Using Your GI Bill Benefit
Many veterans enroll in or return to college after ETSing/EASing without coming across all of the information the may need to activate their GI Bill benefits in enough time to take advantage of the VA's advanced pay option or even to receive their first GI Bill payment on time. Many others do not realize how the GI Bill benefit is paid out or that there are certain things that new veterans can do to speed up the process of activating their benefit.The first thing that new veterans should know, if they don't already, in order to help them plan their college finances is that the GI Bill doesn't literally "pay for college," as is advertised by recruiters and in commercials to entice new recruits. The benefit does not function like a scholarship, in that it does not pay a veteran's tuition up front at the beginning of a semester (when tuition is usually due in full). Veterans must make their own arrangements to cover their tuition bills at the beginning of each semester with out-of-pocket cash, student loans, and/or separate scholarships. At many universities, part of the tuition bill can also be deferred by being split into two or more payments due at various points throughout the semester. At some public universities with lower tuition rates, it is possible to cover the tuition bill with GI Bill money by requesting a tuition deferment, requesting an advanced payment from the VA (discussed below) for your first month and a half of GI Bill payments, paying the first part of the tuition bill with that first advanced payment, and the remaining parts of the semester's tuition bill with your subsequent GI Bill payments throughout the semester. If you don't want to go through all of this, or if your tuition bill is greater than the amount of GI Bill payments you'll rake in each semester, plan to use one of the other methods to cover your tuition bills up front each semester.
The GI Bill benefit functions like a salary while you are a college student (or enrolled in certain other educational programs). Once your entitlement has been verified by the VA and your enrollment has been certified by your college's VA certifying officer (both discussed below), you begin attending classes like everyone else (as long as you've paid your tuition bill somehow). At the end of each month you're in school, you have to call the GI Bill Certification Line (an automated toll-free number) and "verify" your continued enrollment in school. You do this by following the voice prompts, which will have you enter your VA file number (your SSN) and your date of birth. The system will then ask you to press 1 if your enrollment status has not changed (i.e., if you're still in school and haven't dropped out of school and skipped town with all of your other financial aid money). After that, the system will inform you that you have successfully verified your continued enrollment and that your payment will be "released" (direct deposited, or mailed by paper check if you were born before 1874) in 7-10 days. It usually only takes about 6 days for the payment to be released. You can also do this process online via the VA's GI Bill website. Keep in mind that what this means is that you'll get your paycheck for the month a week or so after the end of each month (or partial month) you're in school. So if you start school on August 15th, you can certify your enrollment for August by phone or over the internet beginning on the last day of the month (August 31st). Since you will have attended school for only part of that month, you will receive a partial payment for half of the month approximately 6 days later. On September 30th, you may certify your enrollment for September and you will receive your first full GI Bill payment approximately 6 days later... and so on.
If you're new to college, or returning to college after ETSing /EASing from the military, it would be wise to visit your school's on-campus VA office (or VA representative for smaller schools) at least 2-3 months before the start of the semester to get your Application for VA Education Benefits (VA Form 22-1990) filled out and submitted for you. They will definitely need a copy of your DD-214 Member 4 Copy (the long version of the discharge form) and may need a copy of your enlistment contract showing that you accepted the GI Bill. If they have problems verifying your eligibility, they may also ask for a copy of one of your Leave & Earnings Statements showing that you paid into the GI Bill while on active duty. If you were in a service that offers a GI Bill "kicker," you may also need to provide proof that you paid into that as well. If you're in a service that offers a College Fund incentive, such as the Army College Fund enlistment incentive, you may want to take the precaution of trying to locate the paperwork in your enlistment contract where you were promised this incentive. As this money comes from the specific service department under which you served (such as the Department of the Army), there is an extra layer of bureaucracy built into this additional benefit, although the VA still pays out this benefit for the service department. In all likelihood the VA will already have evidence of your eligibility for this additional benefit on file and you will begin receiving it right along with your regular GI Bill benefit, you may want to make an effort to locate the portion in your enlistment contract in which you were promised this benefit just as a precaution.
If you were discharged under DADT and think you may feel a little awkward showing your DD-214 long form (which contains the narrative reason for discharge) to your campus VA rep, or if you were not discharged under DADT but just want to speed up the process, you can submit your Application for VA Education Benefits (VA Form 22-1990) directly to your regional VA office yourself, along with the supporting documentation mentioned above. If you do not have your original enlistment contract showing that you elected to receive the GI Bill or an LES statement showing that you paid into the GI Bill, you will most likely be ok by just submitting your DD-214 long form along with your Application for VA Education Benefits. This should go without saying, but you will need to have a completely honorable discharge to be eligible for GI Bill benefits. Once you receive your Certificate of Eligibility for your GI Bill benefit from the VA, your school's VA rep will just need to certify to the VA that you are indeed enrolled in classes, and you'll be good to go. If you submit your own Application for VA Education Benefits, make sure to go into your school's VA office with your Certificate of Eligibility at least a few weeks before classes start, give them a copy, and ask them to certify your enrollment for you after you register for classes. If they submit your Application for VA Education Benefits for you, they should automatically certify your enrollment after you register.
If you want to receive your first payment and a half from the GI Bill before you begin your first semester, the VA will issue an advanced payment (good apartment deposits, first month's rent, other moving expenses, or helping with the tuition bill) before your first semester begins if you specifically request it. You will need to contact your school's VA rep to set this up. If you take an advanced payment, keep in mind that this payment is fronted for August and September, and that you will not receive your next payment until approximately November 6th because the next payment which you will be entitled to receive will be the October payment, which will be certified on October 31st and will arrive approximately 6 days later. This is a great option if you want a chunk of money up front, but you have to make sure you plan not to receive your next payment until near the end of the semester.
Just as the VA will pay you a partial GI Bill payment if you start school in August for the fraction of the month you're in school, it will also only (by default) pay you for part of the month of December, since your semester will end in the first or second week of that month. If you will be enrolled in the spring semester and would like to get paid a full payment over the winter break, you will need to call your regional VA office and tell them that you want to get paid over the breaks. Otherwise you'll only get a partial payment for December and a partial payment for January.
The usage of your GI Bill benefit is calculated down to the day. The VA counts 1 month of entitlement as 30 days, and veterans with full the GI Bill have 36 months of entitlement, which is approximately 4 academic years of college with 9 months in each academic year. Extending your GI Bill benefit out over your winter breaks will reduce your number of days of entitlement by the number of days in your winter break, but this may work out to your advantage. For example, many people complete college in less than 4 years because they earned college credits either before they went into the military or while they were in the military. Taking the GI Bill payment over 3 years' winter breaks will only reduce your entitlement by approximately 12 weeks (assuming 3-week winter breaks each year. Whether you have the full GI Bill entitlement or a pro-rated entitlement (from an early discharge), here's a well kept secret that could score you thousands of extra dollars... if you have even just one day of entitlement left and at least one more semester to go in school, the VA will pay you for that entire semester next semester!!! This is something that is not commonly known, but if you ask a VA rep or customer service agent about this little secret, they will happily confirm this factoid for you. What this means for you is that even if you want to use your GI Bill for 4 full academic years, you can safely ask to be paid the full rate over your winter breaks, have a few weeks of entitlement left for that last semester, and get paid for the full last semester precisely because you have some days of entitlement left. If you do not plan to spend 4 years in college, then you would be crazy not to elect to get paid over your winter breaks. If you have a pro-rated benefit because you were discharged early for "Homosexual Admission," you will have to do the math on the length of your entitlement compared with the length of time over which you would like to stretch that entitlement and determine whether taking full payment over your winter breaks will be to your advantage or disadvantage. Just remember... it only takes one day of entitlement left to get paid for the entire next semester!
The GI Bill enables many veterans to refrain from having to work while going back to school. When combined with federal student loans, one can have a pretty decent existence while in college. And keep in mind that GI Bill benefits are non-taxable, so you will not need to report them as regular income on your tax returns. Just remember to have your school's VA rep certify your enrollment at the beginning of each semester you're in school, and make sure you remember to verify your continued enrollment status on the last day of every month. This is an excellent benefit that has been utilized by veterans since the post-World War II era to make a better life for themselves after serving their country honorably. In the very least, it will surely ease the financial burden of going to college full-time after getting out of the military.
