Am I Eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill If I Had a Full ROTC Scholarship?
Q: I had a full ROTC scholarship after 2001 so I was ineligible for most of the Post 9/11 money (though I was able to capitalize on the TA available to everyone). I am being medically retired in a couple months after 8 years of service and understand that veterans have access to Post-9/11 GI Bill money. Does my ROTC status affect my retirement GI Bill in any way or am I eligible for the same entitlements that any veteran is eligible for?
A: With a full ROTC scholarship, you were not acquiring Post 9/11 GI Bill eligibility for four years after you were commissioned. However with your eight years of service, you still had four years left after satisfying your ROTC obligation, so you had more than enough time (three years are needed) to get full 100% Post 9/11 GI Bill eligibility.
So you should have 36 months of entitlement that you can use up to 15 years from your date of discharge to go to school. Attend a public school and the VA would pay up to the resident undergraduate tuition rate. Go to a private school and they would pay up to $19,198.31 per year.
Regardless of which route you take, you would also qualify for the monthly housing allowance and book stipend. The housing allowance is calculated based on the zip code of your school and the number of credits you are taking and paid at the E-5 with dependents pay grade. The book stipend is paid once per semester and calculates at $41.67 per credit. Just so you know, there is a $1,000 per academic year cap on the book stipend, but it is enough to get paid for two 12-credit semesters per year.
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