Department of Veteran Affairs The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Chapter 33)

Post-9/11 GI Bill Eligibility Elections Entitlement Benefits Transfer of Entitlement New Legislation Post-9/11 Bill Status Streamlining Measures Challenges 2

Eligibility Individuals with active duty service after 09/10/01 who: Serve a period of 90 aggregate days Serve a period of 30 days and receive a disability discharge NOTE: Individuals are eligible while on active duty after serving a period of 90 days 3

Eligibility Qualifying active duty includes: –Full-time duty in the Armed Forces, other than active duty for training –A call or order to active duty under Title 10 Active duty periods may begin at any time, however, only the portion after 09/10/01 can be used to establish eligibility 4

Eligibility Criteria 5 Service Requirements (after 9/10/01 an individual must serve an aggregate of) Payment Tiers Percentage At least 36 months 100 At least 30 continuous days on active duty (Must be discharged due to service-connected disability) 100 At least 30 months, but less than 36 months 90 At least 24 months, but less than 30 months 80 *At least 18 months, but less than 24 months 70 *At least 12 months, but less than 18 months 60 *At least 06 months, but less than 12 months 50 *At least 90 days, but less than 6 months 40 *Excludes time in Basic Military Training and/or Skill Training

Period of Eligibility 15 years from last release from active duty of at least: − 90 consecutive days − 30 consecutive days if released for disability 6

Elections 7 Individuals eligible for one of the following benefits may be required to make an irrevocable election to receive benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve Reserve Educational Assistance Program

Entitlement Individuals may receive 36 months of benefits If an individual’s entitlement exhausts during a term, benefits may be extended until the end of the term Individuals eligible for more than one program administered by VA are limited to 48 months of combined benefits Generally, entitlement provisions under the Post-9/11 GI Bill are similar to those under other education benefit programs: 8

Benefits Tuition and Fees Monthly Housing Allowance Books and Supplies Stipend Yellow Ribbon Rural Benefit Licensing and Certification Tests 9

Tuition and Fees Individuals on active duty are eligible for tuition and fees charged Individuals not on active duty are eligible for the lesser of: −Actual tuition and fees charged; or −Tuition and fees charged for full-time, undergraduate training at the most expensive public institution of higher learning in the state where the student is enrolled 10

Monthly Housing Allowance Monthly Housing Allowance Equivalent to the Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents Amount determined by zip code of the school where the student is enrolled Payments issued directly to the student on a monthly basis 11

Monthly Housing Allowance Monthly Housing Allowance Individuals are NOT eligible for the monthly housing allowance if they are: On active duty Training at ½ time or less Pursuing training solely by distance learning 12

Books and Supplies Stipend Books and Supplies Stipend Up to $1,000 per academic year Payments issued directly to the student in a lump sum for each quarter, semester or term Active duty members are not eligible 13

Yellow Ribbon Institutions within the U.S. may voluntarily enter into an agreement with VA to fund tuition and fee costs that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition and fees Provides additional funding for: –Training at private institutions –Graduate training –Out-of-state tuition Only individuals entitled to the 100% benefit rate may receive this funding 14

Yellow Ribbon VA will match each additional dollar that an institution contributes, up to 50% of the difference between the student’s tuition benefit and the total cost of tuition and fees The combined amounts may not exceed the full cost of the school’s established charges 15

Transfer of Entitlement Transfer of Entitlement 16 To be approved for Transfer of Entitlement a member must: – Have been in the Armed Forces on 08/01/09, – Have completed 6 years in the Armed Forces, and – Agree to serve 4 more years – PHS and NOAA members are not eligible to transfer benefits, as only the Secretaries above may offer transfer of benefits

Transfer of Entitlement Transfer of Entitlement 17 An individual approved to transfer benefits may: Transfer up to 36 months of benefits (unless DoD/DHS restricts number of months an individual may transfer). Transfer to spouse, child, or children in any amount up to amount transferor has available or amount approved by DoD/DHS. Revoke or modify a transfer request of any unused benefits unless the transferor’s 15-year eligibility period has ended.

Transfer of Entitlement Transfer of Entitlement 18 An individual approved to transfer benefits may: – Not transfer benefits to a new dependent once the transferor is no longer a member of Armed Forces. – Modify the number of months transferred amongst dependents. Liability Transferor and individual using transferred entitlement are jointly liable for any overpayment of chapter 33 benefits

Transfer of Entitlement Transfer of Entitlement 19 Spouses: May use after transferor completes 6 years in Armed Forces Paid at transferor’s rate - Cannot be paid monthly housing allowance or books and supplies stipend if the transferor is on active duty when the spouse is receiving benefits Can continue to use benefits if divorced, unless the transferor revokes remaining entitlement Can use benefits up to transferor’s 15-year eligibility period, unless transferor specifies an earlier ending date Not limited to highest in-State tuition and fee rates while transferor in on active duty

Transfer of Entitlement Transfer of Entitlement 20 Children: Entitlement must be transferred to an unmarried child who has not reached the age of 18 or, if in school, before child is 23 years of age May use benefits after transferor completes 10 years in Armed Forces Must have: ― Reached age 18; or ― Completed requirements of secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate) Receives veteran rate, including housing allowance & book stipend, even if transferor is on active duty May use until 26 years old even if transferor’s 15-year eligibility period ended May continue to use benefits after marriage

New Legislation New Legislation 21 Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship –amends the Post-9/11 GI Bill (chapter 33) to include the children of service members who die in the line of duty after Sept. 10, 2001.

Post-9/11 GI Bill Status Since Aug 1, 2009 Post-9/11 GI Bill Status Since Aug 1, Over 518,300 students have applied for a Certificate of Eligibility (C of E) –Over 510,400 of those have received decisions –They will be paid when enrolled in school 254,520 total beneficiaries paid to date –$3.0 Billion in benefits payments $1.3 Billion to schools $1.7 Billion to students

Post-9/11 GI Bill Status for Spring 2010 Post-9/11 GI Bill Status for Spring As of March 25, 2010 –229,893 enrollment certifications received from schools –218,160 have been processed –Average 21 days to process –Processing approximately increased from 1,800 enrollments per day in August 2009 to 7,000 per day in February 2010.

What VA has Experienced What VA has Experienced 24 Longer processing times –Inefficiency in IT systems beyond initial estimates Transaction functionality more limited than expected and results in a highly manual process IT tools are complex and therefore training is time consuming Substantial Ch 33 workload increase –Use of existing programs remains significant –Ch 33 allows beneficiaries to exhaust other programs and maintain eligibility to Ch 33 for 12 months (36/48 months) –Transfer of entitlement

Post-911 GI Bill Challenges Post-911 GI Bill Challenges 25 Use of maximum tuition and fee rate per state to pay benefits –Requires time consuming research to ensure maximum possible rates – no authoritative source for tuition and fee data –Dependent upon state budget cycle that typically does not start until July –Prevented some claims from being processed early as final rates were not available for all states prior to program implementation

Post-911 GI Bill Challenges (Contd) Post-911 GI Bill Challenges (Contd) 26 Complicated Yellow Ribbon Program development and implementation because schools could contribute varying amounts Complicated claims processing because each student could potentially have a different payment amount that must be verified by claims processor Add/Drop changes result in certification changes

Post-911 GI Bill Challenges (Contd) Post-911 GI Bill Challenges (Contd) 27 Confusion over housing payment schedule –Post-9/11 GI Bill pays each month in arrears, consistent with other education benefits –Students expect housing payments at the beginning of each month instead of after each month of attendance, or full payment after only partial month of attendance Contributed to financial hardships among students Increased demand on VA customer service Receipt of books and supplies stipend at the beginning of each term contributes to complexity

Post-911 GI Bill Challenges (Contd) Post-911 GI Bill Challenges (Contd) 28 Complexities in program –Payment differences between Ch 33 and other VA programs required significant modifications to IT systems and business processes Multiple benefit payments to multiple entities Lack of a set payment rate

New IT Systems Being Developed New IT Systems Being Developed 29 The new Chap 33 system will deliver an end to end solution to support the delivery of Post- 9/11 GI Bill benefits. It will be: –Released in 4-6 month intervals, delivering incremental capability –Developed in a distributed application architecture framework –Supportive of a service oriented architecture –Developed using an agile architecture –Rules-based to ensure reusability and flexibility

New IT System Results 30 Release schedule: –Version 1.1 – 2Q FY2010 –Version 1.2 – 3Q FY2010 –Version 1.3 – 4Q FY2010 –Version 1.4 – December 2010 The result will be: –Faster processing time –More accurate decisions –Less reliance on human intervention to pay benefits –Student self-service