Forever G.I. Bill??????

How we doing hard-chargers… 

I thought I’d break down the changes to the G.I. Bill and give you a better understanding of how it affects veterans.

Now you may have heard of the G.I. Bill, as it was started in 1944, and is law passed that provides educational and other benefits for people who had served in the armed forces in World War II. Of course these benefits are still available today for those who serve and get out honorably.

Forever G.I. Bill

* Time Limits

One of the biggest changes would be the fact that the 15 year time limit has been removed for those using Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. This only goes into affect for veterans and dependents using transferred benefits, and they are eligible after January 1, 2018.

That means is you’re a veteran using the G.I. Bill  or active duty military planning to use the G.I. Bill or even a dependent of a veteran or active duty this does not apply to you.

As of now it still remains the same, pertaining to veterans, active-duty military, and dependents. As they still have 15 years from their discharge date to use up all their G.I. Bill benefits, or they will lose them.

* Reservists

Any Reservist called to active duty (When a Government request federal assistance in responding to a major disaster or emergency) are now eligible to use the new G.I. Bill.

Prior to only reservist called by the President as a result of a national emergency were eligible.This would apply to reservist who were mobilized after August 1 2009, Reservist can only receive payment for classes that start August 1st 2018.

* Dependents

Fry Scholarship recipients are now eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Dependents Education Assistance (DEA) payments will increase to 50 percent, but the maximum number of months a dependent can get DEA decreases from 45 to 36 months and is effective Aug. 1, 2018.

Some changes will be made to the transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill to make it easier to reallocate transferred benefits if the sponsor or dependent passes away.

* Housing Allowance

Housing allowance is now based on the campus location where you attend classes.

* Institution Closings

For those attending a school that has closed or lost accreditation and you lose credit for the classes you took, you don’t have to pay back any G.I. Bill benefits you received at that school. It is not retroactive either.

* Benefit Tiers

G.I. Bill is currently based on the amount of active duty time you have. If one were to have less than 36 months of active duty you could possibly get less than the full amount. So the new law makes it where anyone who receives a Purple Heart will get the full G.I. Bill no matter how long they served active duty.

* STEM Classes

There is a huge emphasis on getting veterans enrolled in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs. The new G.I. Bill creates the

“Edith Nourse Rogers Scholarship.” 

 (Very important person, perhaps another post in itself)

This pays veterans $30,000 if they are enrolled in a STEM program, have used up all their G.I. Bill benefits, and have at least 60 semester/90 quarter hours credit toward a STEM degree, effective Aug. 1, 2018.

* Taxation

So from all of this we see clearly that more people are now eligible for the G.I. Bill, there is more types of training, and also more money paid to veterans.

This will be paid for by reducing the amount of monthly housing allowance the new users get.

A provision was  made in 2015 about slowing the increase of basic allowance housing, active duty no longer pays the full amount of the housing cost.

Active duty BAH is being reduced to 1 percent every year from 2015 to 2019, when 2020 hits BAH will only cover 95% of military members housing cost.

January 1st 2018, the G.I. Bill housing allowance will also decrease. So anyone eligible will get an average of about $100.00 less housing allowance.

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts about the new forever G.I. Bill, as I’ve already heard that a large majority of vets aren’t happy. Many feel this is nothing more than a recruiting scheme to get younger people to serve yet nothing is being done for the actual current Veteran.

Isaac J. Hall II

#SemperKill