VA expands access to GI Bill benefits for Veterans who served multiple periods of service

For many men and women who enlist in the military, an important incentive to join is the availability of the GI Bill to further their own education, or use the benefits for their families. But with the benefit, there have been limitations to how many months of educational benefits they have.

On January 3, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that — following the 2024 Supreme Court decision — it has updated the process for awarding GI Bill benefits. This change means that many Veterans who served multiple periods of military service, such as Veterans who reenlisted, will be eligible for up to an additional 12 months of education benefits.

Under the previous policy, eligible Veterans who served at least two periods of service were limited to a maximum total of 36 months of GI Bill benefits, between the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Under the updated policy, that limitation is removed — meaning that eligible Veterans can now qualify for up to 48 months of total GI Bill benefits.

This policy change also means that many Veterans who were previously limited to 36 months will now be eligible for additional education benefits. Specifically, Veterans who served at least two qualifying periods of service — one that qualified them for the Montgomery GI Bill and a second that qualified them for the Post-9/11 GI Bill — may be eligible to receive up to 12 months of additional GI Bill benefits, bringing them to a total of 48 months.

This could impact as many as 1.04 million Veterans and beneficiaries, and VA is launching a targeted outreach campaign to make sure that every Veteran gets the additional benefits they deserve.

In 2024 alone, the VA helped more than 900,000 Veterans or their families pay for school and cover expenses while training for a job.

“This policy will not only help Veterans who apply for GI Bill benefits in the future — it will also allow VA to provide additional benefits to many Veterans who used GI Bill benefits in the past,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs. “Every Veteran has earned the right to get a good, affordable education — and under this new policy, many Veterans will get additional 12 months of GI Bill benefits.”

Of the 1.04 million Veterans who may potentially be eligible for an additional 12 months of benefits, VA will be able to automatically adjudicate the claims for approximately 660,000 without any further action required on their part. For all remaining Veterans, VA will be reaching out to them directly to encourage them to file a claim.

As a part of this policy, VA is also extending the expiration dates for using GI Bill benefits for eligible Veterans. For each Veteran with multiple periods of service who chose the Post-9/11 GI Bill over the Montgomery GI Bill, the VA will reinstate the time they had remaining at the time of their election plus 90 days. For example, if a Veteran chose to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill at a time when they had 5 years left to use the Montgomery GI Bill, they would be given 5 years plus 90 days to use any additional Montgomery GI Bill benefits.

To receive an expiration date extension, applications must be submitted by October 1, 2030.

Since its inception, the Post-9/11 GI Bill has paid over $143 billion to over 2.7 million beneficiaries. It has enabled Veterans and service members — as well as their eligible dependents, through the Department of Defense Transfer of Education Benefits program — to train and attend school while greatly reducing their out-of-pocket costs.

To learn more about this change, including how to apply visit www.benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/rudisill.asp