In 2008, Congress passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act; creating the most extensive educational assistance program since the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (aka the GI Bill) was signed into law. VA began paying the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit in August of 2009 and this week we celebrate the fourth anniversary of this important benefit.
In the past four years, VA has issued more than $30 billion in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments, and helped nearly 1 million service members, Veterans, and their families pursue their education and career goals. The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides a tremendous opportunity for these beneficiaries to attend a college, university or trade school and build a foundation for the future.
Approved training under the Post-9/11 GI Bill includes a wide range of academic and vocational training opportunities, such as: graduate and undergraduate degrees, vocational/technical training, on-the-job training, flight training, correspondence training, licensing and national testing programs, entrepreneurship training, and tutorial assistance.
There were challenges implementing this extensive benefit program. But, since automating education claims processing, VA has greatly decreased wait time for beneficiaries attending school under the Post 9/11 GI Bill. VA is now processing benefit payments for currently enrolled students in an average of seven days.
In addition, VA is working with schools, community organizations and other partners to ensure beneficiaries have all the information they need to best use their education benefits. In April 2012, President Obama signed Executive Order 13607 which established the Principles of Excellence, offering guidelines that promote student success and ensure accurate information are available about institutions and their programs. Over 6,000 educational and training institutions have agreed to comply with these principles, including providing:
- Education plans for all military and Veteran education beneficiaries
- An end to fraudulent and aggressive recruiting techniques and misrepresentation
- A designated point of contact for academic and financial advice at each school
This summer, VA is launching new tools on the GI Bill homepage to help beneficiaries learn more about their vocational aptitudes and select an education institution.
- The ‘Factors to Consider When Choosing a School’ guide offers future students steps to take when researching, choosing, and attending a school.
- CareerScope® measures a student’s aptitude and interests through a self-administered online test, identifying potential career paths.
- The GI Bill® Comparison Tool allows students to research and compare schools, including key indicators like average student loan debt and graduation rates.
Visit the GI Bill homepage for more information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and other Veteran education programs.
Robert M. Worley II is the Director of VA’s Education Service.
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Hello,
Thank you for the good information. However, Im a 46 years old veteran with 40% disability, 10 years of service. And I would like to transfer my Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to my daughter. However, VA says its not transferable because I have to be in the system either active or reserve. How can I do that if Im not recruitable because my age and percentage of disability? Maybe this is not the forum, but could be an issue that it has to be clarify.
Thank you in advance,
Horving Ramos
Transferability under the Post-9/11 GI Bill is a retention program administered by the Department of Defense. While VA does pay the benefit DoD determines who is eligible to participate. In this instance members of the Armed Forces, including active duty and Reserve, are eligible to transfer benefits when they agree to serve additional time. We appreciate your service but regret to say it looks like you aren’t able to transfer for the reasons stated above.
Hello Mr. Worley, how much has that $30 billion cost the taxpayers in administrative costs? Another way to word this question is: How much does it cost to send $1 (one dollar) to a student veteran under the Post-9/11 GI Bill? Administrative costs include everything the VA spends to administer the program (employee salaries, employee benefits, computer systems, buildings, mail postage, etc.). I looked in the VA’s annual reports and performance reports, but couldn’t find the answer.
Dear Gen. Worley,
Perhaps you could expound on a future post about the Independent Living Program for severely disabled Veterans. Many of us who find ourselves in this boat cannot seem to induce VA to relinquish funds or assets to this program. VA allots 2,700 slots annually to the ILP yet they never seem to fill it. Can it be there simply aren’t any “severely disabled Vets” or is there another paradigm at work? If you consult the statistics from 2004-2012, Wyoming hasn’t had one soul on the program since 2004. Vermont seems to trail closely behind as well. I work with Vets to help them take advantage of this program but cannot elicit any meaningful assistance for those in need. Your comments?
This new 911 GI Bill, discriminates against all Service Members who were in service past September 11. The bill is a false statement, because only Service Members who were in Service past 1 Aug 2009 are allowed and enttiled to used. What happen to the thousands of Sercice Members that were IN SERVICE AFTER 911 SEP 11 until 1 AUG 2009? We are definitely not getting the new 911 GI Bill. I can’t even transfer my actual GI Bill to my dependents because of the dates and Burocrazy Politics.
Not true, Luis. You start to accumulate Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for service after Sept. 10, 2001. More info here : https://gibill.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/947