What changes have been made to Obama's Post 911 GI Bill?

[QuarkCharmer]

First, forgive me if this is the wrong section to post this. Feel free to move this to the appropriate section, I was unable to determine where it should be placed.


I have been really caught up in my studies and have not even payed any remote attention to the news lately. Today I got a letter saying that there were going to be some changes to my benefits under the Post 911 Montgomery GI Bill.

The highlights of the letter were:

Monthly housing allowance benefits are prorated based upon rate of pursuit, rounded to the nearest multiple of 10 (Effective August 1, 2011), for example:

-If you are enrolled in 9 credits when 12 credits is full time, your rate of pursuit is .75 and you will receive 80% of the applicable Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate.

-If you are enrolled in 10 credits when 12 credits is full time, your rate of pursuit is .83 and you will also receive 80% of the applicable BAH rate.

Break or interval pay is no longer payable under any VA education benefit program unless under an Executive Order of the President or due to an emergency situation such as a natural disaster or strike (effective August 1, 2011).

-Here's an example: Your semester ends December 15th. Your housing allowance is paid for the first 15 days of December only. Your next semester begins January 10th. Your payment for January, received in February, will be for January 10th and the rest of January.

-Entitlement that previously would have been used for break pay will be available for use during a future enrollment.

Individuals utilizing the benefits while on active duty will be subject to the same benefit level determinations as veterans, based upon the amount of aggregate active duty service accrued (effective March 5, 2011).

The back page goes on to list some minor changes (to those already receiving benefits and not on active duty). I can post them if anyone would like.


I for one am a little annoyed at these changes. I initially heard about this as an extension of the GI Bill, but I understood that it would not take away any benefit that I am currently receiving. However, this interval pay thing has be quite frustrated. Any money that I have left over from the BAH each month goes to cover my book cost because the book stipend comes nowhere near covering the cost of the books I have to purchase, and yes I buy everything used online with a great deal of shopping around.

What this means to me is that I will have to find some other source of income for the week or two between semesters just to be able to eat and have a place to live. Is it really viable to get a job for a week or two? I certainly cannot work with the course-load that I take each semester.

Does anyone else have any information on this, or troubles with the new/old bill? I feel cheated, and think that they should have at least grandfathered in those of us who have already started taking the benefit. It's not like this is a government handout, I paid several years of my life specifically to receive these benefits.

 

[Cod]

Before I give my response, realize I'm active-duty using TA and have not started utilizing VA benefits (yet).

In an email received last week from the education counselor, we were informed that BAH payments will be made at the beginning of the month for education and/or training pursued the previous month. Thus, if you were in school at all the previous month, you'll get the BAH payment on the first of the following month.

With that said, unless you're out of school for a complete month, you should still be getting your payment at the befinning of the month. The way it sounds, as long as you're pursing some kind of education and/or training for at least one day the previous month, you'll get the payment.

Anyways, I'd call your school's VA rep or the local VA office. If you still can't get a "good" answer, shoot me a PM and I'll talk with the education office when I get the chance.

Hope this helps.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I am certainly going to check with them (the regional office people) about this. The official letter they sent me specifically states that:

-Here's an example: Your semester ends December 15th. Your housing allowance is paid for the first 15 days of December only. Your next semester begins January 10th. Your payment for January, received in February, will be for January 10th and the rest of January.

Am I wrong in interpreting this as a non-payment for the period of Dec15 to Jan 10?

 

[Cod]

You're regional VA rep will have the best information.

The way I understood it, BAH was only pro-rated if you were taking courses online or were not full-time. Thus, I did not think number of days had anything to do with. If you're full-time and on campus for one day or 30 days, you should get the full amount.