The Post 9/11 GI Bill and the FAFSA
The Post 9/11 GI Bill offers lucrative financial aid benefits to active duty, reserve, and veterans. These benefits are meant to scale with the rising costs of tuition and offer more than the predecessor, the Montgomery GI Bill.
This does not mean, however, that your financial aid should stop at your Post 9-11 GI Bill!
Make sure to fill out your FAFSA application in addition to the Post 9-11 GI Bill’s application. If your dependent is receiving your Post 9-11 GI Bill benefits, your dependent should also still fill out the FAFSA. With the FAFSA being reduced from it’s dire thirty-page application status to a mere ten-page application (not applicable this fall, but for the semesters thereafter), it will be easier than ever to apply for financial aid.
Why fill out the FAFSA when the Post 9-11 GI Bill gives you so many benefits, you ask? Here’s some of the additional benefits you may receive by taking the time to fill the FAFSA out:
- Pell Grants–money you never have to pay back!
- Other grants
- Subsidized and unsubsidized loans to cover the additional expenses you may incur while attending college; online students, for example, do not receive a BAH, so loans may be your only option for handling those expenses
The last thing you want to do is resort to a private loan. As a member of the military, you are entitled to a significant amount of financial aid to help you through college; in the event, however, that your military financial aid does not cover all of your college expenses, the Pell Grants and government loans are a better alternative than a private loan through a bank.
