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Benefits

Federal VA Benefits

Alabama VA Benefits

Chapter 30 - Montgomery GI Bill ®

Recipients receive a monthly stipend from the VA and can receive up to 36 months of benefits. Recipients who combine this benefit with one or more other chapter benefits can receive up to 48 months of total benefits. The delimiting date for this benefit is 10 years from the last period of qualifying active duty service (at least 90 days in length). A recipient’s benefit amount is affected by their training time. VA benefits will not be processed for courses which are not required for a student’s degree plan and may or may not be processed for repeated courses.

All payments are sent directly from the VA to the student (not to the school) via direct deposit. Benefits are paid in arrears (after the training period). For example, a student receives payment for August at the beginning of September. Payments are prorated for any partial months of attendance (ex. August & December). Payment amounts do not include enrollment break periods (ex. Winter & Summer break). The monthly benefit amount paid is based on the length of service, category, and DoD put “Kickers” into the MGIB Fund (if applicable).

Recipients must verify enrollment at the end of each month by Web Automated Verification of Enrollment (WAVE) or by Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Visit the WAVE website or call (877) 823-2378. Failure to very enrollment will result in non-payment of the benefit.

If you would like to transfer from Chapter 30 to Chapter 33, please contact the Regional VA at (888) 442-4551 for proper guidance.

Chapter 31 - Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment

Benefit Description

Recipients may qualify to receive payment for tuition and fees, a subsistence allowance, and books. The veteran’s Vocational Rehabilitation counselor will determine the number of months of the veteran’s Chapter 31 Benefit eligibility.

Tuition and fee payments are paid directly to The University of South Alabama and are applied as a 3rd party payment to the student’s billing account.

The VA will not pay for the following:

  • Tuition and fees which are already being paid by other forms of financial assistance specifically intended to pay tuition and fees (ex. Tuition Assistance, tuition scholarships, etc.).
  • Courses which are not required for a student’s degree plan.
  • Courses which are repeated for which the student has already earned an acceptable grade (as determined by their degree).
  • Courses which are withdrawn or dropped (the VA may pay part, but not all of the cost of such courses).

An e-mail will be sent to USA Bookstore after a student’s Request for Certification is processed by the Office of Military Services.

Chapter 33 - Post 9/11 GI Bill ®

Benefit Description

Recipients may qualify to receive payment of tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, and a book stipend. Recipients can receive up to 36 months of benefits. Recipients who combine this benefit with one or more other Chapter Benefits can receive up to 48 months of total benefits.

Tuition and fee payments are paid directly to the University and are applied as a 3rd party payment to the student’s billing account. Students must notify the Veterans Affairs Center if their VA chapter benefits will exhaust during the semester in which benefits have been requested as this may result a reduced tuition and fee payment from the VA. The VA will not pay for the following:

  • Tuition and fees which are already being paid by other forms of financial assistance specifically intended to pay tuition and fees (ex. Tuition Assistance, tuition scholarships, etc.).
  • The portion of Program Fees which consist of charges for books, supplies, travel, food, or accommodations (the student is expected to use their book and housing stipends to pay for such charges).
  • Courses which are not required for a student’s degree plan.
  • Courses which are repeated for which the student has already earned an acceptable grade (as determined by their degree).
  • Courses which are withdrawn or dropped (the VA may pay part, but not all of the cost of such courses).

Monthly Housing Payments are sent directly from the VA to the student (not to the school) via direct deposit. Benefits are paid in arrears (after the training period). For example, a student receives payment for August at the beginning of September. Payment amounts vary annually and are on the Department of Defense (DoD) Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate for E-5’s with dependents. The amount of this benefit varies from 40% to 100% depending on the length of active duty service. Students enrolled in only distance learning or online courses are only eligible for a monthly housing allowance equal to 50% of the national average of all Basic Allowances for Housing. Payments are prorated for any partial months of attendance (ex. August & December). Payment amounts do not include enrollment break periods (ex. Winter & Summer break).

Book Stipends are sent directly from the VA to the student (not to the school) via direct deposit. Payment amounts are equal to $41.67 per credit hour up to 24 hours in a single academic year ($1,000 maximum). A lump sum payment is made each semester. These stipends are prorated based upon the percentage of benefit awarded.

For financial aid purposes, the estimated housing expense in the estimated Cost of Attendance must be removed for any Active Duty Service Members with a FAFSA on file. This may result in a reduction of financial aid eligibility.

Chapter 35 - Dependents Educational Assistance

Benefit Description

Recipients receive a monthly stipend from the VA. Dependents’ Educational Assistance provides education and training opportunities to eligible dependents or certain veterans. A recipient’s benefit amount is affected by their training time. VA Benefits will not be processed for courses which are not required for a student’s degree plan and may or may not be processed for repeated courses.

All payments are sent directly from the VA to the student (not to the school) via direct deposit. Benefits are paid in arrears (after the training period). For example, a student receives payment for August at the beginning of September. Payment amounts do not include enrollment break periods (ex. Winter & Summer break). Payment amounts do not include enrollment break periods (ex. Winter & Summer break).

Chapter 1606 - Selected Reserve

Benefit Description

Recipients receive a monthly stipend from the VA and can receive up to 36 months benefits. Recipients who combine this benefit with one or more other Chapter Benefits can receive up to 48 months of total benefits. A recipient’s benefit amount is affected by their training time. VA Benefits will not be processed for courses which are not required for a student’s degree plan and may or may not be processed for repeated courses.

All payments are sent directly from the VA to the student (not to the school) via direct deposit. Benefits are paid in arrears (after the training period). For example, a student receives payment for August at the beginning of September. Payments are prorated for any partial months of attendance (ex. August & December). Payment amounts do not include enrollment break periods (ex. Winter & Summer break).

Recipients must verify enrollment at the end of each month by Web Automated Verification of Enrollment (WAVE) or by Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Visit the WAVE website or call (877) 823-2378. Failure to verify enrollment will result in non-payment of the benefit.

The Department of Defense has announced it will not authorize Tuition Assistance for classes for which a service member is also receiving VA Chapter 1606 benefits.

Alabama State GI Scholarship

Benefit Description

Benefits
Benefits will vary based on the date of the student’s original application for the scholarship.  Students are urged to review their entitlements carefully in the pamphlet provided by the state. The pamphlet is available here.

Legacy students are those with scholarship application dates prior to August 1, 2014.  Legacy students may receive benefits for undergraduate or graduate tuition for authorized courses, required instructional fees, and required textbooks. Legacy students must provide the Office of Military Services with a current certificate of entitlement. 

ACT 177 students are those with scholarship application dates between August 1, 2014 and July 30, 2017.  ACT 177 students may receive benefits for in-state undergraduate tuition for authorized courses, required instructional fees, and required textbooks.  ACT 177 students must provide the Office of Military Services with a current certificate of entitlement. 

ACT 349 students are those with scholarship application dates of July 31, 2017 or later.  ACT 349 students may receive benefits for a remaining balance of in-state undergraduate tuition for authorized courses up to the Department of Defense tuition assistance cap per credit hour (currently $400), and a remaining balance up to $1000 per semester for required instructional fees and required textbooks, after all other scholarships and grants have been applied to required educational expenses*. 

ACT 349 students must:

*Under the provisions of the Alabama G.I. Dependents’ Education Benefit Act (Code of Alabama 1975, section 31-6-9), the university must first apply other federal, state, institutional, and third party scholarships and grants awarded to the dependent to required educational expenses, before applying any Alabama G.I. Dependents’ Scholarship funds. Under these guidelines, the university must apply all other grants and scholarships, regardless of whether they are authorized to be used for housing, to required tuition, instructional fees, and textbooks first in all other cases.  Any remaining charges are the responsibility of the student.

Eligible Courses and Books

Alabama G.I. Dependents’ Scholarship funds of all types (Legacy, ACT 177, and ACT 349) may only be applied towards courses taken for credit.  The scholarship will not pay for audit, noncredit, remedial, or continuing education courses, or associated books and fees. 

A book allowance will be set up through the campus bookstore so that students may use estimated Alabama G.I. Dependents’ Scholarship funds towards eligible book charges up to the allowable limit. Eligible book charges are limited to textbooks that are required for authorized courses in which the student is officially enrolled.  The scholarship will not pay for reference manuals, access codes, suggested reading materials, study guides, supplies, or for the same textbook more than once if a course is repeated.

Contact

For more information on how the Office of Student Accounting processes these scholarships, please contact the Office of Student Accounting at 251-460-6195 or studentaccounting@southalabama.edu. 

The Alabama GI Dependent's Scholarship provides tuition and books for 10 semesters
Disability Requirements: Beginning in July 31, 2017, veterans must be rated 40% or more due to service connected disabilities or have held the qualifying rating at the time of death, be a former prisoner of war (POW), declared missing in action (MIA), died as a result of a service-connected disability rating or died while on active military service in the line of duty.

Students must apply for this benefit through the state's VA Portal linked here.

The Office of Military Services must receive a copy of the student's Certificate of Eligibility and a mandatory FERPA form must be filled out and returned to the Office of Veterans' Affairs.

ANGEAP (Alabama National Guard Educational Assistance Program)

Benefit Description

This is a benefit for students currently serving in the Alabama National Guard (Army and Air Guard) that provides up to $6017.50 per semester.

To qualify, you must be in good standing with your guard unit, meaning you cannot be flagged for any reason (PT test, missing drills…).

To apply for this benefit, complete the application every semester that you want to use this benefit. 

Turn it in to the Financial Aid office located in Meisler Hall.

Once the money arrives at the university, it will be applied to your student account. It will be reviewed by the Financial Aid office to verify you were not over-awarded on loans. If not, and there are no charges on your account, a refund will be issued to the student.

As a reminder, you must have a completed FAFSA on file with the University of South Alabama for the semester that you are applying for ANGEAP.