GI Bill Frequently Asked Questions
How to start the benefits process
Veterans need to visit How To Apply For The GI Bill And Related Benefits | Veterans Affairs (va.gov) to apply for benefits. If there is an error or issue logging in (ID.me for dependents), then please contact us so we can better assist you.
Please note that you will need to have the name and address of the school you wish to attend (located in the sidebar) and your bank routing number to fill out the application.
The VA will typically make a determination and mail the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) (award letter) within 3-8 weeks. The COE includes a summary of benefit type and eligibility criteria.
Applicants can call the GI Bill® hotline (1-888-442-4551), two-weeks after applying, to verify if they are eligible.
Veterans should keep this timeline in mind when they register for classes as it may lead to unforeseen out of pocket expenses.
The VA has a guide to understanding your benefits award. Please see their guide.
As of August 2022, a Change of Program is no longer necessary.
GI Bill® rates are dependent upon the type of benefits you qualify for, your rate of pursuit, and modality. Veterans should use the GI Bill® Comparison Tool: VA.gov to ensure a proper estimate of benefits.
Veterans should contact the Military and Veterans Success Center to initiate the certification process.
They will need to fill out a New Veteran Student Intake Form and Prior Learning Training Assessment Form. Once complete, the intake, prior learning, and certificate of eligibility needs
to be sent to the Military and Veterans Success Center.
Additionally, 4-6 weeks prior to each semester of attendance, veterans need to notify the Military and Veterans Success Center. Failing to do so may result in delayed payments.
Enrollment verification is required for Chapters 1606, 30, and 33. Failure to verify attendance may result in suspension of a student's housing stipend.
Below you will find how and where to verify enrollment for each chapter.
Chapters 30 and 1606 beneficiaries can verify their attendance through the Web Automated Verification (WAVE) program or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) at 1-877-823-2378.
Chapter 33 students can find updated information at Verify School Enrollment For GI Bill Benefits | Veterans Affairs (va.gov).
The short answer is YES! However, students must attend at least one day in person and provide documentation, signed by thier instructor. This done to protect the student from potential overpayments that may result from a VA audit.
The form can be found here.
Veterans may only take classes that are required for their current degree plan. If a veteran decides to change their degree plan, they should contact the Military and Veterans Success Center to avoid denial of benefits. Students may take courses required for advancement into a required course or when their program requires a specific grade they were unable to achieve (i.e. program requires a C or better, but the student received a D).
Example: Excessive electives, that do not apply to the current degree plan, are not authorized; recommended vs. required pre-requisite courses would likewise not be authorized.
The VA will cover remedial courses only if there is documentation to support a need, such as HS transcripts or placement test scores. If a need is met, remedial courses MUST be taken in person. Online and hyflex remedial courses cannot be certified.
Again, the short answer is yes, provided the course meets specific criteria and we have documentation that justifies certification beyond the courses actual semester hour worth. In these cases we can certify using clock hours instead of semester hours.
It is usually best to discuss the potential with us before making any assumptions.
If we have already spoken, or you have used this option in the past, you can find the required form here.
Veterans or dependents using GI Bill® benefits can visit va.gov or contact the GI Bill® hotline (1-888-442-4551) to verify their remaining benefit eligibility.
If you are using Chapter 31 (VR&E) or Chapter 33 (Post 9/11) benefits and have a tuition-specific (fenced) scholarship, then we can only report any unpaid tuition or fees to the VA, as required by federal law. If the scholarship is not tuition specific (non-fenced), then we would not reduce the amount offered.
If you are using Chapter 30, 35, or 1606 benefits and receiving a scholarship, this will not impact you since we do not report tuition to the VA in those instances.
Example: A veterans tuition is $4,000 and they receive a $2,000 tuition scholarship, we will report the tuition to the VA as $2,000.
Yes we do. Once a veteran attends their first semester, they will have priority enrollment for the following semester. This typically means that the day registration opens for students within their senior year, registration will also open for students using GI Bill benefits. Students should coordinate with their advisors accordingly to take full advantage.
Your benefits are not withheld due to not having "enough" credits. However, depending on your benefit type, there may be other factors that limit how much you recieve.
For Chapter 33 benefits your tuition and fees will always be covered at your eligibility percentage provided you are only taking required courses. Additionally, you will receive a book stipend until you reach the $1000.00 annual cap.
Your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) is based on the length of term, modality, and number of credits you are taking within that term. If a student is not “over” half-time they will not be eligible for MHA. If a student is solely online, they would only be eligible for the online rate.
Rates can be found at the links below;
Students will receive a stipend based on the number of credits they are pursuing. For undergraduate programs, this is set by federal law. For graduate level coursework it is set by the school policy. However, if a student is less than half-time, they will only receive the cost of tuition and fees, or the corresponding training time rate, whichever is less.
Rates can be found at the links below;
Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (Chapter 30) Rates
For VA purposes these two terms mean essentially the same thing, your full-time status. However, there is one major difference, rate of pursuit is rounded to the nearest 10% while training time is either full-time, ¾-time, ½-time, less than ½-time and more then ¼-time, or ¼-time enrollment or less.
Please note that only courses with the same start and end dates will be certified
together. In these instances, your full-time status may fluctuate based on periods that courses
do or do not overlap.
Example; An undergraduate student registers for 3 credits in the first 8 week summer session, and 3 credits in the second 8 week summer session. In this case the student would only be at full-time status for the period those courses overlap. The student would instead start and finish at half-time status for the period before and after those courses that overlap.
For undergraduate level programs both MSU Billings and the VA consider 12 credits to be full-time in a standard term. This would mean if you took 12 credits or more, and your courses span the entire 15 week term (Fall and Spring terms), then you would be considered full time.
For summer sessions we have three separate sessions; one 13 week session, two 8 week
sessions, and one 5 week session. The 13 week session would require 9 credits, the
two 8 week session would require 6 credits, and the 5 week session would require 4
credits to be full-time.
For graduate level programs, MSU Billings considers 9 credits to be full-time in a standard term. This would mean if you took 9 credits or more, and your courses span the entire 15 week term (Fall and Spring terms), then you would be considered full time.
For summer sessions we have three separate sessions; one 13 week session, two 8 week sessions, and one 5 week session. The 13 week session would require 5 credits, the two 8 week session would require 6 credits, and the 5 week session would require 3 credits to be full-time.
Avoid Debts and Maximize Your Benefits
The VA will pay the tuition for required courses at the Montana resident rate for Chapter 33 (eligible at the 100% rate) and Chapter 31 students.
All other benefit types (Chapter 30, 35, and 1606) are paid directly to the veteran, or dependent receiving benefits.
Students will need to coordinate with Business Services for any portion of their benefits not paid directly to the school. This includes Ch 33 students not covered at the 100% eligibility rate, Chapter 30, Chapter 35, and Chapter 1606 students.
VA will cover the student health insurance for Chapter 33 students, at their eligibility percentage, provided you confirm with the Military and Veterans Success Center that you intend to keep it. If you do not wish to keep the health insurance, you will need to waive it.
If we see the health insurance on your account when we certify your enrollment, we will contact you through email with instructions on how to waive it.
There are multiple federal guidelines that govern military and veteran tuition rates. If you are on active duty*, utilizing GI Bill benefits (Chapters 30, 31, 33, and 35), and live in Montana, contact the Military and Veterans Success Center to have your residency adjusted.
If you are using Chapter 33 benefits (Post 9/11, including transferred benefits) and are eligible at the 100% rate (typically based on 36 months or more of active service), and do not live in Montana, you may qualify for the Yellow Ribbon program.
*Active duty military members using Tuition Assistance (TA) are responsible for the fees portion of their cost of attendance, as TA will only cover the cost of tuition. Please note that being active duty alone does not ensure in state tuition. The service member (or dependent) must either be a resident of Montana, stationed in Montana under active duty orders, or a member of the Montana National Guard to qualify.
- If you are less than 100%, the VA will pay based on your percentage.
e.g. If your tuition and fees were $3000, and you were at 60%, the VA will only pay $1800, and you would be responsible to paying the $1200 balance.
- In instances where you may have a Tuition Waiver or Tuition Assistance, we would reduce what is reported to the VA by that amount and the VA would pay your eligibility percentage of the remaining balance.
e.g. If your tuition and fees were $3000, but you had a Tuition Waiver or TA that covered $1500, and you were at 60% eligibility, the VA would pay $900 of the $1500 we would report as your tuition and fees. You would then be responsible for the $600 balance.
- Any Monthly Housing Allowances (MHA) and book stipends would also be paid at your eligibility percentage.
Montana State University Billings does not utilize a funding, degree level, college, or number of students cap for the Yellow Ribbon Program. If students are not eligible for resident rates under the Choice Act, and are otherwise eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program, they will be automatically enrolled. However, it is highly recommended that you contact the Military and Veterans Success Center so you can confirm eligibility and ensure we do not inadvertently miss anyone.
The Military and Veteran Success Center conducts dual certifications for all Chapter 33 students IAW federal law. What this means is that after the add/drop period, we will adjust your certification, in order to report your tuition and fees.
The reason this is done is to ensure that the veteran receives their book stipends and MHA in a timely manner. Please notify us of any changes to credit hours or modality of instruction after certification, as not doing so may result in a student debt.
There are multiple reasons your payment might have changed. Payments are prorated based on the start and end of the term. This is the most common cause for a change to the students payment from month to month.
Additional reasons;
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- Your benefits have been exhausted or you reached your delimiting date.
- There may have been a change to modality.
- If you had a reduction or withdrawal, this may cause a change to your monthly payment.
If a veteran drops a course or changes their initial registration in any way, they should contact the Military and Veterans Success Center immediately. An amendment to their certification will need to be submitted reflecting their changes.
If a veteran drops any courses after the add/drop period, it may create a student debt. Please contact the us prior to any withdrawls after the add/drop period, so that we can better help you make an informed decision.
Please note that a complete withdrawal (from all classes) during the add/drop will likely lead to a tution debt. Again, we encourage students to contact us before hand so they can make an informed decision.
If you think you might fail a class, please contact us as soon as possible. There are resources on campus that can provide tutoring support, all at no cost to the student. The Military and Veterans Support Center is more than happy to help coordinate educational support services.
If you fail a class and did not continue to attend through the last day of the semester, a student debt will normally be established. This may lead to the veteran and school both owing money back to the VA. In the case of a debt to the school, those debts will then be billed back to the student by the university. Veterans should seek educational support through Veterans Upward Bound, the Academic Support Center, or TRiO Student Support Services to avoid failing a course. If you think you might fail a course, please do not, under any circumstances, stop attending!
If you receive an incomplete grade, you have one year to complete any additional course work in order to receive a passing grade. If the incomplete status remains after one year, the grade may be reported to the VA in accordance with federal guidelines.
Students placed on Academic Probation may be reported to the VA in accordance with the unearned F/unofficial withdrawal reporting requirements.
Students placed on Academic Suspension must be reported to the VA. The VA may send a debt letter to students placed on Academic Suspension and their education benefits may be suspended depending on the circumstances involved.
Students should contact the Debt Management Center at 1-800-827-0668 to verify the reason for the debt and process to repay the debt. Debts received by the university will be passed on to the student, as stated in the docusign Business Services sends to every new student using Chapter 33 benefits.
The rounding out rule is an option that allows students to take additional classes in order to regain full time status. However, this rule is only available to students that are within their last term. Priority must be made to taking any courses within the students’ degree plan (that they have not yet taken) prior to registering for courses outside their current plan.
Students should contact the Military and Veterans Success Center for more information.
If you start a semester with benefits, but they will exhaust during your current semester, the VA may extend you to the end of the term. Contact the GI Bill® to verify (1-888-442-4551).
Please note that if you have a delimiting date (experiation date), the end of term extension would not normally apply.
Additional Benefit FAQs
Students should refer to the Waivers and Scholarships section of our website. All tuition waiver application and facts are listed there.
Due to the detailed nature of either program, it is recommended students contact the Military and Veterans Success Center for the most up to date information and processes to either of these programs.
The short answer is YES! However, there are a lot of caveats to how these benefits work together. The Military and Veterans Success Center would be happy to discuss each specifically so you can make a more informed decision about what makes the most sense for your specific circumstances.
If a student meets Choice Act criteria, they will normally be automatically switched to resident status, provided they are using VA education benefits.
Students that may meet criteria due to Active Duty orders should contact the Military and Veterans Success Center so we can verify and help you adjust your residency.
College Financing Plans will be available to students within the first week of the term. If it is not, or students wish to view specific information individually, they can visit our Section 1018page.
Interal grievance and appeal procedures can be found at the MSU BillingsStudent Grievance & Appeal Procedurespage.
Complaints can be submitted directly to the VA; however we ask that you first allow the Military and Veterans Success Center to try to resolve any issues you may have as the VA does not tell us when there is an issue and it can significantly delay any favorable resolutions. We work very hard to advocate on our students behalf but can only do so when we are informed of potential issues or concerns.
