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Why You Should Consider Attending a Yellow Ribbon School

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Ahhhh, college. New experiences, exciting challenges, and mountains of student debt. A college education is becoming increasingly expensive. If there’s a chance to cut costs, you should jump on it!

All of this makes Yellow Ribbons schools a great choice for military-connected students.

The Yellow Ribbon program offers the opportunity to decrease your out-of-pocket costs for earning a college degree. It’s a pretty sweet deal.

Why You Should Consider Attending a Yellow Ribbon School

The Post-9/11 GI Bill offers outstanding educational opportunities to military-connected college students. For qualifying beneficiaries, GI Bill benefits provide funds to cover the resident tuition and fees at public colleges.

If you’re going to be attending a private college or enrolling as a nonresident at a public university, there might be a gap between the GI Bill and the bottom line. That could leave you footing the difference. An education at a private or out-of-state college is definitely not cheap!

This is where the Yellow Ribbon Program comes in.

At select schools, there is a fund-matching program available to help reduce the total tuition costs.

Yellow Ribbon 101

Students at private schools or attending as an out-of-state resident, are entitled to the lesser value of their school’s tuition and fees or the national maximum funding for an academic year.

To help GI Bill beneficiaries cover a difference between their entitlement and their tuition, schools may elect to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. This is a voluntary program that does not impact your GI Bill entitlement or funds.

Participating schools select how much of their tuition and fees they are willing to cover. Then the VA will match those funds, and send that payment directly to the school. Both sets of funds are then applied to the final bill.

In order to qualify, students must meet specific criteria.

Only 100% GI Bill qualified veterans and/or their designated beneficiaries are eligible. Yellow Ribbon Program funds are not available to active duty service members or their spouses. However, the children of active duty service members may be eligible if their parent is qualified at the 100% level.

The percentage of eligibility is determined by the service member’s service record. To reach the 100% qualification level, and be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program, troops must serve at least 36 months on active duty or have served for at least 30 consecutive days before being honorably discharged for a service-related disability.

Yellow Ribbon Fine Print

The Yellow Ribbon Program sounds ideal! Extra money straight from the school and matching funds from the VA. What could be better?

However, there are some caveats.

First, veterans and their designated beneficiaries must qualify for full GI Bill benefits, based on the veteran’s service record. Not all veterans will qualify for 100% GI Bill funding. This is required to be eligible for any Yellow Ribbon Program.

Next, your selected school has to opt-in to the Yellow Ribbon Program. This is a voluntary opportunity, and not all public or private schools elect to participate.

Each school decides their own level of funding and the number of awards available in an academic year. This means that even if your school is part of the program, all funds for this year might have been awarded. You will still be able to apply your GI Bill, but there will not be Yellow Ribbon funds from the school applied to your bill.

Each year, a list of participating schools is released by the VA. Funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Award amounts may vary based on enrollment status and level.

In order to qualify, you must first apply to a Yellow Ribbon school and identify that you are eligible per the GI Bill qualifications.

Receiving Yellow Ribbon funds this year does not guarantee that your school will participate in the future or that they will contribute funding at the same level. However, your school should notify you of changes or if they are leaving the program.

If you do qualify for and receive Yellow Ribbon funding, this is a good program to help make higher education more affordable

Did you participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program when you earned your college degree? What was your experience with this program?

Should Service Members Be Required to Buy into Their Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefit?

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House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe, R-Tenn., introduced the idea of changing the GI Bill to have service members buy into the benefit. This quickly became a debated topic with strong opinions on both sides.

Later, a meeting was scheduled to hear points from multiple interested parties, but that was quickly called off as well. Finally, last month 35 veterans groups were able to peacefully discuss changes to the GI Bill.

At the conclusion of that meeting, the groups were able to agree on 4 key changes to the GI Bill but could not agree on how to fund them.

Currently, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is a free benefit to service members that meet certain criteria. There is no fee to participate in the program. The GI Bill is estimated to cost the government about $100 billion over the next 10 years.

Should Service Members Be Required to Buy into Their Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefit?

New service members may be required to pay into the GI Bill if proposed changes occur. Four changes are being considered, but funding for them may come from service members directly.

The idea introduced is that new service members would have to buy into the GI Bill benefit if they wanted to have access to it. This fee would only apply to service members that enter the military after a set point, not current or former service members.

The GI Bill tax is proposed to be $100 a month for the first 2 years of service. While that might not sound like a lot of money to those in Washington, it is substantial to lower enlisted men and women. Once the $2,400 has been paid over that period of time, service members would be eligible to use the GI Bill. The government estimates that this buy-in fee would bring in $3.1 billion over 10 years.

The money taken in from this GI Bill tax would be used to finance adding other groups of service members and their families that do not, under the current GI Bill, qualify for the program. Adding these groups to the GI Bill benefit is what all parties can agree on, but funding it through this tax is not.

As it stands, the groups agreed on 4 changes to the GI Bill.

The first is permitting National Guard and Reservists who deployed under Title 10, Section 12304b and should of qualified for benefits, but didn’t, to be eligible for the GI Bill. Roughly 4,700 service members fall under this category.

The second thing they agreed on is to broaden the eligibility for the Yellow Ribbon Program to include surviving spouses as well as children of service members that were killed while serving their county. The Yellow Ribbon Program provides extra money to put toward education, which allows recipients to attend schools or take classes that would otherwise cost more than the GI Bill would cover.

The third thing all parties could agree on was to give full GI Bill benefits to every Purple Heart recipient. Sadly, every Purple Heart recipient does not currently qualify for these benefits. As it stands, the service member must be medically retired from the military if they don’t have 36 months of active duty. There are about 1,500 Purple Heart recipients who do not meet these qualifications.

Finally, those at the meeting agreed that there should be assistance for students when a school they are attending closes. Under the current GI Bill, if a school closes its doors before you graduate, you simply lose the money that the GI Bill benefit paid to the school. You don’t get to start over at a new school with new money.

Thousands of veterans were hit hard when ITT Tech closed last year. They weren’t able to recoup any of the money or even transfer credits.

These 4 changes to the GI Bill are great improvements. The only problem is how to fund them. The VFW strongly disagrees with charging service members for the GI Bill but other groups, particularly the Student Veterans of America, are for it.

What do you think of this proposal to have service members buy into their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits?

Now Is the Right Time to Transfer Your GI Bill to Your Kids

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A benefit for military service members is the GI Bill. While many take advantage of the great opportunity to go to college with this financial support, others choose to pass it on to their spouse or children.

This option wasn’t always available and might not remain so, which makes now a great time to decide if transferring your GI Bill is the right move for your family.

Now Is the Right Time to Transfer Your GI Bill to Your Kids

Talk to your spouse and children to see if transferring your GI Bill benefits to one or all of them is the right decision for your family. Don’t wait until politicians change, take away, or make receiving these benefits harder.

What is the GI Bill?

The GI Bill is a government program that helps service members meet the financial needs of continuing their education once they leave the military. It was initially only available to the service members who met certain qualifications. Over the years the rules and benefits have changed.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill is the latest form of the bill. It provides money for approved educational programs for up to 36 months of school for service members, which must be used within 15 years after leaving active duty.

In 2009, a law was passed to allow service members to transfer these benefits to their spouses, children or both.

Who is eligible?

Any service member that completed 90 days of aggregate active duty service after Sept. 10, 2001, that is on active duty, or that was honorably discharged or discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days is eligible.

What is covered?

Monetary funds are available to cover up to 36 months of educational courses for approved programs that include higher education, vocational training and now flight school for example. Other financial support may be provided to cover a monthly housing allowance, annual books and supplies and one-time rural benefits.

Am I eligible to transfer my GI Bill?

In order to transfer your GI Bill, service members must meet certain requirements. Anyone on active duty or Selected Reserve, officer or enlisted, who is eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill and also meets these requirements may transfer benefits:

  • Has at least 6 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of approval and agrees to serve 4 additional years in the Armed Forces from the date of election.
  • Has at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces (active duty and/or Selected Reserve) on the date of approval, is precluded by either standard policy (by service branch or DoD) or statute from committing to 4 additional years, and agrees to serve for the maximum amount of time allowed by such policy or statute.
  • Transfer requests are submitted and approved while the member is in the Armed Forces.

Why transfer your GI Bill now?

If you, as the service member, do not have any intention of using the entire 36 months of educational benefits, you might want to consider transferring some or all of the benefit to family members. The government started this program as a way of helping service members transition out of the military as well as an incentive to join the military. You have earned these benefits, so don’t let them go unused.

Last year Congress discussed changing the GI Bill benefit to make it more difficult to transfer to family members. They talked about increasing the number of years the service member must commit to in order to transfer the benefit. They also discussed limiting the scope of the benefit.

No legislation on this has been brought up, but the possibility is there. Why leave it to chance if you don’t have to?

How do I transfer my GI Bill?

Active duty service members may designate, modify and revoke a Transfer of Entitlement (TOE) request on the Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB) website.

After approval, there is one more form to turn in before a family member can use these benefits. Family members are required to apply to use the transferred benefits by submitting a VA Form 22-1990e with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Is there anything else I need to know about transferring the GI Bill to my spouse or children?

Family members enrolled in DEERS that are eligible for benefits at the time of transfer are able to use the benefits.

Spouses are able to use the benefits at the time of transfer, but children must wait until the service member has completed at least 10 years of service. The child or spouse can use it while their sponsor is actively serving or after they leave the military.

Military children cannot use the transferred GI Bill until they finish high school, or an equivalent, or turn 18 years old. The child is entitled to the monthly housing allowance even while their sponsor is on active duty, but the spouse is not. A spouse has 15 years to use the benefits once the service member separates from active duty, but the child does not have this restriction. They do however age out of eligibility at 26 years old.

Talk to your spouse and children to see if transferring your GI Bill benefits to one or all of them is the right decision for your family. Don’t wait until politicians change, take away, or make receiving these benefits harder.

Has your service member transferred his or her Post-9/11 GI Bill to you or your children?

 

Applications for Commissary Scholarship Now Open

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The Scholarships for Military Children Program, now in its 15th year, provides college scholarships to military dependents. Applications for the 2015-2016 school year awards are now available at each commissary as well as online. This scholarship was “created in recognition of the contributions of military families to the readiness of the fighting force and to celebrate the role of the commissary in the military family community. It is the intent of the program that a scholarship funded through contributions be awarded annually for each commissary operated by the Defense Commissary Agency worldwide.” Every commissary will award at least one $2,000 scholarship and more may be possible based on funding and eligible applicants.

Who is Eligible for the Scholarships for Military Children Program?

The scholarship is only open to dependent unmarried children under age 23 of active duty, reserve/guard and retired military members or survivors of service members who died while on active duty. Dependents whose sponsor died while receiving retired pay from the military are also eligible. Applicants must be enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database and have a current military ID as well.

Each person submitting an application must be enrolling in a full-time undergraduate degree program at an accredited U.S. college or university for the fall term of 2015. Those who have already attained an undergraduate degree are not eligible.

The scholarship is based in part on academic achievement.  All high school applicants must have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 basis. The requirement for college students however is a minimum unweighted GPA of 2.5, also based on a 4.0 scale. Those currently studying at a community or junior college must be enrolled in a program that transfers into a four-year program.

How to Apply

Applications are available at your local commissary or you can download one . All application packets must be turned in at a commissary or mailed to one. You can look up the contact information for each commissary and contact them to determine who the application should be turned into specifically. The packet should contain the two-page application, school transcript with a cumulative unweighted GPA and a short essay.

This year the essay is:

Choose a woman who during WWII significantly influenced military decisions for either the Allied or Axis forces. Discuss what she did and why, how her actions impacted the war effort, and any unique challenges she may have faced. What lessons can be learned from her actions? Please choose an actual person (i.e., not a representation such as “Rosie the Riveter”). You may choose someone who served in the armed services, a civilian who acted “behind the scenes” or an intelligence spy.

While this subject could be quite lengthy, the essay must be 500 words or less. It needs to be typed, double spaced, and no longer than 2 pages.

The Notification Process

Letters will be mailed to recipients on or about May 15th. Those who applied but were not chosen will not be notified.

While it is a onetime award, it is a great opportunity to receive money for college. The $2,000 scholarship can be put toward any qualified expenses, such as tuition, fees, lab fees and books. The check is issued directly to the college so any other education-related costs, including class equipment or supplies are also allowed.

This is a great scholarship so don’t delay. Apply for a college scholarship through your military commissary today.