LegiStorm

Summary:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers several educational assistance programs (GI ® Bills ) that provide funds to or on behalf of veterans and servicemembers and their family members to facilitate their enrollment in and pursuit of approved programs of education. Participation and spending for the Post-9/11 GI Bill has represented approximately 80% or more of total GI Bill participation and spending in each year since FY2013. In FY2018, the program is estimated to benefit almost 800,000 individuals and expend over $12 billion. For a description of the other GI Bills, see CRS Report R42785, GI Bills Enacted Prior to 2008 and Related Veterans’ Educational Assistance Programs: A Primer. The Post-9/11 Veterans’ Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post-9/11 GI Bill)—enacted as Title V of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-252) on June 30, 2008—is the newest GI Bill and went into effect on August 1, 2009. There were four main drivers for the Post-9/11 GI Bill: (1) providing parity of benefits for reservists and members of the regular Armed Forces, (2) ensuring comprehensive educational benefits, (3) meeting military recruiting goals, and (4) improving military retention through transferability of benefits. The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides benefits to veterans and servicemembers and their family members. Veterans and servicemembers who serve an aggregate minimum of 90 days on active duty after September 10, 2001, and continue serving or are discharged honorably may be eligible. In addition, individuals who have been discharged or released for a service-connected disability after serving a minimum of 30 continuous days on active duty after September 10, 2001, may be eligible. There are two mechanisms by which dependents of individuals with military service may be eligible for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits may be available to the dependents of servicemembers who serve for at least 10 years. Also, the Post-9/11 GI Bill Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship Program may be available to the spouse and children of servicemembers who die while serving on active duty in the line of duty. Participants may be eligible for payments to cover tuition and fees, housing, books and supplies, tutorial and relocation assistance, and testing and certification fees. Individuals who serve on active duty for 36 months after September 10, 2001, may receive a tuition and fees benefit of up to the amount of in-state tuition and fees charged when enrolled in public institutions of higher learning (IHLs), or up to $22,805.34 when enrolled in private IHLs in academic year 2017-2018. In general, the monthly housing allowance is based on the Department of Defense (DOD)- determined monthly basic allowance for housing (BAH) for a member of the Armed Forces with dependents in pay grade E-5 and varies depending on location. Benefit payments vary depending on the participant’s active duty status, length of qualifying active duty, rate of pursuit, and program of education. For example, participants on active duty are not eligible for a Post-9/11 GI Bill housing allowance. Many Post-9/11 GI Bill-eligible individuals are eligible for another GI Bill or other veterans program that could support educational achievement such as Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemembers (UCX). Individuals with a single qualifying active duty service period must make an irrevocable election to give up benefits under one other GI Bill program to receive benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Similarly, individuals may not establish Post-9/11 GI Bill and UCX eligibility based on the same period of service.