Can I Take a Class On-Campus and Get the Full Post 9/11 GI Bill Housing Allowance?
Q: I am currently enrolled strictly online and get 1/2 of the housing allowance, I was told that transferring to a 1-day-per-week classroom instruction gets the whole amount but I can’t find any evidence if this is true. I gave up a ton of overtime to do school and the 1/2 is not as helpful as I anticipated. Anybody know whether there is truth to this?
A: Yes, what you heard is partially true. The actual truth is you can take one class per semester, one that you need to mark off your degree plan in order to graduate, at a local school. The number of times that class meets per week doesn’t rally enter into the equation.
Taking a mix of online and on-campus classes, to get the full authorized monthly housing allowance, is one of the few “loopholes” left in the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The thing to watch is to ensure the classes you take resident are indeed ones that you need to check off your degree plan.
If they are not on your degree plan, the VA would not pay for those courses (in which you would have to pay out-of-pocket), plus those credits would not apply towards your monthly housing allowance.
Your Post 9/11 GI Bill MHA authorized amount is determined by the zip code of your school and the number of credits you take. As long as you are taking at least the minimum number of credits your school considers full-time, you would get the maximum amount, of course assuming you are 100% Post 9/11 GI Bill eligible.
Be sure to coordinate with your degree-issuing school – most likely your online school – because they have to approve the classes you are going to take on campus. Once finished with those classes, your school where you attended classes would send a transcript of credits over to your online school so those credits can be posted to your degree plan.
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