With this in mind, Congress has enacted a generous package of education benefits for service members and veterans – primarily the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which has been amended twice since its first enactment in 2008. Marines who have served 36 months of active duty are eligible for the full benefit, which, depending on where one lives and goes to school, can include:

• For a period of up to 36 months, up to $17,500 in annual tuition and fee assistance at a public or private institution of higher learning – enough to cover the cost of an education at the vast majority of colleges and universities. Students who want to attend a private school that costs more should look into the VA’s Yellow Ribbon Program, which pays up to half the total amount of fees and tuition if participating institutions agree to pay the other half;
• A monthly living/housing allowance, based on the military’s Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for an E-5 (sergeant) with dependents, and adjusted according to where the student lives and the “rate of pursuit” –  the number of credit hours in a student’s course load. A full-time student living in downtown Manhattan, for example, may be paid a living allowance higher than $2,800, while another living in Mansfield, Ohio, would be paid about $765;
• A stipend of up to $1,000 per year for the purchase of books and supplies;
• Under certain stipulations, a one-time rural relocation benefit payment of $500 to help cover the cost of moving to a school that’s at least 500 miles from home; and
• To accommodate the growing contingent of students pursuing a degree or certificate online or through correspondence, the Post-9/11 GI Bill offers a benefit of up to $8,500 annually for tuition and fees. These students are also entitled to an adjusted living allowance of half the national average BAH for an E-5 with dependents – in the 2011 school year, an amount of about $673.50 a month.

Other benefits for which students may qualify include reimbursement for taking licensure, certification, or placement tests such as the SAT, GRE, LSAT, and CLEP. Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits have also been expanded to cover various non-degree granting programs, on-the-job and apprenticeship training, and flight training programs; to check whether a certain program is covered, consult the VA’s GI Bill website: www.gibill.va.gov.

Another useful link is IAVA’s website, newgibill.org, a portal that includes a benefit calculator, updates, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Length of service, location of school, type of program, and enrollment level are all factors in determining the amount of the GI Bill benefit. Tuition and fees are paid directly to the school by the VA, while the monthly housing allowance and book/supply stipend are paid to the individual. Under certain conditions, the GI Bill benefit may be transferred to a spouse or dependent.

 

College Credit for Service

Conventionally, a college education is a four-year undertaking, but the GI Bill’s three-year benefit doesn’t necessarily leave students a year short of a degree. Without realizing it, many Marines have already earned college credit equivalents through their leadership, supervision, and management training. Since World War II, the American Council on Education(ACE) has helped service members translate their service records into military transcripts that are readable to the academic world. ACE’s Assistant Vice President for Lifelong Learning Jim Selbe is a Marine who estimates his service record earned him 60 credit hours, or three to four years in the classroom, at a price tag of $15,000 to $20,000.