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Vasudus
May 30, 2003
Welcome to the Educational Benefits thread 2.0. The last thread was pretty successful but since I needed to overhaul the poo poo out of my OP thanks to the new legislation I felt it necessary to start a new one. Below you will find a bunch of useful information in regards to both your educational benefits directly, and useful (Veteran specific) college information in general.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
----------
Introduction
Section I - For all GI Bills
Section II - Chapter 1606 for non-deployed Reservists and Guardsmen
Section III - The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB - Chapter 30)
Section IV - The Post 9/11 GI Bill
Section V - Vocational Rehabilitation and Education (VR&E - Chapter 31)
Section VI - tl;dr
Section VII - The Yellow Ribbon Program
Section VIII - Tuition Waivers in certain states
Section IX - Financial Aid
Section X - General Questions

----------
Introduction
----------

My name is Vasudus and I'm a Veteran's Benefit Councilor for a large university. I have been doing this job for about 18 months. My job starts with getting Veterans into school, doing all their paperwork, providing academic advisement, providing transitional counseling, and anything else that is required. I do closed door social work type stuff and hang out in the lounge bullshitting. I call whatever respective departments that are giving my guys a hard time and I call them a bunch of unpatriotic communist assholes on a routine basis. I routinely travel around to speak at various institutions about education benefits and the cheesy-as-gently caress warrior to student speech. It is a sweet gig.

I served in the Army from 2003 to 2006 as a 21B2O, Combat Engineer. My career was cut short when some jihadist assholes decided that there is no victory but through god. I've got PTSD like a motherfucker and I can never get an MRI again. At least I don't beep at the airport anymore.

It should be noted that I am not an employee of the VA proper, nor am I official university staff. I am a work-study student paid by the VA. There may be things that I am wrong on or is simply out of my area and requires me to research or take a shot in the dark on. If it is something that I am not 100% confident on, I will state so.

Before we start:

This thread is based heavily on the following assumptions, which I have gathered based on my personal Veteran demographics for my school:

You are single
You have not used your benefits yet and still have 36 months
You qualify at the 100% level for the Post 9/11 GI Bill
You are going for your undergraduate degree
You are going to a traditional, brick-and-mortar school in the US

If this is not you, please note that sometimes I might make assumptions that it is. I will try to make liberal use of the phrases "Depending on your situation" and "Your financial mileage may vary" when people might find themselves in different situations.


----------
Section I - All GI Bills
----------

APPLY FOR YOUR BENEFITS AT http://gibill.va.gov

For all GI Bills you are entitled to 36 benefit months of educational assistance. The key word in this statement is benefit. If you are in school from July 1st to July 31st, that's a benefit month. If you aren't in school you aren't burning time. The benefit month system only eats away when you are actually collecting, so there is no direct pressure to poo poo out a degree. You might want to for your own reasons, which I will cover later in the thread.

Note also that the time is shared between all bills, so if you are a reservist/guardsman on Chapter 1606, and you deploy to get that sweet sweet Post 9/11, you don't magically get 36 months of it again. It is for this reason that if you are a new reservist/guardsman with no active time except training, and you know you are to deploy soon, it might be better to hold off.


----------
Section II - Chapters 1606 and 1607 - The Montgomery GI Bill - Selective Reserve / REAP
----------

Chapter 1606 is a bone thrown to our weekend warriors. It is currently 337 dollars a month paid to the individual. It eats your benefit months. It is poo poo. Depending on your situation, it might be worth it to collect this bill, as 337 dollars is better than no dollars at all.

The only people who should ever use this bill are those who have not deployed.

Chapter 1607, also called REAP, is a bill that is basically phased out completely. It was a halfassed attempt to reward deployed reservists/guardsman before Post 9/11 came out. If you qualify for REAP, you qualify for 60% Post 9/11, which is always better.


----------
Section III - The Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30)
----------

The famous Montgomery GI Bill that was so heavily broadcast on TV in the late 90s. It currently pays out 1487 dollars a month to the individual who has served at least 3 years of active duty. It does not cover anything else.

If you qualify for this bill, you are qualified at the 100% level of the Post 9/11 Bill. You should never be using this bill, and thankfully in about five years my job will be significantly easier as this bill will cease to be in rotation. There is one, and only one, exception to this statement:

If you have less than 12 months of benefit time remaining on the Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30) you need to be aware of the following: Those who expend 100% of their Chapter 30 benefits are allowed a 12 month extension of the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33). Depending on your situation, it may be in your best financial interests to expend your MGIB and switch over on the extension. Graduate school is expensive as gently caress, and having 12 months of Post 9/11 is likely worth it over shelling out for the rest of your undergraduate degree.


----------
Section IV - The Post 9/11 GI Bill
----------

This is what people are talking about when they say 'gently caress bitches, get money, go to school'. This bill is what the MGIB should have been in the first place, and thank gently caress they went and future proofed this bastard.

At the 100% level, the GI Bill pays the following:

All of your tuition and fees paid directly to the university, to a maximum cap of 17,500 dollars per year
1000 dollars a semester, split between Fall and Spring (so 500 each) for books paid directly to the Veteran
A monthly BAH rate of an E5 with dependents paid out based on the zipcode of your school

Now that is what I'm loving talking about.

If you are a reservist/guardsman with a single deployment, you are likely 60% rated. Take what someone who gets 100% would be entitled to and do the math. 60% of the BAH, 600 a year for books, etc.

Under all circumstances the Post 9/11 GI Bill is better for all Veterans, even those that are 40% rated.

For those attending online-only schools, the GI Bill as of August 1st 2011 pays half the national average of BAH, or ~673 dollars a month. This change makes it immediately better than MGIB which was the single holdout, because Post 9/11 pays your tuition and MGIB is just a check to you.

For those who took the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you do indeed get the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The bad news is that the timer for qualifying service starts after your SLRP obligation is completed, which is 3 years. So if you took SLRP, to qualify at 100% Post 9/11 you had to have done 6 years of active time. I hope you got your money's worth out of SLRP.

For our commissioned goons, the same applies as it does for SLRP. You have to finish your commitment to AD time before the clock starts. Six year commitment -> 9 years AD time to get full Post 9/11 eligibility.

Note that at 10 years, you can transfer your months to dependents. This is done on a benefit month system, in that you can assign whatever amount of months to whichever dependent you choose. Keep in mind that it eats out of the same pool, so 36 months split between say two dependents is 18/18.


----------
Section V - Vocational Rehabilitation and Education (VR&E - Chapter 31)
----------

This is for our disabled veterans. If you are 10% rated by your service or 20% by the VA (total percent, not on a per injury basis) you qualify for this. Prior to 1 August 2011, this was inferior to Post 9/11. This is no longer the case, because as of 1 August 2011, those who qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Voc Rehab can get the BAH of Post 9/11 instead of the tiny stipend VR&E gives you. There are absolutely no guidelines at this time how the VA plans to go about this, yes it is as frightening as it sounds to people like me who have over 500 veterans they are responsible for.

Applying for VR&E is a much different animal than your regular GI Bill as it serves a much different purpose. The GI Bills are fuckoff money and they give literally zero shits where you go to school or how you spend your money they give you. With VR&E you have a councilor that you have to meet with, your degree is planned out and the end goal is to make you a productive member of society.

The benefit comes with the fact that VR&E will pay for literally any school, training or equipment that is necessary for them to in order for you to reach your goal. Want to be a welder and need a 5,000 dollar welding kit for school? gently caress it, done. Need a laptop to take notes on? Have one, complete with a printer. They pay for literally everything within reason, you just have to convince them it is necessary.

Another neat thing is that you can apply for and participate in VR&E after you have expended your GI Bill. You usually get 12 months of benefits - to cap out at the standard maximum of 48 months. However, depending on exactly why you haven't completed your VR&E in 12 months can get you an extension until you do. My coworker, for example, is currently at month 45 and got approved to complete her graduate degree, which would take her to 54 months. It is a much different animal compared to the GI Bill.


----------
Section VI - tl;dr
----------

WHAT BUTAN I PRESS GET MONEY?!
Reservists and Guardsmen who have not deployed: Chapter 1606
Reservists and Guardsmen who have deployed once and are not disabled: 60% Post 9/11
Reservists and Guardsmen who have deployed more than once, are not disabled, or Active Duty who took SLRP at enlistment: 70-90% Post 9/11
Active Duty who are not disabled: 100% Post 9/11
Disabled Veterans: Vocational Rehabilitation


----------
Section VII - Yellow Ribbon
----------

Yellow Ribbon is the ivory towered elite giving back to the community. If your school participates in Yellow Ribbon, and you are 100% Post 9/11, the following happens:

Assuming that your school costs 10,000 for a full semester, it will cost 20,000 dollars an academic year

The VA under Post 9/11 will pay 17,500 dollars of this, leaving you with a 2,500 dollar balance

The Yellow Ribbon program will take that remaining 2,500 dollar balance and split it between the VA (1250) and the school (1250) leaving the Veteran with a zero balance.

This allows the Veteran to attend just about any school they want and not have to pay out of pocket.

As my boss says "If you're 100%, you're one-hundred-loving-percent."

Just about every school worth going to participates in Yellow Ribbon, to include ivies, little ivies, liberal arts gently caress colleges, state schools and probably barber school and clown college. It applies for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.


----------
Section VIII - Tuition Waivers for certain states
----------

In Connecticut, if you have served more than 90 days of active duty, regardless of any other factors, from 2 August 1990 to present, you do not pay tuition. This includes all the state schools and UCONN. You are still responsible for fees. NOTE: CT is one of the few states in the country that doesn't give a poo poo where you served or where you lived.

The Wisconsin G.I. Bill provides a full waiver (“remission”) of tuition and fees for eligible veterans and their dependents for up to 8 full-time semesters or 128 credits at any University of Wisconsin System (UWS) or Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) institution for continuing education, or for study at the undergraduate or graduate level. http://dva.state.wi.us/ben_education.asp


----------
Section IX - Financial Aid, AKA FREE MOTHERFUCKING MONEY
----------

You DO NOT claim your education benefits on the FAFSA. Fill that motherfucker out every semester at https://www.fafsa.gov and get your free money in the form of grants. Also available are loans for those who may need it for whatever reason. You can get up to 5500/year, tax free, on top of everything else. DO IT.

Vasudus fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Jun 9, 2011

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Vasudus
May 30, 2003
----------
Section X - General Information
----------


How long does it take to get my stuff processed and when do I get paid?
-----------
It takes 2-4 weeks to get your Certificate of Eligibility from the VA
It takes 1-2 weeks for your Certifying Official's paperwork to get to the VA, and for the VA to pay the school
You get paid on the last day of the month unless a holiday or other factor fucks it up
You get paid your Fall book stipend somewhere around July-ish, and your Spring stipend around late December


----------
How do I get an answer from the VA about something?
----------
Use the VA's 'Ask a Question' feature on their website. You get a written response in 2-3 days for most issues so it is often worth it, versus spending an hour on hold. It is also in writing so that if someone tells you otherwise, you have a written record of it.


----------
Should I get a second undergraduate degree?
----------
No. In fact, hell no. The only time you should get a second undergraduate degree is when you do them at the same time, such as (Subject)/Education, or Math/Physics. Although the GI Bill will pay for it, VR&E will not because it's a dumb idea.

Even if you are drastically changing fields of study (like say, English -> Chemistry or Biology -> Economics) it is always, always better to just take whatever undergraduate classes are required to get accepted into a graduate program.


----------
Should I go to a Community College first and then transfer?
----------
Not unless you absolutely want to or you have to because of past academic performance (or lack of). There is a common misconception that community classes are easier, and thus are better to ease into the college environment as a veteran. A 100-level class is a 100-level class, regardless if it is being taught at Harvard or Big Bob's Community College. If you want to ease into college, take 4 classes (12 credit hours) worth of intro classes.

What will happen, unless you are extremely careful, is credits from a community college will not transfer over to your 4-year university. I've personally seen people with an associate's degree come to my school and have around 30 credits count.

The exception to this rule is what we call feeder schools. Generally you enroll in a specific community college for a specific degree that upon completion of their program automatically enrolls you into a specific four year institution.


----------
My grades were poo poo when I started college, now I want to go back. What are my options?
----------
If you want to go back to the same school, see if they have some sort of Fresh Start option. It generally allows you to keep your completed classes and wipe the GPA slate clean if you fall under a certain number of credits.

If you want to go to a different school, be aware that you are required to disclose that you attended another one and provide transcripts. That school must also be paid in full. It is an extremely bad thing if you hide this fact. Extremely bad.

Worst case, you have to pull 9-12 credits (so a full semester's worth) at some arbitrary GPA (typically 2.75+) at some community college to get accepted to a regular school. It's not the end of the world.


----------
What is the fastest way to get my degree?
----------
You can realistically get your 4-year degree in 3 years without giving up too much of your GPA. The problem lies in the fact that when you go from 5 classes to 6, things will likely get much more difficult for you. Going to 7 classes, which is the absolute max at most institutions, is for those with gigantic academic brass balls. Seriously, it is loving hard. My school even requires you to pay 200 dollars to sign up for a 7th class, we call it the idiot tax.

Doing 18 credit hour Fall/Spring semesters, with Winter/Summer classes when available, can get you out of school in three years. Your GI Bill will deplete pretty fast doing this, so make it count (ie: don't take one summer class if you can take two)


----------
What military credits will transfer over to my school?
----------
This is a common question that I deal with at work, and the answer is always the same: It varies wildly on the individual. I've seen people come in with 60 credits and I've seen people get credit for Public Health and Exercise Science for a total of 2 credits. My job (21B) got me absolutely fuckall except for health/gym.
Generally speaking if you have a technical job (as most Veteran goons seem to have) your odds are much higher that you will be getting credits. Us knuckle draggers are poo poo out of luck for the most part.


----------
What is the entire process, from start to finish in regards to my benefits?
----------
1) Veteran applies for benefits at http://gibill.va.gov
2) Veteran applies to school
3) Veteran is accepted to school
4) Veteran provides Certificate of Eligibility from the VA to the school's Certifying Official (me)
5) Certifying Official processes classes into VA-ONCE
6) Veteran gets paid
7) Veteran gets laid


----------
What does a Certifying Official do?
----------
Officially, all we do is put your information into VA-ONCE so the school/you get paid. Start time, end time, credit load, done. At many schools, this is handled by someone in the bursar's office.

Some schools have a full time Veteran rep that is a certifying official in addition to whatever else they might do. My school has a Veteran's Lounge, where dudes can take a loving nap, use the computers, print for free (my school charges 5c/page) and hang out. When Osama died we had 10-12 of us getting smashed in there. My campus is dry except for here. We also have around 550 Veterans out of a population of 13,500 so they tend to allow us to do whatever.


----------
I never collected my kicker / my kicker paperwork was never submitted. What do I do?
----------
This happened to me. The process is as follows:
1) Use the 'Ask a Question' feature on the VA website.
2) In your post, include copies of your kicker contract + enlistment contract as an attachment.
3) Wait 15ish business days
4) You will be backpaid what was due, and then all future semesters will have it.

Keep in mind that the process used to calculate the kicker is borderline financial sorcery so don't expect that 50,000 or 70,000 or whatever. There is a reason they say 'up to' in the recruiting lines.

Vasudus fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Jun 22, 2011

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.
"My grades were poo poo when I started college, now I want to go back. What are my options?"


This sums me up right here. It's frustrating trying to figure out the loops I have to jump. Luckily there's a community college that'll help me get my GPA up a bit so I can at least transfer with an associates from a non CCAF school.

Fresh start doesn't apply since it's not been 10 years though.

gleep gloop
Aug 16, 2005

GROSS SHIT
Wait, woh, the post 9/11 pays $1300 a month now for online? (By now I mean August) Oh gently caress YES, when did that happen? That really expands my options.

dr cum patrol esq
Sep 3, 2003

A C A B

:350:
edit: nevermind

dr cum patrol esq fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jun 8, 2011

Jaysus
Sep 17, 2004

"Hey, did you see my game against the Detroit Lions?"
Don't want to poo poo it up, but I just wanted to know what school you're going to Vasudus. Sounds like a legit rear end place!

vx15i
Feb 9, 2003
My grades were terrible and I got rejected from the school that was pretty much my only option. I went down to admissions and asked to speak with the guy in charge, and he agreed to let me in. I graduate in December :dance:

Vasudus
May 30, 2003
Generally speaking exceptions can be made for most colleges. I just had a small victory a few weeks ago regarding one particular Veteran. Our MSW program has a strict, no poo poo cutoff of Jan 25th for the following fall semester. Dude calls me up from the korengal-motherfucking-valley on a DSN phone in mid May. He's getting back in August just in time to start the program but the secretary in the social work department is kicking him back.

I call the head of the department and a five minute conversation makes an exception to the no exceptions rule. Blammo.

This is why you need a vet rep at school.

CRUSTY MINGE
Mar 30, 2011

Peggy Hill
Foot Connoisseur
Quick question. I started classes under VR&E on May 31st and am wondering when I should expect my stipend check, roughly. End of the month, I take it? I called the veterans benefits hotline and sat on hold for what seemed like a decade before giving up on that route.

Vasudus
May 30, 2003

Spongebob Tampax posted:

Quick question. I started classes under VR&E on May 31st and am wondering when I should expect my stipend check, roughly. End of the month, I take it? I called the veterans benefits hotline and sat on hold for what seemed like a decade before giving up on that route.

Yeah if you start classes on 31 May you will get paid on/around 30 June.

SquirrelyPSU
May 27, 2003


Vasudus posted:

Generally speaking exceptions can be made for most colleges. I just had a small victory a few weeks ago regarding one particular Veteran. Our MSW program has a strict, no poo poo cutoff of Jan 25th for the following fall semester. Dude calls me up from the korengal-motherfucking-valley on a DSN phone in mid May. He's getting back in August just in time to start the program but the secretary in the social work department is kicking him back.

I call the head of the department and a five minute conversation makes an exception to the no exceptions rule. Blammo.

This is why you need a vet rep at school.

So what process would you generically see when petioning a denial of acceptance? Would you expect that it would tend to be university-specific?

Vasudus
May 30, 2003

SquirrelyPSU posted:

So what process would you generically see when petioning a denial of acceptance? Would you expect that it would tend to be university-specific?

Start with stating that you got denied (duh) and offer an acceptable rebuttal to the reasons why (they should tell you why). If your grades were poo poo from high school, and that was several years ago, give them a dose of patriotic horseshit about serving the country and bettering yourself since then. List various military accomplishments that may or may not be really that impressive, but sound impressive none the less.

Depending on the school and the reason you were denied, it shouldn't be too terrible. They expect most of their incoming students to be snot nosed teenagers and I bet you 99% of them are scared off immediately.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.

Vasudus posted:

Start with stating that you got denied (duh) and offer an acceptable rebuttal to the reasons why (they should tell you why). If your grades were poo poo from high school, and that was several years ago, give them a dose of patriotic horseshit about serving the country and bettering yourself since then. List various military accomplishments that may or may not be really that impressive, but sound impressive none the less.

Depending on the school and the reason you were denied, it shouldn't be too terrible. They expect most of their incoming students to be snot nosed teenagers and I bet you 99% of them are scared off immediately.

How do we find out if out if the school you are looking at has a veterans office?

Jaysus
Sep 17, 2004

"Hey, did you see my game against the Detroit Lions?"

HClChicken posted:

How do we find out if out if the school you are looking at has a veterans office?

You go in and ask where the veteran's office is.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.

Jaysus posted:

You go in and ask where the veteran's office is.

That's assuming the school I want to attend is within driving distance.Also assuming I can get in touch with someone over the phone that won't tell me whatever they want.

Is there a listing of VA friendly schools/ how to get in touch with each of them.

dr cum patrol esq
Sep 3, 2003

A C A B

:350:

HClChicken posted:

That's assuming the school I want to attend is within driving distance.Also assuming I can get in touch with someone over the phone that won't tell me whatever they want.

Is there a listing of VA friendly schools/ how to get in touch with each of them.

Just loving Google, drat. Or search veteran or VA on your school's website. Or call them.

SquirrelyPSU
May 27, 2003


Vasudus posted:

Start with stating that you got denied (duh) and offer an acceptable rebuttal to the reasons why (they should tell you why). If your grades were poo poo from high school, and that was several years ago, give them a dose of patriotic horseshit about serving the country and bettering yourself since then. List various military accomplishments that may or may not be really that impressive, but sound impressive none the less.

Depending on the school and the reason you were denied, it shouldn't be too terrible. They expect most of their incoming students to be snot nosed teenagers and I bet you 99% of them are scared off immediately.

I was more suggesting if you had knowledge of a typical process of rebuttal. Something along the lines of:

Denial Letter->Open Ended letter to admissions office/department of study/etc->Google to find dean of particular school etc...

Otherwise you would be looking at school policy set forth in writing, and then that would strike me as more of a formal school procedure (involving forms, etc) rather than an appeal to a member of the committee who are in charge of who gets in and who doesn't.

Jaysus
Sep 17, 2004

"Hey, did you see my game against the Detroit Lions?"

HClChicken posted:

That's assuming the school I want to attend is within driving distance.Also assuming I can get in touch with someone over the phone that won't tell me whatever they want.

Is there a listing of VA friendly schools/ how to get in touch with each of them.

It really is as easy as going to their website, calling any phone number you can find that is associated with the school and saying "Oh, could you connect me to the Veteran's Affairs office?"

Schools aren't like military recruiters. They aren't going to tell you whatever they want. They'll probably not want to deal with you at all, especially if it is the enrollments office, because they hate snot nosed little kids. So, they'll gladly pass you along to the VA office.

ItsNotAGirlName
Jan 9, 2011

Vasudus posted:

For those attending online-only schools, the GI Bill as of August 1st 2011 pays the national average of BAH, or ~1300 dollars a month. This change makes it immediately better than MGIB which was the single holdout.

I would also like to know more about this. I've read that you would only receive half of the standard BAH per the zip code, or that you'd receive something like half of hte national average which, as far as I can recall, was around 600 or so a month.

'Cause if the August 1 changes make it 1300 for entirely online courses, I'm totally basement dwelling with my parents and saving cash for awhile.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.

Jaysus posted:

It really is as easy as going to their website, calling any phone number you can find that is associated with the school and saying "Oh, could you connect me to the Veteran's Affairs office?"

Schools aren't like military recruiters. They aren't going to tell you whatever they want. They'll probably not want to deal with you at all, especially if it is the enrollments office, because they hate snot nosed little kids. So, they'll gladly pass you along to the VA office.

Basically I'm trying to get in touch with advisers for the schools I want to take. Not a single one will reply to emails or return messages. I guess I'll try the military advisers.

Vasudus
May 30, 2003
An important thing to remember is that at most schools, the vet rep is someone who already has a full time job and happens to be the certifying official as an additional duty.

SquirrelyPSU posted:

I was more suggesting if you had knowledge of a typical process of rebuttal. Something along the lines of:

Denial Letter->Open Ended letter to admissions office/department of study/etc->Google to find dean of particular school etc...

Otherwise you would be looking at school policy set forth in writing, and then that would strike me as more of a formal school procedure (involving forms, etc) rather than an appeal to a member of the committee who are in charge of who gets in and who doesn't.

Denial letter -> written appeal to admissions board -> written appeal to president of the university is what the general process is here at my school. In regards to graduate programs, you would replace the admissions board with the chair of the respective department.

And yeah, I completely forgot the 'half of the national average' for online schools, instead of the actual national average. So it's ~700 not ~1600. Whoopsie. Post 9/11 is still better than MGIB with this change though, because you still get tuition/fees covered.

gleep gloop
Aug 16, 2005

GROSS SHIT
drat it so now I will be taking in school classes at my community instead of just their online program.

Vasudus
May 30, 2003

gleep glop posted:

drat it so now I will be taking in school classes at my community instead of just their online program.

You could just take one class there and the rest online. Get a once a week class.

gleep gloop
Aug 16, 2005

GROSS SHIT

Vasudus posted:

You could just take one class there and the rest online. Get a once a week class.

Oh yeah that's what I meant.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.
When did they change it that your initial training counted towards the 80-100 percent 9/11 benefits and not towards the <70 percent. I seem to remember that initial training counted in no situations.

Jaysus
Sep 17, 2004

"Hey, did you see my game against the Detroit Lions?"
Chicken, where are you trying to go? I have talked to VA dudes for all of my schools with no problem. I feel like you're doing something wrong.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.

Jaysus posted:

Chicken, where are you trying to go? I have talked to VA dudes for all of my schools with no problem. I feel like you're doing something wrong.

I haven't contacted the VA dudes, I just found out about them. I've tried contacting the advisers for the colleges I'm interested in and get poo poo.

I'm looking at various engineering schools in texas. UT austin, Texas A&M, UTSA.

Vasudus
May 30, 2003

HClChicken posted:

When did they change it that your initial training counted towards the 80-100 percent 9/11 benefits and not towards the <70 percent. I seem to remember that initial training counted in no situations.

It changes once you reach a certain point, around the 70% mark. Until then, it is active duty time not to include training. They do some funky math when calculating benefits, like how a single deployment for a reservist is 60% but a followup deployment takes them to 80%. I don't really like that.

dr cum patrol esq
Sep 3, 2003

A C A B

:350:
http://studentaffairs.tamu.edu/veterans

quote:

Veterans Services Liaison
Student Assistance Services serves the needs of all veterans on campus and prospective student veterans, as well as military service members attending Texas A&M University. Our office supplements other campus units with special emphasis on the transition and retention of veterans. Our staff maintains productive relationships with offices, agencies and programs throughout Texas A&M and the Bryan/College Station Community in order to best respond to veteran needs and provide resources. We work intentionally with the departments within the Division of Student Affairs to proactively address needs presented by the veterans on our campus through campus wide programming.

To find out about our services, please call (979) 845-3113, or come by our office at Koldus Suite 112.

If you have questions about certification or benefits, contact the Veterans Services Office, (979) 845-8075

quote:

Veterans Services at UT Austin 512-471-5017 UTVeterans@austin.utexas.edu

quote:

http://utsa.edu/va/

That took all of three seconds.

dr cum patrol esq fucked around with this message at 12:38 on Jun 9, 2011

vains
May 26, 2004

A Big Ten institution offering distance education catering to adult learners

Vasudus posted:

It changes once you reach a certain point, around the 70% mark. Until then, it is active duty time not to include training. They do some funky math when calculating benefits, like how a single deployment for a reservist is 60% but a followup deployment takes them to 80%. I don't really like that.

The cutoff for training time to count towards GI Bill is 80%. Since everyone starts out with 40% and you get 10% more coverage on your GI Bill for every additional 6 months of active duty service(Either as an AD servicemember or a Title 10 activated reservist/guardsmen), it makes perfect sense for a reservist to go from 40% to 80%(or 90% depending on the how long your schooling is) after 2 year+ deployments.

I get 90% but I've also spent a cumulative of 33months on AD orders.

Axium
Jan 21, 2007
I contracted with a $63,036 Army College Fund option in December 07'. The payout details in the contract assume you are using the Ch30 MGIB. How does the payout differ when using Post 9/11? Have tried to research this but have found several conflicting answers and most still assume using the MGIB. Is the monthly payout just added onto my BAH? For that matter, what IS the monthly payout amount? VA seems to use some fuzzy math to determine this, just trying to get a solid answer.

Vasudus
May 30, 2003

Axium posted:

I contracted with a $63,036 Army College Fund option in December 07'. The payout details in the contract assume you are using the Ch30 MGIB. How does the payout differ when using Post 9/11? Have tried to research this but have found several conflicting answers and most still assume using the MGIB. Is the monthly payout just added onto my BAH? For that matter, what IS the monthly payout amount? VA seems to use some fuzzy math to determine this, just trying to get a solid answer.

Haha you and me both. I'm trying to collect my 50k ACF right now, something that I completely forgot about until 2 weeks ago.

The answer that I got from the VA is basically 'A wizard does it'. The DoD/DA are the ones who determine how much you get and when and the VA just writes the check for it. The math they use is not disclosed.

In my case, I'm due for a back payment of $dollars, which is either no dollars, very many dollars, or somewhere inbetween.

Axium
Jan 21, 2007

Vasudus posted:

Haha you and me both. I'm trying to collect my 50k ACF right now, something that I completely forgot about until 2 weeks ago.

The answer that I got from the VA is basically 'A wizard does it'. The DoD/DA are the ones who determine how much you get and when and the VA just writes the check for it. The math they use is not disclosed.

In my case, I'm due for a back payment of $dollars, which is either no dollars, very many dollars, or somewhere inbetween.

Please let us know what comes of this as I've been able to find absolutely ZERO documentation relating to this that didn't amount to hearsay or "Well I heard..."

Jaysus
Sep 17, 2004

"Hey, did you see my game against the Detroit Lions?"
I really just can't even think about the possibility of the Navy Seal thread going ahead of this thread and this one hitting the second page. There are too many people who need to know their benefits out there, so I'm bumping this poo poo up.

Can't wait to start in September and get my Pell Grant/GI Bill/Florida Prepaid Scholarship my grandpa paid for 16 years ago along with unemployment and a Reserves paycheck. loving Jesus it is going to be great.

Back it up Terry
Nov 20, 2006

I'm a senior in College, considering the military after graduation. If I go the officer route, what kind of education benefits can I receive after my four years? It'd be great to have the government pay for Law or Business school. (I'm in Texas if that matters)

bloops
Dec 31, 2010

Thanks Ape Pussy!
I'm looking at switching from AD to ANG with 10 years in at time of separation. How do my Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits pay out in that situation? Is it the full 100% per my understanding of previous posts?

bloops fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Jun 21, 2011

The Rat
Aug 29, 2004

You will find no one to help you here. Beth DuClare has been dissected and placed in cryonic storage.

Quick question. Once you start going to school on the Post 9/11 GI Bill, do you have to keep going through and get a 4 year degree within 4 years, or can you just use a year here or there? Like say if one were to do a year with one college, get fed up with it and go contracting for a while before coming back.

The reason I ask is that I heard that once you stop using it, you can't go back.

It is entirely possible this is bullshit, and I just wanted to confirm.

genderstomper58
Jan 10, 2005

by XyloJW

The Rat posted:

Quick question. Once you start going to school on the Post 9/11 GI Bill, do you have to keep going through and get a 4 year degree within 4 years, or can you just use a year here or there? Like say if one were to do a year with one college, get fed up with it and go contracting for a while before coming back.

The reason I ask is that I heard that once you stop using it, you can't go back.

It is entirely possible this is bullshit, and I just wanted to confirm.

Couldn't find confirmation from the VA website I skimmed but im 99% sure you can start and stop using it at any time for 15 years. What you may be referring to is the fact that if you use Post 9/11 you can't convert it to Montgomery at a later time

Cenen
Apr 7, 2011
When I went through basic in October 09 they had us fill out the GI bill paperwork and I got this one nagging memory thats been bothering me for awhile. Now this may be me misremembering something but I could have sworn we were giving the option of choosing between the montgomery or the post 9/11. Now the thing is I don't remember which I chose and sometimes it actually keeps me up thinking I may have skipped out on the post 9/11 for just the montgomery.

There's a link on the Air force portal that actually lets you see documents like your enlisted contract and whatnot that have been scanned into the system and one of them is the paper that says you signed up for the GI Bill. Now the thing is this paper has my signature that I signed up for the GI Bill but doesn't say much beyond that.

Question: Any way to confirm which GI Bill I signed up for?

Or maybe they just lied/cocked up the presentation or I misremembered.

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ItsNotAGirlName
Jan 9, 2011

The Rat posted:

Quick question. Once you start going to school on the Post 9/11 GI Bill, do you have to keep going through and get a 4 year degree within 4 years, or can you just use a year here or there? Like say if one were to do a year with one college, get fed up with it and go contracting for a while before coming back.

The reason I ask is that I heard that once you stop using it, you can't go back.

It is entirely possible this is bullshit, and I just wanted to confirm.

This is complete bullshit.

I attended two quarters at one school, withdrew for over a year, and then attended three more quarters at a different school, all of it covered under Post 9/11. As long as it's within the lifespan of your benefits you can start, stop, and change school(s) all you want.

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