Am I Able to Use Both My Post 9/11 and Montgomery GI Bills at the Same Time?
Q: I will like to attend a college in NC. I wanted to start using my Post 911 GI Bill and Montgomery GI Bill. I want to take course and earn a diploma as a Medical Billing and Coding Specialist.
1. Am I able to use the Post 9/11 Bill or Montgomery GI Bill?
2. Is it going to be paid to the school for me or is the payment sent me to pay the school?
3. Can I set up an allotment to the school for payment?
4. Is there a school in Charlotte NC I can attend to take this program and use my benefits? Please Help! Thank you.
A: Being you qualify for two GI Bills, you can use either one, but not both. If you decide to switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, then you give up your rights to the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). However, in many cases the Post 9/11 GI Bill is more lucrative than the older MGIB.
The pay structure is different between the two bills. If you choose to use your Montgomery GI Bill, then you will get up to $1,473 month as a full-time student if you served three years or more. Out of that amount, you have to pay your tuition, fees, books and other education-related expenses.
If you choose to use your Post 9/11 GI Bill, then the VA will pay your tuition and eligible fees directly to your school and you would get a monthly housing allowance. You would also get $83 per month in a book stipend.
With either GI Bill you will get 36 months of benefits with a combined benefit between the two bills of 48 months, not 36 months from each GI Bill.
If you use the Post 9/11 GI Bill, then you would not have to worry about an allotment as the VA pays your school direct. If you use the MGIB, you have to pay for your own tuition and I don’t think you could do an allotment, but I could be wrong. That finance allotment stuff is not my specialty.
Check with your community colleges in the Charlotte area. Both the Central Carolina and Coastal Caroline Community colleges have Medical Billing programs.