GI Bill Notes

The GI Bill is one of the most important education benefits veterans can use to pay for medical school. While full eligibility is listed on the VA website (Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) | Veterans Affairs (va.gov), the vast majority of veterans in the post 9/11 generation will qualify. If you served more than three years active duty and were honorably discharged, then you will likely qualify for 100% of your GI Bill benefits. The exception is if you had the military pay for college you’ll have to serve your initial commitment and then 3 years on top of that to qualify for 100% of the GI Bill. For example, some veterans do not qualify for 100% of the GI BIll because they attended a service academy and did not serve three full years longer than their initial five-year active duty commitment. More details on the determination of your GI Bill percentage is available here: How We Determine Your Percentage Of Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits | Veterans Affairs (va.gov).

The GI Bill pays for the total tuition of the cost of public school (i.e. state university medical school). Most veterans will also qualify for a yearly book stipend (~$1000) and a housing allowance similar to BAH. The exact housing allowance can be determined via zip code on the VA's tool here: GI Bill® Comparison Tool | Veterans Affairs (va.gov). In cases where a veteran does not qualify for 100% of the GI Bill, these total benefits will be multiplied by the amount the veteran has earned (i.e. 80%) to determine the final allotment.

The Yellow Ribbon is an important additional source of funding for veterans attending medical programs. The Yellow Ribbon is only available to veterans who earned 100% of their GI Bill benefits and is meant to close the gap between public and private education. Private medical schools make agreements with the VA (generally updated every spring in April and May) to waive a certain amount of tuition for veterans. The VA then matches this commitment to decrease the total cost for the veteran attending the school. Many medical schools are in agreements with the VA to "close the gap" entirely between private and public education, so that veterans do not have additional out-of-pocket costs for tuition. More information on the Yellow Ribbon program is available through the VA: Yellow Ribbon Program | Veterans Affairs (va.gov). This tool also shows what schools participate in the Yellow Ribbon program and how much funding they allocate per veteran: Find A Yellow Ribbon School | Veterans Affairs (va.gov).

After applying for the GI BIll on the VA's website (How To Apply For The GI Bill And Related Benefits | Veterans Affairs (va.gov)), you will receive a certificate of eligibility from the VA via mail. Your medical school's finance office and/or registrar will need the certificate of eligibility to certify your enrollment with the VA. Once certified by your medical school, you will typically begin to receive payments within two weeks. Your school will also receive the first lump sums of tuition payments on a similar timeline. You will likely be certified on semesters rather than for a full year, and you will not receive payments during any winter or summer breaks.

Medical school is generally longer than the 36 months of benefits allocated by the GI Bill (sometimes ~43 months of class and clerkship/sub-I time). However, if you start a semester with any remaining GI Bill eligibility, the GI bill will cover the duration of the semester. An important consideration then is to start your final semester of medical school with some remaining eligibility. Working with your school's finance office to ensure certification dates allow you to have remaining eligibility is then critical for the fourth year of medical school.

An additional nine months of GI Bill funding (after use of the original 36 months of funding) is also available for medical residency programs under the Forever GI Bill. Residency programs will certify you in a similar way to the registrar/finance office at a medical school to receive these benefits after you apply for additional funding through the VA. These additional nine months could be used for additional medical school funding, but they are not eligible for Yellow Ribbon. Therefore, it is still beneficial to enter the last semester of medical school without having used the original 36 months of eligibility if enrolled at a private institution.