Please resend me the information on the new GI bill for dependants entering into college next year. I know that they do start in August of 2009. Thank you so much!! SDR (951)852‑4688

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE STEP TO CARE FOR VETERANS. WE ARE NOT BACK IN WW I OR II SO THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT VETERANS WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY AFTER A LONG TOUR OF DUTY. THE BEST WAY TO THAT IS TO SIT AT HOME WITH HIS OR HER FAMILY TO ENJOY THE TIME OF COMING HOME AND NOT BE SEPERATED FROM FAMILY AGAIN. AGAIN THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THOSE VETERANS THAT CAN TALK OR HAVE BEEN HURT IN COMBAT.

you need to fix it what about those who served in iraq & are out & can not transfer gi bill to kids unless on active duty my eos was up in 2006 i served but not able to pass it on to my kids who are starting college

My husband paid for his gi bill,then got medically discharged.labeled total 100% but not permanent for 3 years now​.so now I am being told our daughter can not use it or he can not transfer it.They never told him to transfer it while in the army,I do not even think that was an option or he never thought he could never work again when he got discharged.there has to be something my child is eligable for,he is a disabled veteran​.It is like if you are not t&P your family is screwed out f medical,college,WOW

Terry is right, as always. What most legislators fail to acknowledge is that the vast majority of WWII GIs used the GI Bill for nontraditional education. Of the 7 million who used the educational benefits, only 2.2 million used it for public and private colleges — 4 year schools and grad schools. 5.8 million used it for career schools, on the job training, and for other such nontraditional ways of learning to earn a living.
When I hear justification for this bill is to provide a WWII like bill for our modern veterans, I am reminded they were provided a lot more benefits and freedoms in their choices for education. This lack of support for online education smacks of elitism and of being out of touch with choices individuals make to fit their needs and desires for higher education.

Now if only the Post-​​9/​11 GI Bill would include those veterans that met the criteria for passing educational benefits to spouse/​children to those of us that fulfilled our three years after 9/​11 and since retired/​separated. We paid our dues as well. Just because we weren’t willing to wait for Congress to do the right thing, is no reason to penalize us.

If the GI bill worked like it should … more vets would opt to go to a school rather then online… if vets have to work full time they cannot make it in a regular college. My husband topped up the GI bill, did everything he could and after serving for 6 years we struggle every month to keep our family fed. Vets with kids can pretty much not survive. We have no health insurance, student loans have been offered in the amount of 1,200 a year (which is ridiculous– they tell us the GI bill puts us in the category that we make too much to get financial aid… a family of four.. yes crazy), the new GI bill will put our monthly living stipend at $800 a month, even supplemented with a part time job, we will not survive.. we will be opting out of the new bill(assuming we can). This new GI bill is still neglecting the vets with families. Anybody else actually attempting to do this?? We feel like we are crazy …and wonder how long we will actually survive…
and hello start up costs??? costs like over 4,000 to get in to a school pay for pricey computers required by the school program and initial fees and tuition due before the first GI Bill payment… so many things being ignored.

I think a change they need to make is the ability to transfer benefits to family members without having to serve 6 years and ign for 4 more. that is BS.

I think demanding service time for the luxury of transferring benefits to family members is fair. There is already scholarships (to include ROTC) and a multitude of other options available for spouses and dependent children to use to obtain an education. Not to mention the benefits offered to NG and Reservist’s that were in-​​place long before this new 911 GI Bill came into being. Further, most spouses that proclaim to have time to take advantage of their Servicemembers (husband or wife) benefits probably have the time to enlist themselves and obtain their own benefits whether it be Active, NG, or Reserves. It is this same kind of bickering that caused the Government to allow spouses to (wrongfully) take a percentage of the Servicemembers retirement when they divorce (in some cases). Now, many states won’t even allow those spouses to decline their authorized percentage and allow their Ex-​​Spouse Servicemember to retain what they earned. Be careful what you wish for…as soon as they allow unfettered transfer of benefits you can believe that the courts will act-​​in-​​kind require Servicemember’s to relinquish a portion (probably half) of their earned Education Benefits to the Ex-​​Spouse regardless of the circumstances surrounding the divorce. This is another Pandora’s Box that’s best left closed!!!

Being, not only a the wife of a service member but also being a veteran myself, I am glad that they have finally decided to actually help us get a higher eduction. With that said, what about veterans like me who enlisted before 9/​11 and served several years after but didn’t wait to go back to school? I am currently working on my BA and my GI Bill benefits are all used up already. When I finish my degree (that is if I can afford to)I will still owe close to $50,000 in student loans.
Like I said, it is great they are doing something now, but what about the rest of us?

I am currently in school — I take classes on campus — and my school is transitioning all of the classes for my degree (BS Information Systems Technology) to online only. Lectures are via streaming video, and many of the labs are even online now.
So, what are the odds that I won’t be eligible for the housing stipend? If I am taking at least one class that is a live on-​​campus lecture, does that take care of the “distance learning” stipulation?

What I also find funny about Ed benifits is that if you take, and graduate from a accredited school. That you can not get the total benifit payed ot to cover the cost of the school.
Example if your school takes you 18 months and the VA pays out 1000 per month that is 18000$, but your school cost might be 25000$ or more.
Why not give you the 1000 per month until graduation then. The vet could show proof of billing and graduation. A check could be cut for the final billing.

I really do hope they can learn that online classes are as or more difficult,than in a classroom learning environment. After my discarge, I did a full semester in class, and then another online, full time, to finish my degree. The online class was the first class I ever dropped. They should not be treated any different. I am shocked to learn that they may. If anyone needs a bailout it is us. Most of us spent a long time in the in the Armed Forces, and as mentioned in the article, suffer from PTSD. We deserve to get our education. That was part of the deal. During this economy crisis, we need to be paid enough to survive and while earning degrees. I hope and pray this all works out to the advantage of the Veterans.

Military members received almost a 7% BAH increase when housing and rent prices have plummeted. We receive a 3–4% guaranteed raise every year even if we don’t promote. We retire in 20 years under an outdated plan that was designed for only the select few that survived massive draw downs at the end of a war and did not die during the war. The military is much more safe today than in past wars. These days I can retire as a Major or MSgt by surviving without performing. There is no such thing as retirement in the civilian world. It’s called an IRA and you pay into it. Yet we grovel about getting our $1200 back because the newbies don’t have to pay and we grovel because we can’t get our entire housing paid for by taking online class part-​​time. Talk about a market incentive for the proliferation of questionable online degrees. The author said legislators don’t understand our educational needs in a post WWII society. Maybe they understand them all too well.

They also need to allow retirees the benefit of transferring remaining GI Bill benefits to dependent spouses and children. They decided to make this privilege a “retention tool”, giving it to only active duty military members who agree to serve ten years. As a 26-​​yr retiree with a college age son I think I should also be given that privilege. I started a write-​​in campaign to the House and Senate Veterans Affairs subcommittees. Please contact them via email or fax and tell them to allow military retirees the privilege of transferring remaining GI Bill benefits to their dependents, also!!!!!!!

I think the congress needs to clarify more succinctly the GOAL of the GI Bill. Is it a benefit and vehicle to assist soldiers in their transition to civilian workforce, or a vehicle to permit soldiers to increase their education while still serving? Both would be the obvious answer, but where does that leave the DoD tuition assistance program for active duty/​guard-​​reserve soldiers?
Now, different subject..Seem that the housing stipend would not be applicable to someone still in the military..while still receiving BAH/​COLA etc??

I have read many of comments on here and found them to be true and quite coherent. The problem I have is that getting a degree means a few things. Once the degree is done you hope to ascertain a job indicative of the degree which you have to deal with people so taking PTSD students and putting them in public places stinks but what do you think any job will do? Second, the reason cleps and Dantes scores don’t transfer to other public colleges so well is money for the colleges. Our government would spend its money better by demanding publicly supported colleges to accept those credits rather than pay service members more. All you guys who are complaining about the trials of going to school and working another job. That is the school experience, and there are literally thousands of benefits,jobs and scholarships set up for us x-​​military. I am not trying to be mean but life requires you work not expect everything to be easy… Getting a degree is supposed to be challenging unless everyone would have one and they would be worthless.

The legislatures need to update their understanding of current higher education norms and processes. On-​​line courses are every bit as challenging as lecture courses, sometimes more so, and many institutions are moving large amounts of curriculum to the net. They are doing this for many reasons, cutting standards is not one of them. Regional accreditation bodies monitor collegial standards across the curriculum and ensure that standards are met for traditional and non-​​traditional courses. Higher education institutions closely guard their accreditation due to the numerous funding streams and other benefits that it brings.
I’m currently enrolled in a PhD program at a state university, having completed BA and masters through tuition assistance. The curriculum is a hybrid program that offers in person sessions at the beginning and end of each semester and synchronous and asynchronous on-​​line sessions throughout the semester. I can assure anyone interested that the course work has been a significant challenge and well organized. The professors, all PhD’s themselves, have adapted the curriculum to the hybrid approach and it requires continuous engagement in the course work with no time for slipping behind. The work effort has been greater than anything that I experienced during traditional courses.
Keep up the information flow, it is important for our elected representatives to update their understanding of the contemporary education system and ensure that our vets are well represented across the board.

I think there are a lot of good points. I am an online student and it works out perfect for me, in that I am able to work a normal job and attend online school. I am currently attending Fort Hays State University out of Kansas. They are very fair and geared toward the military. I think they are moving in the right direction by allowing veterans to use part of their tuition for their dependants, but as one writer put it, Rules need to be in place to protect the veteran. Granted there are ex-​​spouses out there who live to take advantage of the veterans. There is no changing that, but the overall good it is intended for. Contact your state representatives and keep screaming, eventually you will be heard. After all the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Higher education should be encouraged in any way, shape or form. This is why the GI Bill should be amended to include the stipend for distance learning.
I spent 2 years in a college, before joining the military. As an active duty member it would be impossible for me to take the classes necessary to complete my degree. This it due to multiple deployments and an evolving work schedule.
Through online classes I have been able to complete my associates, and I am currently pursuing my Bachelors degree.
Distance learning is more difficult than traditional classroom studies. Distance learning forces you to play a more active role in the classroom. Distance learning also makes you to read all of the material, unlike in a classroom environment. Additionally distance learning fosters a greater understanding of the subject matter.