GI Bill Updates Signed into Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To bring the educational benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill closer to more veterans and service members, President Barack Obama signed legislation on Jan. 4 that streamlines the 18-month-old education program administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Among the new law's provisions are:

• Paying for on-the-job training, some flight training, apprenticeship training and correspondence courses.
• Allowing reservists and Guardsmen to have their time supporting emergencies called by their state governors credited to the time needed to qualify for educational benefits.
• Providing one-half of the national average for the program’s housing allowance to students enrolled in distance learning.
• Pro-rating the housing allowance to exclude payments when students are not in class.
• Allowing students on active duty to receive the stipend for books and supplies.
• Allowing people eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but participating in VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) benefits, to choose between the GI Bill’s housing allowance or VR&E’s subsistence allowance.
• Permitting reimbursement for more than one “license and certification” test. 
• Reimbursing fees to take national admission tests, such as SAT, ACT, GMAT and LSAT.
• Establishing a national cap of $17,500 annually for tuition and fees in a private or a foreign school, not including contributions by educational institutions under the “Yellow Ribbon” program. 

Information about the new provisions is available on the GI Bill website. The site also allows veterans and service members to find a school, apply for benefits, and access various other resources related to GI Bill benefits.

Go to GI Bill website