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| I will forever cherish my Recruit Ballcap signed by the best division ever! |
To all my fellow veterans, or soon to be veterans, I know the struggle. Transitioning from military to civilian life is definitely an adjustment, between packing away your old uniforms and ribbon stacks to figuring out what this mystical thing called a "Sick Day" is! If you are thinking about going to college now that you are a civilian, here are a few things I found helpful when looking into using my Post 9/11 GI Bill.
1. Free Money!
The GI Bill literally gives you a free undergraduate degree (aka 36 months of education). Not only is your tuition covered, you get a book stipend every year and a housing allowance. I will let you in on a secret, if you have been out of the real world for quite some time. It is nearly impossible to get a decent job (even some retail jobs now) without at least a bachelor's degree. If you had the opportunity to use TA and start getting those credits - good on you! For the rest of you, it is NEVER too late to start. I don't care if you're becoming a civilian after 10-20 years in, go get your degree!!If you already have the degree you want, or going back to school isn't for you, you can always give it to your children. You have about 15 years from the day you become a civilian to use the GI Bill for yourself or your child. Besides, not having to worry about paying for your kid's college sounds like a dream!
For me personally, I enlisted with a BA under my belt and joined with the intention of going back to school after I got out. Now my time in the military has ended and I am starting law school this fall, courtesy of the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
2. Applying is easy
...well, relatively speaking. By now you should be used to the idea of never ending paperwork. There are a number of forms you have to fill out and of course, there is the waiting game for everything to be processed. However, nothing was actually difficult in the application process.
- Apply to schools (I also filled out a FAFSA, just to be safe)
- Upon acceptance, contact the schools' Veteran's Affairs Office - This will be your lifeline during this process
- He/She will direct you to the forms required by the VA as well as the school itself
- Wait!! - But feel free to contact the VA with questions or just to check your status. They are extremely helpful! I have called a number of times to make sure all the paperwork was filled out properly and to see how far along it was.
- Confirm GI Bill is received by school
- Repeat paperwork each semester - My school requires me to fill out the request for credit coverage each semester, however it looks pretty simple to do once started.
3. Yellow Ribbon Program
Find out if your school offers the Yellow Ribbon Program (most of them do) by searching the VA Benefits website. This program is fantastic because the GI Bill will only give so much money for each year and the Yellow Ribbon Program can potentially pick up the rest. Your school will offer an amount towards your tuition and the VA will match that offer. Choose the right school and you can get away with 100% free tuition like me!
4. Housing Allowance
As you know, you will be given a housing allowance while you're in school. This is set at E-5 plus dependents BAH and tailored to the area in which your school resides. As the average rent in that town goes up, so does your BAH. Now for the key thing you may have overlooked: You are ONLY GIVEN BAH FOR THE DAYS YOU ARE IN SCHOOL. That means Christmas Break and Summer vacation are all on you.
I have chosen to move into my apartment a month before classes start leaving me with quite a bit of rent to shell out. I decided to use a stafford loan to cover the costs of rent not covered by the GI Bill. Now this may sound like a hassle, but if you're already getting free tuition and most of your housing covered, what is a small loan really in the long run? Just my opinion.
Another big point - Your BAH is back paid to you. Say your classes start on September 1st, you won't get rent for the month of September until October 1st. OUCH! This was another reason I went ahead and applied for the loan since I will not be working during the semester.
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Those are just a few things that helped me get through the process of using the Post 9/11 GI Bill. I hope they have helped you too! I highly recommend getting in touch with the VA to discuss your education benefits ASAP! Don't let your free college education go to waste. You deserve this after all you have sacrificed, so take advantage of the great opportunities and be excited knowing the next phase of your life has begun!
