Do Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits Have to Be Used at the Same School as MGIB Benefits?
Q: For those of us who are exhausting their MGIB benefits and looking to take advantage of the additional 12 months of Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, do you know if there are any restrictions on how these 12 months can be used? For example, do the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits have to be used at the same school we last attended while using the MGIB benefits?
I ask because my MGIB benefits will be exhausted before I complete my degree (4 months short). I would like to use the Post 9/11 benefits during these 4 months to finish my degree and then use the remaining 8 months to complete a flight certification program.
Is finishing one degree program and starting another during the middle of the 12 month Post 9/11 extension allowed? Thanks for your help!
A: No they don’t have to be used at the same school. However if you are continuing your education at that school, be sure to put the effective date on your VA Form 22-1990 well after when you will finish using your Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) benefits. As long as the date is well after, you would seamlessly roll over from the MGIB to the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
However, if you have even a day left on your MGIB on the date you put down, that is all you would get for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, so be conscious of the date you put in the Block 9F, Part II of the referenced form.
Once you are finished with your degree, yes you can use the rest of your remaining Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to take a flight certification course.
Note that if you plan to use your Post 9/11 GI Bill to take flight qualification courses, in most cases you already have to have your private pilot’s license which in most cases the Post 9/11 GI Bill would not pay for.
And I think I have answered your last question – yes you can. However if you have finished one degree program and before you start another one, be sure to send in VA Form 22-5495 – Change of Program or Place of Training.
Otherwise the VA might not know you finished one program and started another one. They would most likely deny paying benefits because your new courses would not be part of the program they last had on file.