Generally speaking J.S., the Montgomery GI Bill is not transferable to dependents, so unless your dad took advantage of the transfer option during the short time the Air Force had their transfer pilot project, I doubt if you have any GI Bill to use, however, it sounds you might qualify for the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Education Assistance Program (DEA).

Under that program, you can get up to 45 months of education benefit, payable at $936 per month starting on October 1, 2010, if you go to school full-time. You will have to pay all your education-related expenses from that amount – tuition, fees, books, room and board, etc.

To be eligible for the program, your dad would have had to pass away as a result from a service-connected disability, injury or accident. To apply, send in VA Form 22-5490.

If you qualify for DEA benefits, you can start using the program once you turn 18 and you must finish using your 45 months of benefits before turning age 26. Any unused benefits at that point, you lose.

No, you probably won’t be able to get your $1,200 contribution to enroll in the Montgomery GI Bill refunded to you. Once you put the money in, it is essentially gone, and even if you don’t use the education benefits, or you lose them due to waiting more than 10 years, you can’t get the money back.

There is one exception. If you change over to the new Post 9/11 GI Bill (assuming you are eligible), and completely use up the benefits of that bill, then with your last check from that bill you receive a refund for the money you put into the older Montgomery GI Bill. But that’s a lot of work to get that $1,200 back. ]]> http://www.gibill.com/blog/can-i-get-my-gi-bill-contribution-back.html/feed 0 http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-many-courses-does-the-gi-bill-cover.html http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-many-courses-does-the-gi-bill-cover.html#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:17:27 +0000 GIBillExpert http://www.gibill.com/blog/?p=9449 I am currently using the Post 9/11 GI Bill to pay for school. Is there a cap on the number of courses you can take during a semester? Since the Post 9/11 GI Bill is only for 36 months I’d like to take 6 courses as opposed to 4 per semester. I am attending a community college and taking more courses would still not amount to the max tuition rate of my state (MA). Thanks for your help. — Eric D.

There’s no actual limitation on the number of courses that you can take while on the new Post 9/11 GI Bill. There is a cap on the total fees per term (which you mention), but you are allowed to take more than a full-time course load if you can handle it.

There are some practical limitations. The book stipend doesn’t increase over $1,000 per year, so your books may cost more than what is allotted for them. The difference should be manageable, though. Other than that, if you can take extra classes, go ahead. It helps you get the most out of your GI Bill, and your time at the college.

Hi Patrick, I’m assuming that you are no longer on active duty as the Post 9/11 GI Bill will pay for all your tuition at a school no matter where it is located if you still are.

If you are a veteran, then it is a different situation. While attending an MBA program in Florida you can receive up to $295 per credit hour for as long as you have Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits.  Going to school in Pennsylvania you can receive up to $934 per credit hour for the same time period.  The reason for the difference is that tuition must be more expensive in Pennsylvania.

Graduate programs usually have higher tuition than undergraduate programs and on top of that you are probably going to be paying out of state tuition for at least part of the time.  Depending on the school you attend there may be quite a difference between what you receive from the Post 9/11 GI Bill and what your tuition is. 

I highly recommend that you choose a Yellow Ribbon School for your MBA program and your tuition concerns may be over.  A Yellow Ribbon Program school will pay a portion of your tuition that exceeds what the Post 9/11 GI Bill covers; they are allowed to pay up to 50 percent of the overage.  The VA will then match the school’s contribution.  Each school runs their Yellow Ribbon Program a little differently as to the amount they contribute and how many students they accept into the program each year.

You can check for Yellow Ribbon Programs in Florida and Pennsylvania on this VA web page.  Both states have quite a few schools in the program and some of the big name schools in Pennsylvania are in it such as the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pennsylvania, and Penn State. ]]> http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-much-of-my-mba-costs-will-be-covered.html/feed 0 http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-do-i-transfer-my-gi-bill-to-my-daughter.html http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-do-i-transfer-my-gi-bill-to-my-daughter.html#comments Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:42:27 +0000 Jeffery Anderson http://www.gibill.com/blog/?p=9423 I was in the Army for 6 years and have never used my GI Bill.  My daughter is now in college and I would like to transfer my GI Bill to her.  What do I need to do?  Richard

Hi Richard, I’m afraid there’s not a lot you can do as far as transferring your GI Bill to your daughter.  You don’t mention which GI Bill you’re eligible for, but the Montgomery GI Bill doesn’t have a transfer of benefits provision so if that’s the GI Bill you have, only you can use those benefits.

If you have the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you can’t transfer those benefits once you have left active duty.  A service member with the Post 9/11 GI Bill must have been in the military for at least 6 years before they are eligible to transfer their benefits to a spouse or dependent child, and they must agree to remain on active duty for 4 years after the transfer is approved.  If the transferred benefits are going to a dependent child, the service member must complete 10 years of military service before the child can use the benefits.

You should have your daughter contact the Army Emergency Relief as they often have grant and scholarship programs for the children of Army veterans. ]]> http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-do-i-transfer-my-gi-bill-to-my-daughter.html/feed 0 http://www.gibill.com/blog/do-i-control-my-chapter-35-benefits-money-or-does-my-parents.html http://www.gibill.com/blog/do-i-control-my-chapter-35-benefits-money-or-does-my-parents.html#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:00:55 +0000 Ron Kness http://www.gibill.com/blog/?p=9183 I’m 17 years of age and I get Chapter 35 checks. I was wondering if my parents are the ones to control my checks or if the money goes straight to me? So I control the money that I get through Chapter 35? – James

You’re confusing me James. In the first sentence you say you are getting Chapter 35 checks, so I’m assuming you are already receiving them, but then in the next sentence it sounds like you aren’t getting them yet. Do you mean to say you are authorized to get Chapter 35 checks? The money will go to where ever you tell the VA to send it. When you fill out your DEA application, VA Form 22-5490, in Block 8 you can enter your direct deposit information and have the money automatically go into your account, or if you leave that block blank, the VA will send your check to the address in Block 9 addressed to you.

If you get your DEA payment by check at your parents address, then there is nothing to say your parents won’t get to the mail before you, however, if it goes directly into a bank account, then you, and who else you have listed on the account, will be the only ones having access to it. As a minor, you probably had to have a parent listed as an account sponsor or co-owner. You will have to check with your bank to see how you can restrict who can tap into your money.

With that, here is our question; I have a son from a previous marriage, who does not currently live with us. He will be a freshman in high school this year, so he is 4 years away from college.

He is not enrolled in DEERS and I don’t really know what that criteria is anyway. But is there a way or possibility that my wife can transfer her Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to him? Thank you for your time! — John Taylor

No John, there isn’t a way, unless he is in DEERS. That is the one thing with the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer of benefits that there isn’t a way around. The second thing is he would have to be tied to your wife’s DEERS record. In other words, he would have to be listed as a dependent of hers in DEERS.

To qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer of benefits option, your wife would have to have served at least 91 days on active duty (in a contingency operation) after September 10, 2001, and she would have to agree to serve an additional four years. If she is within four years of retiring, then the additional time would be prorated down to less than four years.

So based on these transfer rules, I would say your wife does qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, however, the DEERS thing will prevent her from making a transfer to your son. You might want to have her look into seeing if she could add him in DEERS. Step-children are covered, as far as being eligible family member GI Bill entitlement transfer recipients, but in your specific situation, I don’t know if your son could be considered a dependent of hers or not. That is somewhat getting out of my lane. ]]> http://www.gibill.com/blog/can-my-wife-transfer-benefits-to-my-son-from-another-marriage.html/feed 0 http://www.gibill.com/blog/do-i-still-have-gi-bill-benefits-available.html http://www.gibill.com/blog/do-i-still-have-gi-bill-benefits-available.html#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:24:01 +0000 GIBillExpert http://www.gibill.com/blog/?p=9415 I was in the Marine Corps from February 99 to August 03 (some stop-loss there) and I used the GI Bill to finish my associates’ degree from 2007 to 2008. Now I would like to finish my bachelors’ and possibly masters’ at a local state university (Montclair State University in New Jersey). Do I still qualify for benefits and how much longer would I have if I still do? Also, I work full time so I would be looking to do this at night. How many credits would I need to take at once figuring a 3 credit course is around $1,000. Thanks in advance. — Jeff W.

Those are some good questions.

The Montgomery GI Bill provides you with 36 months of educational benefits, at whatever the current rate is for the bill. You have 10 years from the last time you left active duty to use up your benefits. If that time passes, any remaining months are lost. So, since you used up about 24 months, you should have 12 months of benefits left, which expire in 2013. To find out how many months are left specifically, call the VA’s toll-free GI Bill number, 1-888-442-4551.

Because your active duty service includes a significant amount of time after September 11, 2001, you are also eligible for the new Post 9/11 GI Bill. You could change over to the new bill, if you wish, but you may find it in your best interests to stick with the Montgomery GI Bill. You should check out the VA web-site and do the math (or talk to a VA education counselor) to find out which one suits you best. You would have as many months of the new GI Bill as you have remaining on the Montgomery GI Bill.

You can also use both. Due to the specific limitations of using different education benefits together, you can actually get some extra benefit out of the new GI Bill if you have completely used up the Montgomery GI Bill. If you have completely exhausted your MGIB benefits, you can still get another 12 months of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. But you have to completely use up the MGIB to get that benefit.

It’s always in your best interest to take a full load of courses (full-time), if you can. If you can’t, your benefits are reduced. However, that might be unavoidable, and it happens. But your college determines what is a full time course load (it’s usually 12 semester hours at a time). Speak to an educational counselor for your school about that.

Hi Steve, To be eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill book allowance you must be using the Post 9/11 GI Bill; there is no book allowance with the Montgomery GI Bill.  You also can’t be on active duty or using transferred benefits from a spouse who is still on active duty.

However, if you are using the correct GI Bill and don’t fall into one of those two categories, then you should be eligible to receive the allowance.  The allowance is based on the number of credit hours you are carrying each semester and you can receive up to $1,000 per year from the allowance.

This year the allowance is a little more than $41 per credit hour and you should receive the funds with your housing allowance or it might be a separate check or direct deposit into your bank account.  If you think you should be receiving the allowance and you’re not, check with the VA Certifying Official at the school you’re attending and ask them to make sure your paperwork for the VA is correct.

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation!

The easy way to check on your remaining time left on your GI Bill is to check your monthly statement from the VA. If you can’t find that statement, or haven’t been getting them, or can’t find the time balance on it, then the best way is to call the VA at their toll-free GI Bill number, 1-888-442-4551. ]]> http://www.gibill.com/blog/how-much-of-my-gi-bill-is-left.html/feed 0