Archive for 'veterans benefits'
Preparing Your Post 9/11 GI Bill for Spring 2010
Posted on Nov 24, 2009.
Spring 2010 is just around the corner! Need help with your Post 9/11 GI Bill? The best first step–and one you’re probably following if you’re here–is trying to keep up with the latest Post 9/11 GI Bill news from November forward. By staying up-to-date, you’re sure to remain informed on how your veterans educational benefits are working for you in Spring 2010.
Veterans Benefits GI Bill has followed the VA website changes, emergency funds, and other last-minute fixes to the new GI Bill conundrum for the past several months. Some of the news, unfortunately, has been bad news–like banks turning military members with emergency checks away, or at best, telling them to delay–but then there’s also the promise if a better semester coming this Spring thanks to the automated system being built for the VA’s website. No more applications-in-the-slush-pile, waiting to be done by hand!
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Military Members Study Online
Posted on Nov 20, 2009.
Active duty and reserve members commonly rely on online education to pursue their higher education goals. With deployment into an international environment an everyday reality or an impending future, online degree programs enable military students to work towards a Bachelor Degree or Master Degree program without the fear of abruptly interrupting their education.
What better place to pursue an online education than a reputable, military-friendly school like Hawai’i Pacific University or Saint Leo University? These military-friendly schools have programs specifically tailored for military students and additional military-friendly services, such as: the ability to transfer a certain amount of experience into academic units; financial aid representatives that can aid in the confusing Post 9/11 GI Bill process; and classes held on military bases for students looking for a hybrid learning (online and campus-based) experience.
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WI GI Bill and Post 9/11 GI Bill
Posted on Oct 27, 2009.
[caption id="attachment_350" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Wisconsin GI Bill and Post 9/11 GI Bill"]
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Dr. Pat from the blog Veterans on Campus mentioned back in May ’09 that the Wisconsin GI Bill–a state-funded military financial aid program in WI–would force students to switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The WI GI Bill grants a tuition waiver, but the student must provide documentation that he or she applied for the Post 9/11 GI Bill in order to qualify; if they were accepted, they must switch from Chapter 1606/MGIB to Chapter 30, and if they were declined, they may continue using Chapter 1606/MGIB.
This throws a monkey wrench into the issue of whether the MGIB or the Post 9/11 GI Bill is more beneficial for Wisconsin college students. The effect was only proposed back when Dr. Pat blogged about it in May, but has officially been approved to go into effect in Spring 2010.
Wisconsin military students will now have to decide whether to switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill or not based on different factors:
- Whether or not they receive more money from the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 30) and the tuition waver from the WI GI Bill, or
- They receive more funds from the Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 1606)
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VA Contacting Veterans Concerning Benefits
Posted on Oct 20, 2009.
Reuters released a report today concerning the development of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Due to the extensive wait time that the Post 9/11 GI Bill has posed for veterans, reserve, and active duty that have anticipated benefits since August 1st, the VA is initiating a “call every applicant” process to make sure communication is in check until funds are dispersed. (Read the entire story here.)
This means that if you still have not received your funds, the VA should be contacting you–rather than the other way around–to address you questions, comments, and concerns.
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Banks Refuse to Cash Post 9/11 GI Bill Emergency Funds
Posted on Oct 12, 2009.
Due to the backlog of Post 9/11 GI Bill applications, many veterans, reserve, and active duty have thus far been unable to receive the financial aid they need for this fall semester. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has responded to this by posting how many financial benefits have been distributed on a continual basis–the last update, October 8, 2009, with 2,651 Post 9/11 GI Bill applications processed and 3,461 other government financial aid programs processed.
This does not even begin to squelch the staggering 75,000 applicants for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which raises up the question: what about the other 72,000+ military students? The answer was emergency funds, which would grant each of these individuals $3,000 in temporary financial aid benefits that would later be deducted from the total financial aid received by the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Combine this with several understanding colleges that are not dropping students because of overdue tuition bills, and you have a sustainable amount of money to hopefully cover textbooks and living expenses until all Post 9/11 GI Bill applications are taken care of. Housing funds is a whole other monster to conquer entirely.