GI Bill Calculator: Estimate Your Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits

How the GI Bill Calculator Estimates Your Benefits

The Post-9/11 GI Bill has three payments and one clock. This calculator follows the same rules VA and your School Certifying Official use.

• Tuition and fees (paid to the school): at a public school, VA pays net in-state tuition and fees. At a private or foreign school, VA pays up to the annual cap in the VA Post-9/11 rate table (opens in a new tab). Both are multiplied by your benefit level.
• Yellow Ribbon: at the 100 percent level, a participating school can cover part of the tuition above the cap and VA matches it dollar for dollar.
• Monthly housing allowance (paid to you): the campus ZIP code BAH for an E-5 with dependents, times your rate of pursuit rounded to the nearest tenth, times your benefit level. Online-only students get half the national average. Use the MHA calculator to check one term.
• Books and supplies stipend (paid to you): a per-credit rate up to an annual maximum set by VA, times your benefit level.
• Entitlement: full-time enrollment uses one month for each month in school. Part-time uses it in proportion. See how long the GI Bill lasts.

What this estimate leaves out

• Tutorial assistance, licensing and certification test fees, and national exams
• The Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship for students near the end of entitlement
• Other chapters. Montgomery GI Bill and Reserve GI Bill benefits pay a flat monthly rate instead; see the Reserve GI Bill guide and the Chapter 30 calculator.
• Whether your program is approved. Check the school in the WEAMS search guide before you enroll.

GI Bill calculator FAQ

How much will the GI Bill pay me?

The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays three things: tuition and fees to your school, a monthly housing allowance to you, and a books and supplies stipend to you. Each is multiplied by your benefit level, from 50 to 100 percent, which is printed on your Certificate of Eligibility. The calculator above adds them up for one academic year using current VA rates you enter.

Does the GI Bill pay for private schools?

Yes, up to an annual cap that VA sets each August for private and foreign schools. If tuition is higher than the cap and you are at the 100 percent level, the Yellow Ribbon Program can cover part or all of the difference: the school contributes an amount and VA matches it.

How is the GI Bill housing allowance calculated?

If you take at least one class in person, the monthly housing allowance is the BAH rate for an E-5 with dependents at your campus ZIP code, times your rate of pursuit rounded to the nearest tenth, times your benefit level. If every class is online, it is half the national average instead. You must be enrolled more than half time to receive it.

How many months of GI Bill does a school year use?

Full-time enrollment uses one month of entitlement for each month you are in school, so a typical nine-month academic year uses about nine months. Part-time enrollment uses entitlement in proportion: three-quarter time uses about three quarters of a month for each month enrolled. Thirty-six months covers about four full-time academic years.

Does the GI Bill pay for online school?

Yes. Tuition and fees are paid the same way for online and in-person programs. The difference is housing: a student taking only online classes receives half the national average housing rate instead of the rate for the campus ZIP code.

What if my benefit level is below 100 percent?

Tuition, housing, and books are all paid at your percentage. At the 70 percent level, for example, VA pays 70 percent of covered tuition, 70 percent of the housing rate, and 70 percent of the books stipend. Yellow Ribbon is only available at the 100 percent level.

More tools: the full set of GI Bill and VA education calculators, the Chapter 33 guide, and how Yellow Ribbon works.