New GI Bill preliminary payment list released - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

New GI Bill preliminary payment list released

In preparation for the Aug. 1 launch of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Veterans Affairs Department is giving service members and veterans an idea of how much money they can expect to receive.

The program promises benefits that cover full tuition and fees at the most expensive four-year public college or university in the state where a student attends school, plus a $1,000 annual allowance for books and supplies and an additional living allowance, pegged to the military basic housing allowance for an E-5 with dependents.

Preliminary figures gathered by VA show that the highest tuition reimbursement rate could be paid in Texas, which has a maximum rate of $1,333 per credit hour, while the lowest could be in Louisiana, a maximum of $63 per credit hour.

On fees, Tennessee tops the list, with a maximum of $15,130 per school term; the District of Columbia and Nevada are at the other end of the scale, with maximum fees of $310 and $311 per term, respectively.

For people attending public institutions, the new benefits program promises full tuition reimbursement that will be paid directly to the college or university.

But differences in maximum rates are important for people using GI Bill benefits to attend private schools where tuition is higher than the most expensive public institution.

They will receive the maximum rate paid in that state — which means that someone attending private school in Tennessee could get $15,000 in tuition covered for a term, while someone attending a private school in California would get no more than $4,806, under preliminary numbers collected by the VA.

Related reading

• Download the state-by-state list

In instances where tuition and fees at a private institution are greater than the maximum rate VA will pay in that state, students may be helped by a program — still taking shape — in which VA will pay $1 more to a school for every $1 cut the school makes in its tuition rate.

Called the Yellow Ribbon Program, this will require fee-sharing agreements between VA and individual institutions. VA officials hope to announce in April which schools will participate for the fall semester.

The maximum tuition and fees is still unavailable for one state, Massachusetts, and maximum rates for several states have not been fully verified.

Payment of tuition and fees is limited under the new benefits plan to the in-state tuition rates. Each state has its own rules to qualify for in-state tuition. The VA recommends information on residency requirements come from a non-profit group, the College Board, and its residency guide.

The Defense Department has a basic allowance for housing calculator that can be used to get an idea of the housing stipend that will be paid for various schools. Set the rank to E-5 and enter the ZIP code of a school; the resulting “E-5 with dependents” figure would be the housing stipend for 2009.