Provisions of the Forever GI Bill
are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1, as the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) continues to work on systems and procedures that will help
student veterans and campuses access the new benefits for the fall
semester.
Known formally as the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, the measure—passed in August 2017—expands the Post-9/11 GI Bill primarily by redefining eligibility and removing the 15-year cap for benefits that had forced veterans to “use it or lose it.”
When fully implemented, the bill will:
- Restore educational benefits for student veterans forced to
discontinue due to the temporary or permanent closure of a school or if
they are unable to transfer those credits to a new institution. This
protection was added when thousands of veterans were hurt by the
collapse of ITT Tech and Corinthian Colleges.
- Expand full GI Bill benefits to all Purple Heart recipients.
Currently, a veteran must be medically retired from the military or have
36 months of active-duty service to qualify. Approximately 1,500 Purple
Heart recipients aren’t currently eligible for full education benefits.
- Grant a potential fifth year of Post-9/11 Bill eligibility to
student veterans pursuing science, technology, engineering, or
mathematics degrees.
- Remove the time limit on accessing education benefits for veterans
who become eligible after Jan. 1, 2018. Previously, vets receiving
Post-9/11 benefits had a 15-year time limit on accessing education
benefits.
- Expand the Yellow Ribbon program to include surviving spouses and children of service members killed in the line of duty.
- Allow veterans to attend schools or enroll in programs that cost more than the GI Bill tuition cap.
The House Committee on Veterans Affairs held a hearing July 18 to look at whether the VA is prepared to implement the changes.
Robert M. Worley II USAF (Ret.), director of
education service at the VA, told committee members that while progress
has been made, there are a few remaining areas where interim measures
will be required while the agency works to fully implement the law.
One such area is the changes made to how the
VA calculates the monthly housing stipend for student veterans. These
provisions have been of particular concern to institutions and veterans
because of their potential to impact whether veterans receive their
housing benefits on time. Currently, the process for calculating housing
stipends is based on the location of the institution’s main campus. The
Forever GI Bill changes that calculation to the location of the campus
where a student takes the most classes.
The VA sent a letter
last week to the campus officials who certify student veteran
enrollment, letting them know the new system expected to be ready on
July 16 has been delayed until mid-August. The letter gives additional
details on how campuses should proceed in the interim.