With a Service-Connected Disability, Is It True I May Be Eligible for Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits?
Q: Possibility of additional benefits. I was discharged in 2007 with a service-connected disability. I was awarded 17 months and some change of the GI Bill. Fast forward a few years and I have six months of benefits remaining. I was told that I may be eligible for Post 9/11 benefits after I use up my old GI Bill. Is this accurate? Thanks!
A: Yes it is accurate. With a service-connected disability, all you need to get the full Post 9/11 GI Bill are 30 days of continuous service, which you have. Under the Rule of 48, if you are eligible for two or more GI Bills, the most combined months of benefits you can get are 48.
Being you will have used up 17 months, you should still have 31 months left to use. It is too bad you didn’t know this in the beginning, otherwise you could have switched right away and although you would have only gotten 36 months, they would have been at the higher pay rate.
Under the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) you have been getting paid up to $1,473 per month and you had to pay all your own education expenses. Under the New GI Bill, your tuition would have been paid directly to your school, up to the resident rate for a public school or up to $17,500 for a private school. Monthly you would have received a housing allowance that averages $1,300 per month and a book stipend once per semester of $41.67 per credit (up to the $1,000 per year cap).
Once you have used up your remaining 6 months of benefits, go to the eBenefits website and submit VA Form 22-1990 to get your Post 9/11 GI Bill Certificate of Eligibility.
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