The Post 9/11 GI Bill Does Not Offer Break Pay
“Break pay” was a feature provided by the Montgomery GI Bill that allowed students to receive financial aid during lapses between classes. GI Bill Facts and Tips defined it as:
The Montgomery GI Bill offers a payment for the “no class” period between semesters during the regular school year. There are some exceptions to the policy which are important to make note of: breaks longer than 56 days are unpaid, the student is on active duty, or the school does not use a term or semester class schedule.
You are also not authorized a break payment if your entitlements are due to end during the break. If you change schools or programs during the break, you may not be eligible for break pay. Students may request not to be paid during the break, but make sure to turn in your ‘no-pay’ request before the break starts, or you will be paid for the time.
This feature is not available to students utilizing the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Students that receive benefits from the Post 9/11 GI Bill instead of the Montgomery Bill are required to participate in continuous schooling in order to receive benefits year-round; otherwise, they will suffer a lapse in benefits.
For example, if the student has a two month summer intersession, they may opt to take summer courses–whatever is necessary to be full-time, usually half the amount of units required for full-time attendance in spring and fall semester–and continue to receive the benefits of the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Otherwise, during those two months, they do not receive benefits, including the monthly housing stipend.
This freeze of benefits does not get held against the student; if they have 24 months of benefits, and choose to skip 2 months for summer intersession, they would only use 10 months of benefits per year instead of 12.
Students that are attending an online university usually do not have to contemplate whether they should participate in intersession courses or not; because online classes are done at the flexibility of the student and are typically offered year-round, breaks between classes are not prevalent.
For students that feel break pay is essential, the Montgomery GI Bill still offers this benefit.
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You are incorrect in this post. The 9/11 GI Bill does authorize break pay. But you cannot use it for a period longer than 56 days…aka 8 weeks.
OEF Vet….so if my break is longer than 56 days, do you know if they will pay me up to that 56th day but not past that?
For example, if my summer break begins 7 May and Fall begins 18 August? Day 56 is some time in July.
OEF Vet 2 – I’m 99% sure the answer is no. Under the Montgomery GI Bill(Chapter 30) if your break is longer than 56 days, you will not get any break pay. I believe these are the same rules they kept in place for the Post 9/11 GI Bill. If you take at least 2 summer courses at your college, you will receive the benefits for the class time and you can get the break pay after your courses end. If you’re out of school from May until September, the total days off are more than 56, so you get no pay for anything.
Look up your city hall and get in touch with your local VA representative. You may be eligible for a VA-sponsored work-study too.
Also, this article mentions online courses. If all of your courses are online, you won’t get the housing allowance. FYI.
Guys,
Does the post 9/11 pay tuition during the winter intersession? TIA
Dale,
To my knowledge, the Post 9/11 GI Bill does not cover winter intersession. You’ll want to ask the financial aid department at your school what options you have available; they should have representatives that can help you out more. The VA is also another option, although I understand their phone lines are cloggy.
Hope this helps!
The Post 911 does not offer a break pay ……. i am in a break now (28 days) and am not getting paid for it. SUCKS!!
Pete: I am in same situation, but I have been told break pay is automatic, however it comes after the start of the next semester if you are enrolled. Prior to calling and asking, I thought I would receive the break pay on Jan 1 since I had already enrolled in Spring 2010 classes.
I have actually heard conflicting stories on this one since writing about it. Some people are getting break pay and others are being rejected. I would be curious to see if a government official could address this question specifically.
You DO get break pay, but you will not get it on time. Lets take Spring 2010 semester. If you finished fall classes say 18 Dec and you start Sping up on 13 Jan, you will be paid from dec 1-18 on January 1st and you will get paid for Jan 13-31 on Feb 1. But the time off you had from Dec 19-Jan 12, you will get that money after the VA has processed you and you start getting your money for Spring semester. Its totally jacked up from the MGIBill, but oh well.
Does anyone know if I decide to take summer classes would I still have to go full time to get the 9/11 GI bill? Also, is there a break-pay given for summer break if I decide to not take classes?
I did get my break pay from Fall 09 to Spring 10. It took forever for me to finally get it but you do not get it while the actual break in session is taking place. It gets processed way past your first payment for the new term you are in. Also the summer load to be considered full time is not the same >6 credit load you need for a normal semester.
If your Certifying official certified the enrollment early then your pay would be a smooth transition automatically. You are allowed up to 120 days before the start of the term to process the enrollment. VA Once as a cert ID. Feel free to ask for it. As for break pay, Post 9/11 offers it and you should apply early for each semester to receive it smoothly instead of having to hurry up and wait for it. The more I work with the certifying official as I too am in class the more I learn as the program develops. Keep in mind it is still developing! The more time you give the VA the better off you will be.