cordial to others and steadfast in her support for veterans. I have data to back up my support for Pelosi. By explaining what the Republican Congress did and Democrats have done in the past two years will be able to answer the question that I am often confronted with: how can I be a Democrat and a U.S. Marine?
The Republicans did little in the previous six years despite the revelation of horrors that the media was reporting about the failures of the Walter Reed Medical Center and the poor planning that took place upon the invasion of Iraq, all resulting in inadequate supplies for our troops. The last Republican Congress adjourned in December of 2006, without passing a VA appropriations bill. It left the department operating under a “continuing resolution” with VA spending frozen at its fiscal ’06 level. It is no wonder why Veteran Service Organizations (VSO’s) were thrilled in 2007 when Democrats took over Congress.
Democrats of the 110th Congress went straight to work on veteran issues lead by the Speaker Pelosi, Senate President Harry Reed and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Veteran Affairs Committees and have not stopped since. The funding level for veterans programs and facilities increased by almost 20 percent than the demoralized Republican leaders left a year before. The $6.9 billion increase allowed the VA to hire 1,800 more claim processors, beef up medical staffs, and modernize long-neglected hospitals and clinics. The only politician who objected was the infamous Republican Senator Larry Craig.
Lead by Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a former Marine and Sec. of Navy, Democrats Championed the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The new GI Bill alone provided veterans with more opportunities than the Republicans did in their entire tenure. Here is a snapshot of the Post 9/11 GI Bill: it will pay all tuition/ fees for any public college, collaborate with private schools to pay for entire tuition, gives a monthly housing allowance, provides an annual book stipend and is transferable to family members under certain circumstances. This sure beats the 350 dollars a month I was awarded for most my education.
Interning for a VSO on Capitol Hill has given me some insight on what veterans have coming to them. The 2009 Supplemental Appropriations includes money for: extending GI benefits, stop loss compensation, defense health and military family support programs, equipment for the troops, wounded warriors support, military hospitals/ Walter Reed and child care facilities. The FY 2010 defense authorization includes appropriations for: military pay raises, caregivers for wounded warriors, mental health, enhancing spousal job opportunities, military housing and education.
I know what response conservatives would pose to my claims. I will quote a VFW member: “I’m in the military, but I’m also a taxpayer. I’d like to see benefits, but I don’t want my country to spend its way into bankruptcy and put us all on the dole”. This is a legitimate concern. But let us learn from history: the WWII GI Bill not only paid for veterans’ entire education but provided money for them to buy a house or stipends if they were unemployed. This created a large educated middle class, spurred a housing growth that created entire subdivisions in California and around America. Do today’s vets not deserve the same opportunity? Can we become great again?
Popularity: 18% [?]
Law School, Darden to Fund Veteran Scholarships Through ‘Yellow Ribbon Program
Jul 1st
June 30, 2009 — 
The School of Law and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia will participate in the federal government’s new “Yellow Ribbon Program,” which provides scholarships to post-9/11 veterans.
Under the program, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs matches scholarship funds provided to eligible veterans at participating schools. June 22 was the deadline for schools to sign up. As of Friday, the Yellow Ribbon Web site listed more than 700 public and private institutions across the U.S. that have agreed to participate.
Up to five veterans will receive full-tuition scholarships at the School of Law in the 2009-10 academic year. Students will receive scholarships estimated at $12,800 for residents of Virginia and $15,300 for nonresidents. The combination of federal and Law School grants will cover all required tuition and fees next year.
“It is a privilege to be able to assist a group of remarkable young men and women who have already demonstrated an ethic of service,” Dean Paul G. Mahoney said.
Benefits will be awarded to veterans on a first-come, first-served basis and apply to both incoming and returning J.D. students. For information on applying for the scholarship, contact the Law School Financial Aid Office at 434-924-7805 or lawfinaid@virginia.edu.
Larry Mueller, Darden’s director of financial aid, said alumni created a merit scholarship three years ago that focuses on attracting applicants who are transferring out of military service. The Yellow Ribbon program, he said, builds on that tradition.
“We have long been committed to educating those who have served in the military,” he said.
For 2009-10, the Darden School will offer benefits to qualifying veterans in both its traditional MBA and its MBA for Executives programs. A $6,000 grant per calendar year will be matched by Veterans’ Affairs on top of other veterans’ tuition benefits. For veterans who receive a Darden merit scholarship, the first $6,000 of their annual scholarship will be considered eligible for the Yellow Ribbon match.
For information, contact Darden’s financial aid office at 434-924-7739, or e-mail Amanda Mills at millsa@darden.virginia.edu.
Veterans Affairs is finalizing its list of participating schools this week; the benefit will begin Aug. 1. Among Virginia schools in the program are Virginia Commonwealth University, Washington & Lee University, the College of William and Mary and George Mason University.
Generally, to be eligible for Yellow Ribbon, a veteran must have served at least 36 months on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001, or have been discharged because of disability after serving at least 30 days.
The Yellow Ribbon Program is part of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act passed by Congress in 2008 to provide enhanced educational support to veterans who have served on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001.
This story originally appeared on the U.Va. School of Law Web site.
Popularity: 10% [?]
New GI-Bill Transferability Rules Finally Released
Jun 24th
See DoD’s directive at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/DTM%2009-003%20Post%209-11%20GI%20Bill.pdf
Final GI Bill family transfer rules unveiled
By William H. McMichael
Military Times
Service members can register to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to family members beginning June 29, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
The program represents both the most significant expansion of education benefits since they were first offered after World War II and, for service members with families, the most significant retention bonus offered since the start of the all-volunteer force. Most users will earn benefits payments spread over 36 months that will total between $75,000 and $90,000, the Pentagon estimates.
On June 29, a special Pentagon Web site will go live, allowing service members to securely apply to allow their immediate family members to share in their education benefits beginning Aug. 1, according to Bob Clark, the Defense Department’s assistant accession policy director and the top official working on the new benefits plan.
Service members who plan to use at least part of their benefit in the near future should first register through the Department of Veterans Affairs GI Bill Web site, Clark said. But those who do not plan to use their benefits anytime soon, or not at all, do not have to register with VA to apply for the family member benefit; they can simply register through the Pentagon site that will become active June 29.
Service members have up to 15 years from the time they leave the service to apply through VA for a Certificate of Eligibility, Clark said.
Clark emphasized that service members must be on active duty or in the Selected Reserve on Aug. 1 to be eligible for family transfer rights. “Those who have retired, even if their last day on active duty was July 31st or anytime before that, or have separated or are in the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) are not eligible for the transferability,” he said.
He noted that transferability was established “for the specific purpose of recruitment and retention of a career force.”
“Transferability of GI Bill benefits is the most requested initiative we receive from our service members, and we believe it will assist us in retaining highly qualified military personnel,” said Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel.
Service members will apply beginning June 29 through the Transferability of Educational Benefits (TEB) website, which will be located at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB/. Service members will be able to securely access this site with their Common Access Card, a Defense Department Self Service User ID or a Defense Finance and Accounting Service PIN number, the Pentagon said.
Clark asked that service members whose family members do not plan to take classes this fall to delay their registration by a couple of weeks — until at least July 15 — to allow those who do plan to do so to get through the registration process.
The effective date will be Aug. 1 for all applicants, regardless of their application date, he said, and the services will have their hands full as they must each verify the information and, in many cases, process re-enlistments and service extensions.
“We want the services to be able to prioritize their applications,” Clark said.
Once that is done, the services will pass the application to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Clark said. “At that point … the family member will be treated by VA just as if they were a service member or veteran,” he said.
Clark denied that a request for delayed applications is related to a fear of crashing computer servers; the Web site is being administered by the Defense Manpower Data Center, whose servers have “substantial” capability, he said.
No changes have been made to the final rules previously announced; their implementation was delayed over a procedural matter that has been resolved, Clark said.
The final rules, according to the Pentagon, allow transferability of a portion or all of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for any member of the armed forces (active duty or Selected Reserve, officer or enlisted) on or after August 1, 2009, who is eligible for the benefit, and:
• Has at least six years of service in the armed forces on the date of election and agrees to serve four additional years in the armed forces from the date of election.
• Has at least 10 years of service in the armed forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of election, is precluded by either standard policy or statute from committing to four additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute, or is or becomes retirement-eligible during the period from Aug. 1, 2009, through Aug. 1, 2013.
For those eligible for retirement on Aug. 1, 2009, no additional service is required.
For those who have an approved retirement date after Aug. 1, 2009, and before July 1, 2010, no additional service is required.
For those eligible for retirement after Aug. 1, 2009, and before Aug. 1, 2010, one year of additional service after approval of transfer is required.
For those eligible for retirement on or after Aug. 1, 2010, and before Aug. 1, 2011, two years of additional service after approval of transfer are required.
For those eligible for retirement on or after Aug. 1, 2011, and before Aug. 1, 2012, three years of additional service after approval of transfer required.
An individual approved to transfer an entitlement to educational assistance under this section may transfer the individual’s entitlement to the individual’s spouse, one or more of the individual’s children, or any combination of spouse and child.
A family member must be enrolled in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment Reporting System (DEERS) and be eligible for benefits at the time of transfer to receive transferred education benefits.
A child’s subsequent marriage will not affect his or her eligibility to receive the education benefit. However, after an individual has designated a child as a transferee under this section, the individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time.
A subsequent divorce also will not affect the transferee’s eligibility to receive education benefits, but again, after an individual has designated a spouse as a transferee under this section, the eligible individual retains the right to revoke or modify the transfer at any time.
An eligible service member may transfer up to the total months of unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, or the entire 36 months if the member has used none.
Spouses may start to use the benefit immediately, either while the member remains in the armed forces or for up to 15 years from the service member’s separation from active duty.
Spouses are not eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill’s monthly book or living stipends while the member is serving on active duty.
Children may start to use the benefit only after the individual making the transfer has completed at least 10 years of service, either while the eligible individual remains in the military or after separation from active duty.
Children may not use the benefit until they have attained a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate), or reached 18 years of age. They are entitled to the monthly book and living stipends even if the eligible individual is on active duty.
Children may not use the benefit after reaching 26 years of age.
Popularity: 6% [?]
