Do Online Classes Count Toward My Rate of Pursuit Percentage?
Q: I plan on starting school here in the near future. I am wanting to take my gen ED classes online and then take my lab classes at the actual college. My question is will my online classes count towards my percentage for the Post 9/11 GI Bill? Or is it only the classes that I take on campus?
A: Generally speaking, online classes count the same as on-campus classes as far as calculating how many credits you are taking. Where the difference comes in is if you are taking all online courses, then you don’t qualify for the Post 9/11 GI Bill housing allowance – at least for right now. Starting in August, that will change.
After that date, full-time online-only students will get $673.50 per month in a housing allowance. Less than full-time students will get a less prorated amount of the base $673.50 dependent on the number of credits they take.
Of course the way around that (and get the full housing allowance) is to take at least one on-campus class each term that applies to your degree plan and take a total number of credits to put you at a rate of pursuit of at least greater-than-half-time.
However, that too will change in August. After that date, the amount you get in housing allowance will be directly tied to the number of credits you take in relation to what your school considers to be full time.
If you are a  time student, then you would get  of the full housing amount whereas right now, a  time student gets the full amount. (Actually you would get 80% instead of 75% as the VA rounds up top the next tenth.