The Post-9/11 GI Bill, Yellow Ribbon, and STEM Extension

The Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)

The Post-9/11 GI Bill covers education and training for people who served at least 90 days of active duty after September 10, 2001. You can use it for a college degree, a graduate degree, vocational or technical training, licensing and certification tests, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and more (VA, 2026).

The benefit comes in three pieces:

• Tuition and fees paid directly to the school.
• Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) paid to you while you attend.
• Books and supplies stipend paid to you each academic year.

You get up to 36 months of benefits, which lines up with a standard four-year degree of nine-month school years. How much VA pays toward each of the three pieces depends on your benefit percentage, covered next.

How the benefit percentage scales

Your length of qualifying active duty sets the percentage of the full benefit VA pays. You reach the 100% tier with at least 36 months of service. You can also reach 100% with a Purple Heart awarded on or after September 11, 2001, or by being discharged for a service-connected disability after at least 30 continuous days of active duty (VA, 2026).

What the benefit pays

Here is what each piece covers for the 2025 to 2026 academic year, which runs from August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026. VA confirms current figures on its benefit-rates pages, so check there before you rely on a number (VA, 2026).

Tuition and fees

At a public school, the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the 100% tier covers the full in-state tuition and mandatory fees for a resident student. At a private or foreign school, VA pays net tuition and fees up to a national yearly cap, which is $29,920.95 for the 2025 to 2026 academic year (VA, 2026). Tuition above that cap at a participating school may be covered by the Yellow Ribbon Program, covered below.

Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA)

The housing allowance is based on the Defense Department Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate for an E-5 with dependents, using the ZIP code where your training takes place (VA, 2026). Because it is tied to local BAH, the amount differs by city. The housing allowance is generally paid only while you attend more than half time, and an online-only program is paid at a lower national rate. Active-duty students and their transferee spouses are generally not paid MHA.

Books and supplies stipend

VA pays a books and supplies stipend of up to $1,000 per academic year, calculated at up to $41.67 per credit hour for up to 24 credits per year (VA, 2026). Like the other pieces, it is scaled by your benefit percentage.

The Forever GI Bill removed the time limit

The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, known as the Forever GI Bill, removed the old 15-year deadline to use Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. If your last discharge or release from active duty was on or after January 1, 2013, your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits do not expire (VA, 2026; Congressional Research Service, R45205).

If you separated before January 1, 2013, the older 15-year clock can still apply to you. The change was not retroactive for earlier separations. The same removal of the deadline reaches a spouse using transferred benefits when the veteran's last discharge was on or after that date.

The Yellow Ribbon Program

Yellow Ribbon helps pay tuition and fees that go above the Post-9/11 GI Bill private-school cap or above the in-state rate at a public school. It is a voluntary agreement between a school and VA. The school contributes an amount toward the extra cost through a grant or scholarship, and VA matches that contribution dollar for dollar (VA, 2026).

Two rules matter most:

• You must be eligible at the 100% benefit tier to use Yellow Ribbon (VA, 2026).
• The school must take part in the program, and each school sets how many students it funds and how much it puts in each year.

An example: a school charges $6,000 above what the GI Bill covers. If the school agrees to fund $3,000 of that gap through Yellow Ribbon, VA matches the $3,000, and the full $6,000 gap is covered. If your tuition and fees do not exceed the cap, Yellow Ribbon does not apply (VA, 2026).

The Rogers STEM extension

The Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship adds extra benefits for students in high-demand science, technology, engineering, and math fields who are running out of Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement. It provides up to 9 months of additional benefits, or up to $30,000, whichever comes first (VA, 2026).

To apply, you generally must be a Post-9/11 GI Bill or Fry Scholarship student who has used all of your entitlement or will use it within 180 days, and one of these must describe you (VA, 2026):

• You are enrolled in an undergraduate STEM degree program or a qualifying dual-degree program that requires a high number of credit hours.
• You earned a STEM degree and are enrolled in a covered teaching certification program.
• You earned a STEM degree and are in a covered clinical training program for health care professionals.

The STEM extension is meant to carry a student across the finish line when a long STEM program outlasts the standard 36 months.

Transferring benefits to a spouse or child

An eligible service member can transfer unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or child. This is called Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB). The Department of Defense, not VA, decides whether a member may transfer, and the request is made through milConnect while still serving (VA, 2026).

The service obligation

To transfer, a member generally must have at least 6 years of service and agree to serve 4 more years from the date of the transfer request (VA, 2026). A member can split up to 36 months of remaining benefit among family members.

• A spouse can use transferred benefits while the member still serves or after separation.
• A child can use transferred benefits only after the member completes at least 10 years of service, and the child must have a high school diploma or equivalent or be 18 or older.

Other VA education programs

Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30)

The Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30) is an older program for those who paid into it through a payroll reduction during service. It pays a flat monthly amount to the student rather than splitting tuition, housing, and books the way the Post-9/11 GI Bill does. Some service members are eligible for both and must choose one, since you cannot collect both at the same time. Compare the two carefully, because the choice is often final (VA, 2026).

Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31)

VR and E (Chapter 31) is a separate program for veterans with a service-connected disability and an employment barrier. It can pay for training while supporting a return to work, and it is not the same as the GI Bill. We compare the two side by side on the VR and E vs GI Bill page.

Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35, DEA)

Chapter 35 DEA covers education and training for the spouse and children of a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, or who died from a service-connected condition, or who is captured or missing in certain situations (VA, 2026). It pays a monthly rate to the student. Benefit length and the deadline to use it depend on when you became eligible, so confirm your specific limits with VA. Survivors of a service member who died in the line of duty may instead qualify for the Fry Scholarship, which works more like the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Frequently asked questions