Veterans Education Benefits

• milConnect – DoD Associates and Beneficiaries use this site to update personal information, like your entry in the DoD’s Global Address List (GAL), or to check health care coverage, transfer education benefits, and retrieve correspondence.

• If you intend to have your military transcripts evaluated and transferred for college credit, an official transcript must be submitted to the Admissions Office during the admission process. Once you have been admitted, the student will be notified of transferred credits at Student Orientation.

Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty (MGIB-AD) or Chapter 30 provides up to 36 months of financial assistance for educational pursuits, including college, vocational/technical training, correspondence courses, apprenticeships/on-the-job training, flight training, high-tech training, licensing and certification tests, entrepreneurship training courses, and national examinations. Generally, your MGIB-AD benefits are paid directly to you on a monthly basis.

You may be eligible for MGIB-AD benefits while you are on or after you separate from active duty. At a minimum, you must have a high school diploma or GED. To receive benefits after separating, you must have received an honorable discharge. You generally have 10 years from your last date of separation from active duty to use your MGIB-AD benefits.

If you’re eligible at the one hundred percent benefit level and you attend a school where tuition and fees exceed the maximum Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit available by law, additional financial support may be available under our Yellow Ribbon program.

The Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) or Chapter 1607 is an education benefit that provides up to 36 months of educational assistance to obtain graduate and undergraduate degrees, vocational/technical training, apprenticeships/on-the-job training, correspondence training, and flight training. REAP benefits are available to members of a reserve component called or ordered to active duty or full-time National Guard duty in response to a war or national emergency, as declared by the President or Congress. Eligible reserve components include: the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Reserve; the Army National Guard and Air National Guard; and Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps Individual Ready Reserves (IRR).

Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) or Chapter 1606 provides up to 36 months of financial assistance for educational pursuits, including college, vocational/technical training, correspondence courses, apprenticeships/on-the-job training, flight training, high-tech training, licensing and certification tests, and national examinations. MGIB-SR benefits are available to members of the Selected Reserve of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, or the Army or Air National Guard. Generally, your MGIB-SR benefits are paid directly to you on a monthly basis.

You may be eligible for MGIB-SR benefits if you have a 6-year obligation to serve in the Selected Reserve, complete your Initial Active Duty for Training, serve in a drilling unit and remain in good standing, and obtain a high school diploma or equivalency. The Guard and Reserves decide if you are eligible, while VA makes the payments for the program. Generally, your eligibility for MGIB-SR benefits ends on the day you leave the Selected Reserve.

You may be eligible for REAP benefits if you are a member of a reserve component and served on active duty after September 10, 2001, for at least 90 consecutive days under a contingency operation. “Contingency operation” includes the current Iraq and Afghanistan operations and may include other operations. The educational assistance allowance payable under REAP is a percentage of the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty rate based on the number of continuous days you served on active duty. Generally, you have 10 years from the day you leave the Selected Reserve or the day you leave the IRR to use your REAP benefits.

The Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) or Chapter 32 is an education benefit available to you if you made contributions from your military pay before April 1, 1987, to participate in this program. Your contributions are matched on a $2 for $1 basis by the Government. You may use these benefits for degree, certificate, correspondence, apprenticeships/on-the-job training, and vocational flight training programs.

Benefit entitlement is 1 to 36 months depending on the number of contributions you made to VEAP. You have 10 years from your release from active duty to use your VEAP benefits. If you have not completely used your entitlement after 10 years, your remaining contributions will be automatically refunded.

The National Call to Service Program is a Department of Defense program that is administered by VA. It offers certain education benefits to those who serve in a military occupational specialty designated by the Secretary of Defense. To be eligible, you must serve on active duty for 15 months after completing initial entry training. After this, and without a break in service, you must serve either an additional period of active duty or a period of 24 months in an active status in the Selected Reserve. Again, without a break in service, you must serve the remaining period of obligated service:

• On active duty in the Armed Forces
• In the Selected Reserve
• In the Individual Ready Reserve
• In Americorps, or another domestic national service program jointly designated by the Secretary of Defense and the head of such a program

If you meet the service requirements, you may select one of the following benefits:

• A cash bonus of $5,000
• Repayment of a qualifying student loan not to exceed $18,000
• Entitlement to an allowance equal to the 3-year monthly MGIB-AD rate for 12 months
• Entitlement to an allowance equal to 50% of the less-than-3-year monthly MGIB-AD rate for 36 months

VA only administers the education options. VA does not issue the cash bonus or repay student loans.

Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) or Chapter 35 provides assistance for degree and certificate programs, apprenticeships/on-the-job training, correspondence courses, and other programs. You must be the son, daughter, or spouse of:

• A Veteran who died or is permanently and totally disabled as the result of a service-connected disability. The disability must arise from active service in the Armed Forces.
• A Veteran who died from any cause while such permanent and total service-connected disability existed.
• A Servicemember who died during active military service.
• A Servicemember missing in action or captured in the line of duty by a hostile force.
• A Servicemember forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government or power.
• A Servicemember who is hospitalized or receiving outpatient treatment for a service-connected permanent and total disability and is likely to be discharged for that disability.

The program offers up to 45 months of education benefits. If you are the child, you generally must use your benefits between the ages of 18 and 26. If you are the spouse, your benefits end 10 years from the date VA finds you eligible or from the date of death of your spouse.

A surviving spouse who meets the criteria below may be eligible for benefits for 20 years from the date of death:

• VA rated the Veteran permanently and totally disabled with an effective date within three years from discharge, or
• The Veteran died on active duty