GI Bill Changes Coming in August

I found a posting on LinkedIn by Colin Masterson about imminent changes to the GI Bill due in August.  The article in the Army Times does a fantastic job of netting out the changes. 

Pluses and minuses

A Senate package of improvements to the Post-9/11 GI Bill would pay for increases and expansions of some benefits by curtailing others. What would change:

PLUSES

• Active-duty service members and their spouses using transferred benefits would be eligible, beginning Aug. 1, 2011, for the $1,000 book allowance; student veterans already receive this allowance.

• Living stipends would be available to people taking distance learning classes without the current requirement that they must take at least one classroom course to qualify. However, the payment would be half of the national average living stipend.

• Living stipends would be available to anyone taking enough credits to be considered a half-time student. Current law limits stipends to those attending more than half time.

• Nontraditional education would be covered through certificate and nondegree programs, apprenticeships and on-the-job training, and correspondence training.

• A tuition and fee reimbursement cap for private colleges and universities, some graduate courses and for students paying out-of-state tuition would be simplified. Instead of being based on the highest rates for public schools in each state, a single nationwide cap would be set at $17,500, effective Aug. 1, 2011. This is the national average for in-state tuition and fees. That amount is more than the current cap in all but a few states.

• GI Bill benefits could be used multiple times for licensure and certification tests and national college exams, starting Aug. 1, 2011. But students who use this benefit more than once would lose one month of their 36 months of benefits for every $1,667 spent on exam fees.

• For National Guard and reserve members, the bill would expand the types of service that count toward earning benefits, to include mobilization under Title 32 and service in the Active Guard and Reserve program. This would apply to service since Aug. 1, 2009.

• Coast Guard entry-level training and skill training would count toward earning benefits, effective on the date the bill becomes law.

MINUSES

• Living stipends for people attending school less than full time but more than half-time would be prorated, effective Aug. 1, 2011. Under current rules, full stipends are paid to those attending college on a more than half-time basis.

• Active-duty members who now may receive full tuition and fees for attending private school would have payments capped at $17,500 a year, beginning in the fall 2011 term. They could be eligible for Yellow Ribbon Program benefits, like other student veterans, to cover tuition and fees that exceed the cap.

• Service members released from active duty because of pre-existing medical conditions, hardships or physical or mental conditions that are not service-connected would have to have an honorable discharge to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Currently, the type of discharge does not restrict eligibility.

• Rules preventing duplication of benefits would expand so that family members could use transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits from only one service member at a time, and anyone using the Post-9/11 GI Bill could not concurrently use survivors education benefits or National Call-to-Service education benefits.

• Payment of benefits during intervals between school terms would be allowed only during emergencies, such as when schools are temporarily closed by presidential order.

Source Army Times – Read the full article