WI GI Bill and Post 9/11 GI Bill

Dr. Pat  from the blog Veterans on Campus mentioned back in May ’09 that the Wisconsin GI Bill–a state-funded military financial aid program in WI–would force students to switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The WI GI Bill grants a tuition waiver, but the student must provide documentation that he or she applied for the Post 9/11 GI Bill in order to qualify; if they were accepted, they must switch from Chapter 1606/MGIB to Chapter 30, and if they were declined, they may continue using Chapter 1606/MGIB.

This throws a monkey wrench into the issue of whether the MGIB or the Post 9/11 GI Bill is more beneficial for Wisconsin college students. The effect was only proposed back when Dr. Pat blogged about it in May, but has officially been approved to go into effect in Spring 2010.

Wisconsin military students will now have to decide whether to switch to the Post 9/11 GI Bill or not based on different factors:

1. Whether or not they receive more money from the Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 30) and the tuition waver from the WI GI Bill, or
   
2. They receive more funds from the Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 1606)

Fortunately, Wisconsin is extending a helping hand out to their military students to combat this complex change. The Post 9/11 GI Bill is confusing enough to begin with before any additional concerns, and the Wisconsin government officials recognize this concern. Wisconsin military personnel have been encouraged to contact one of the following for consultation:

• County Veterans Service Officer regarding Wisconsin Veterans Benefits programs (http://dva.state.wi.us/CVSO.asp),
• Veterans Administration regarding federal benefits programs (http://www.gibill.va.gov/), or
• School Veterans Certifying Officer at your campus

An interesting note to family transferability is that not only is the WI GI Bill not transferable, but if the military personnel transfers all of the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to spouse or child, they forfeit their right to the WI GI Bill. If, however, they only transfer part of their Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to spouse or child, the military personnel may still qualify for the WI GI Bill benefits.

The last note, taken from the WI GI Bill’s website concerning dropping/withdrawing classes: “Students should be aware that there are significant financial consequences when adding or dropping classes under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.  Adding classes, dropping classes or withdrawing may result in students being required to repay the Federal VA for any benefits received during that term, and to repay the supplemental payment granted under the Wisconsin GI Bill.  Students are urged to carefully consider the financial consequences of any enrollment changes with Federal VA benefits counselors.”