Education Benefits

Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty (MGIB-AD)

The MGIB program provides up to 36 months of education benefits. This benefit may be used for degree and certificate programs, flight training, apprenticeship/on-the-job training and correspondence courses. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances. Generally, benefits are payable for 10 years following your release from active duty. This program is also commonly known as Chapter 30.

For more information about MGIB-AD, visit Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB-AD) | Veterans Affairs (va.gov).

Eligibility Guidelines

CATEGORY I

• Entered active duty for the first time after June 30, 1985
• Had military pay reduced by $100 a month for first 12 months
• Continuously served for 3 years, OR 2 years if that is what you first enlisted for, OR 2 years if you entered the Selected Reserve within a year of leaving active duty and served 4 years ("2 by 4" Program)

CATEGORY II

• Entered active duty before January 1, 1977
• Served at least 1 day between 10/19/84 and 6/30/85, and stayed on active duty through 6/30/88, (or 6/30/87 if you entered the Selected Reserve within 1 year of leaving active duty and served 4 years)
• On 12/31/89, you had entitlement left from Vietnam-Era GI Bill

CATEGORY III

• Not eligible for MGIB under Category I or II
• On active duty on 9/30/90 AND separated involuntarily after 2/2/91,
• OR involuntarily separated on or after 11/30/93,
• OR voluntarily separated under either the Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) or Special Separation Benefit (SSB) program
• Before separation, you had military pay reduced by $1200

CATEGORY IV

• On active duty on 10/9/96 AND you had money remaining in a VEAP account on that date AND you elected MGIB by 10/9/97
• OR entered full-time National Guard duty under title 32, USC, between 7/1/85, and 11/28/89 AND you elected MGIB during the period 10/9/96, through 7/8/97
• Had military pay reduced by $100 a month for 12 months or made a $1200 lump-sum contribution

Check current payment rates

The Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty, called "MGIB-AD" for short, provides up to 36 months of education benefits to eligible veterans for:

• College
• Technical or Vocational Courses
• Correspondence Courses
• Apprenticeship/Job Training
• Flight Training
• High-tech Training
• Licensing & Certification Tests
• Entrepreneurship Training
• Certain Entrance Examinations
• Who is Eligible?

Montgomery GI Bill- Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR)

The Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) program offers up to 36 months of education and training benefits. If you’re a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, or Air National Guard, you may be eligible for this benefit. Find out if you qualify.

You may be eligible for education benefits under this program if you meet the requirements listed below.

One of these must be true:

• You have a 6-year service obligation (you agreed to serve 6 years) in the Selected Reserve, or
• You’re an officer in the Selected Reserve and you agreed to serve 6 years in addition to your initial service obligation

***Note: Your obligation must have started after June 30, 1985, or for some types of training after September 30, 1990.

And all of these must also be true:

• You complete your initial active duty for training (IADT), and
• You get a high school diploma or certificate of equal value, like a High School Equivalency Diploma or GED, before finishing IADT (Note: You can’t use 12 hours toward a college degree to meet this requirement), and
• You stay in good standing while serving in an active Selected Reserve unit

***Note: You’ll still be eligible if you’re discharged from Selected Reserve service due to a disability that was not caused by misconduct)

Check current payment rates

Post – 9/11 GI Bill

The Post- 9/11 GI Bill is an education benefit program for service members and Veterans who served on active duty after Sept. 10, 2001. Benefits are payable for training pursued on or after Aug. 1, 2009. No payments can be made under this program for training pursued before that date.

****New requirement to verify your enrollment***

If you’re in a non-college degree program and you get monthly housing allowance (MHA) and/or college fund (“kicker”) payments under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, you must verify your enrollment each month. If you’re at an institution of higher learning, you’ll need to start verifying your enrollment for terms that start after December 17, 2021. Check back here soon to find out when this new requirement will start for you.

Learn more about verifying your enrollment

Eligibility Guidelines

You may be eligible for education benefits if you meet at least one of the requirements listed below.

At least one of these must be true:

• You served at least 90 days on active duty (either all at once or with breaks in service) on or after September 11, 2001, or
• You received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service, or
• You served for at least 30 continuous days (all at once, without a break in service) on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged with a service-connected disability, or
• You’re a dependent child using benefits transferred by a qualifying Veteran or service member

Note: If you’re a member of the Reserves who lost education benefits when the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) ended in November 2015, you may qualify to receive restored benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Expiration of 9/11 benefits

This depends on when you were discharged from active duty.

If your service ended before January 1, 2013, your Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits will expire 15 years after your last separation date from active service. You must use all of your benefits by that time or you’ll lose whatever’s left.

If your service ended on or after January 1, 2013, your benefits won’t expire thanks to a new law called the Forever GI Bill - Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act. Some letters you receive from us may not yet reflect this change. Thank you for your patience as we work to update our systems.

Learn more about this new law

The housing allowance is not payable to individuals pursuing training at half time or less.

Approved training under the Post-9/11 GI Bill includes advances towards your education and training. See the list below for more information.

Work toward a degree:

Undergraduate and graduate degrees, Tuition Assistance Top-Up, Tutorial Assistance

Train for a specific career, trade, or industry:

Vocational/technical training and non-college degree programs, Veterans technology, education courses (VET TEC), On-the-job training and apprenticeships, Entrepreneurship training, Flight training, Test fees

Work while you study:

Co-op training, Work study

Take classes from home:

Correspondence training, Independent and distance learning

You can receive up to 36 months of benefits, including:

• Tuition and fees. If you qualify for the maximum benefit, we’ll cover the full cost of public, in-state tuition and fees. We cap the rates for private and foreign schools, and update those rates each year. Check current rates.
• Money for housing (if you’re in school more than half time). We’ll base your monthly housing allowance on the cost of living where your school is located.
• Money for books and supplies. You can receive up to $1,000 per school year.
• Money to help you move from a rural area to go to school. You may qualify for this one-time payment of $500 if you live in a county with 6 or fewer people per square mile and you’re either moving at least 500 miles to go to school or have no other option but to fly by plane to get to your school.

Find out how we determine your percentage of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits

Find out how we determine your Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage

Yellow Ribbon Program

The Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program was enacted to potentially assist eligible individuals with payment of their tuition and fees in instances where costs exceed the in-state tuition charges at a public institution or the national maximum payable at private and foreign institutions.

Eligibility Guidelines

You must qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the 100% benefit level

And at least one of these must be true:

• You served at least 36 months on active duty (either all at once or with breaks in service) and were honorably discharged or
• You received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service, or
• You served for at least 30 continuous days (all at once, without a break) on or after September 11, 2001, and were discharged or released from active duty for a service-connected disability, or
• You’re a dependent child using benefits transferred by a Veteran (find out about transferring Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits), or
• You’re a Fry Scholar (eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program on or after August 1, 2018)

Note: At this time, you’re not eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program if you’re an active-duty service member or a spouse using the transferred benefits of an active-duty service member.

Starting on August 1, 2022, you may become eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program if you’re currently an active-duty service member who qualifies at the 100% level (you already served on active duty for at least 36 months) or if you’re a spouse using the transferred benefits of an active-duty service member who meets these qualifications.

To find out if your school participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, you can use our tool to find a Yellow Ribbon school.

You can also search for participating schools using the GI Bill Comparison Tool.

Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship

The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (Fry Scholarship), a scholarship for children and spouses of certain Veterans. If your parent or spouse died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, while serving in one of the Armed Forces, or was a member of the Selected Reserve who died from a service-connected disability, you may qualify for this benefit.

More information and how to apply can be found at https://www.va.gov/education/survivor-dependent-benefits/fry-scholarship/.

As the child of the service member:

• You can be married or unmarried.
• If you turned 18 or graduated from high school before January 1, 2013, you can get a Fry Scholarship until you’re 33 years old.
• If you turn 18 or graduate from high school after January 1, 2013, you can get a Fry Scholarship at any age over 18 or after you graduate (whichever comes first).
• If your parent was a member of the Selected Reserve and died from a service-connected disability while not on active duty, you can get a Fry Scholarship at any time, no matter how old you are.
• If your parent died in the line of duty before August 1, 2011, you may qualify for both the Fry Scholarship and the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program. But you can use only one program at a time. We cap combined benefits at 81 months of full-time training. Read about the DEA program.
• If you’re receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), you’ll need to give up those payments when you start to use the Fry Scholarship.

As the spouse of a service member:

• If you remarry, you’ll no longer be eligible for the Fry Scholarship.
• You can still get Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) payments while using the Fry Scholarship.

$600 Buy-up Program

• Some service members may contribute up to an additional $600 to the GI Bill to receive increased monthly benefits. For an additional $600 contribution, you may receive up to $5400 in additional GI Bill benefits. The additional contribution must be made while on active duty.
• Fill out a form called Montgomery GI Bill Act of 1984 Basic Enrollment (DD Form 2366) and take it to your payroll or personnel office. Get DD Form 2366 (PDF).
• Remember to keep copies of the form and any other paperwork that shows you made the payment.

View the rate table

Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31)

If you have a service-connected disability that limits your ability to work or prevents you from working, Veteran Readiness and Employment (formerly called Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment) can help. This program—also known as Chapter 31 or VR&E—helps you explore employment options and address education or training needs. In some cases, your family members may also qualify for certain benefits.

If you are a Veteran, you are eligible for Veteran Readiness and Employment if you meet both requirements listed here:

All of these must be true:

• You didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge, and
• You have a service-connected disability rating of at least 10% from VA

When we receive your VR&E application, we’ll schedule your initial evaluation with a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC). The VRC will determine if you’re entitled to receive VR&E benefits and services.

If you were discharged from active duty before January 1, 2013, your basic period of eligibility ends 12 years from one of these dates, whichever comes later:

• The date you received notice of your date of separation from active duty, or
• The date you received your first VA service-connected disability rating

The basic period of eligibility may be extended if a VRC finds that you have a serious employment handicap (SEH). Having an SEH means your service-connected disability significantly limits your ability to prepare for, obtain, and maintain suitable employment (a job that doesn’t make your disability worse, is stable, and matches your abilities, aptitudes, and interests).

If you were discharged from active duty on or after January 1, 2013, the 12-year basic period of eligibility doesn’t apply to you. There’s no time limit on your eligibility.

If you are still on active duty, you are eligible for Veteran Readiness and Employment if you’re a service member and you meet at least one of the requirements listed below.

At least one of these must be true:

• You have a 20% or higher pre-discharge disability rating (memorandum rating) and will soon leave the military, or
• You’re waiting to be discharged because of a severe illness or injury that occurred while you were on active duty

Learn more about accessing VR&E services through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES)

Note: Severely injured active-duty service members can automatically receive VR&E benefits before VA issues a disability rating. This is according to Sec. 1631(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act (PL 110-181).

Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD): If you have an illness or injury that you believe was caused—or made worse—by your active-duty service, you can file a claim for disability benefits through the BDD program 180 to 90 days before you leave active duty. This may help speed up the claim decision process so you can get your benefits sooner.

Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011

The Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011 amended the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The provisions of the bill are applicable to training pursued under the Post-9/11 GI Bill that began on or after Aug. 1, 2011.

The legislation authorizes VA to pay more than the national maximum set for private schools (currently $17,500 or the appropriately reduced amount based on eligibility percentage) in tuition and fees under the Post-9/11 GI Bill for certain students attending private colleges and universities in seven states - Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

Eligibility Guidelines

To qualify for the increased payment (also referred to as the "grandfathered" tuition and fee amount), students must have been enrolled in the same college or university since Jan. 4, 2011 and have been enrolled in a program for which the combined amount of tuition and fees for full-time attendance during the 2010-2011 academic year exceeded $17,500.

You may qualify for more than one education benefit. If you’re eligible for more than one, you’ll need to decide which to receive. You can’t receive benefits under more than one program at a time. You can call 888-442-4551, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET and they can assist you making that decision. If you have hearing loss, call TTY: 711.

Forever GI Bill- Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act

Summaries for each program as they are effect by the Forever GI Bill Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act