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Editor’s note: This is the third in a three-part series focusing on higher education funding options available to service members, retirees and veterans.
JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Service members who want to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to their family members do not have to make it an all-or-nothing commitment, and they don’t have to wait until retirement to start thinking about it.
Education officials at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall want service members to understand that transferring GI Bill benefits is not like passing down an inheritance: once money is passed down, the distributor gives up all rights.
Likewise, when service members want to add immediate family members to their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, they are not transferring the benefits for the sole use of those select family members, according to Bart MacMillan, Marine Corps Community Services Henderson Hall’s Education and Career specialist.
The word “transfer” can lead to misunderstanding of how the benefit works, he said.
“[Service members] will say they can’t use it because they have already transferred it to their kids,” explained MacMillan.
But that’s not true, he said. Adding a family member that uses the benefit does not negate a service member’s option to use the GI Bill, he said.
“What they are really doing, though they are using the word transfer, they’re really just adding their family members as an option to use the benefit,” he said.
Service members who have elected to receive the Post-9/11 GI Bill have 36 months of educational benefits, which can include a monthly housing stipend for full and part-time students. When family members are added to the benefit, the 36 months can be divided amongst the family however the service member sees fit.
For example, a service member who has a spouse and two kids can add them all to the benefits program. However, if one of the children receives a scholarship, which may negate the need for the use of the GI Bill, the service member can keep the unused benefits for himself or give it to another family member, according to MacMillan.
“The service member has a chance to redistribute those 36 months however he or she deems,” MacMillan explained. “Everyone can pull from the 36-month pool.”
But there are stipulations to when and how spouses and children can use the benefit, according to an online Veterans Benefits Administration fact sheet.
“Service members will have to serve at least six years before the spouse is able to have immediate access to the benefits,” said MacMillan.
Also, spouses are not eligible for a monthly stipend or money for educational material while the service member is serving on active duty. Spouses are allowed to use the benefit up to 15 years after service members separate from active duty.
Before military children can use a service member’s GI Bill benefit, they must be a high school graduate, be at least 18 years old and be no older than 26.
Unlike the spouse, children are eligible to receive a stipend for educational material—such as text books—while the service member is still on active duty, and while the child is still living with their parents, according to MacMillan.
MacMillan said that college students should be aware that the benefits program doesn’t give a set amount of money for tuition or housing.
That’s because college tuition costs vary and the cost of living differs based on a college’s geographical location.
Based on the current Department of Defense’s housing allowance, which is determined by zip code, a veteran attending college full time in the D.C. metro area would receive a monthly housing stipend of $2,268 in addition to tuition expenses covered by the GI Bill. At Salisbury University, located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a student would receive $1,377 per month under the GI Bill.
Additionally, the housing allowance is pro-rated based on when semesters begin and end, according to MacMillan.
“They get that housing allowance or monthly stipend payment for that partial month, but they don’t get the full month’s payment,” he explained.
Before a service member can add family members to their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit, they must reenlist for four years and sign a statement of understanding, MacMillan.
MacMillan said that he’s encountered military service members who thought they could serve for 20 years and be eligible to transfer benefits to their family members at the end of their career. This is not the case, he said. Instead, he advises service members to add family members while they are still on active duty and to not wait until their retirement.
“Don’t delay, take care of it right away,” he said.
Contact Bart MacMillan for information on how to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill at 703-614-9104.
| Date Taken: | 02.04.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.04.2016 11:39 |
| Story ID: | 187890 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 304 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From camouflage to the classroom: Understanding the Post-9/11 GI Bill, by Delonte Harrod, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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