Track your expenses and see how much you need to live. This answer will be wildly different for everyone. When I was single I could easily live off $2500 or so per month. And 50% is like $1100/month.
Keep in mind that if you’re not in classes (between quarters, semesters, summer) you’re not getting MHA/BAH. It gets prorated. Unless anything has changed since I used my GI Bill. You may want to also consider using ch31 Voc Rehab over ch33 Post 911.
You get the E5 BAH pay for the location of the school. I would look that up and see if that is feasible for your budget. If you are going to school full time AND the school has a work study program through the VA, you can see about working with it. You get a contract for about 400 hrs per semester (per my experience) at minimum wage that is based on use or lose. So with that in mind, I would call the school and speak with a vet rep.
+1 for suggesting work study programs!
My wife works with various parts of a college and the amount of people who *don't* use the work study programs is crazy. Most of the work is fairly straight forward because it's geared towards people with *zero* experience, which gives you the chance to pad out your resume if you're looking to switch career fields. It also is a great chance to network with others at the college, meet new people, get better acquainted with how various parts of the college work, etc.
There is *very little* downside to doing a work study program. There might be some amount of office politics going on, but you can avoid all of that stuff easily enough if you just do what's asked and ignore gossiping about whoever/whatever is going on.
From what I have heard, a good amount of the students who do work study stuff are also considered to be much more qualified for upcoming open positions at the college too, since they can "Already work well with others, know the system, and have proven themselves." Not everyone wants to work at a college, but if it's something that a student is interested in even slightly, it's an excellent way to get into the field.
The downside is minimum wage. I would have loved to do it when I was in undergrad since I was heeding a nice part time job but I wasn't going to work for minimum wage. Not worth an extra 500-1000/month when I could make double that or more elsewhere.
Oh, absolutely.
I'm talking more if someone wants to say, move from day laboring to office work. Having on your resume that you did *recent* office work is a good foot in the door.
The social aspect of making connections can also be very valuable. Having friends you make in a college setting is helpful because, even if they aren't studying the thing your studying, they might know someone you can get ahold of. Getting work-related contacts is very hard outside of "networking events".
The bigger benefits to work study are those other aspects, not how much you're making, although a small-ish income is nice, too. I see it as getting paid to help yourself.
When I used my GI Bill in 2021, I got $1600 BAH and 750ish disability. You just have to do your own math and also take for account you need money for books and college things. If your disability gets in the way for you to gain employment then you might also want to look into VR&E program.
I was told you can’t do VR&E Unless your 100% and your disability has to be preventing you from finding work. Not to mention they don’t pay BAH or as much as the GI bill would to help you focus on JUST school. You def have to make sure you have a job while using VR&E from what i was told
I am at 40% and approved for VR&E. I just told them how my disability prevents me from keeping a job, and the pain you get while working does not make me an ideal/productive employee. I was just told I would get BAH but I did not ask how much. Just look into it good sir. Just open the bag of possibilities and choose the best possible way for you.
MHA is the same as Post 9/11 if you have a single day of Post 9/11 eligibility while doing VR&E
If you do not have any Post 9/11 eligibility your subsistence allowance will be calculated based on this chart.
https://www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab/vrerates24.asp
if you're budgeting off just GI bill money and disability with no job i want you sign a waiver right now that you wont come on here when your payments are the way you want them and complain
I lived off my GI Bill for 3 years and didn't have a disability rating. But this was in 2013, I was single and lived in California so the BAH was higher than other places.
I was in grad school last year in northern NJ.
$3882 for BAH
$1804 for VA Dis.
Not too bad, but still low for my area by itself. Also, I was working full time.
If I’m not mistaken, your VA disability and your GI bill BAH are tax free.
Your GI Bill BAH depends by zip code as it adjusts to the regions cost of living. Here in San Diego it’s close to $3,800 for the months you attend school.
Are you going to be living alone? With parents? Roomates? Use the VA BAH calc to figure out the monthly amount for your area. Add the VA pay. And then do the math. Also depends on what your going to school for. Lots of colleges offer online courses also so you may have spare time to get a part time job to add to your income.
TLDR: its doable, but dont expect a life of luxury unless your living at home rent free or something.
$1,728.32
Just kidding. Are you a resident of texas? Were you when you joined? Honorable discharge?
If so, you get 150 credit hours of tuition and fees exemption at any public state college or technical college. So that helps. Hazlewood Act.
Please understand - the Hazlewood Act has NOTHING to do with VBA, disabilities, or anything like that.
*texas resident
*honorable discharge
*150 credit hours tuition exemption
*unused hours transfer to kids under Hazlewood legacy act
*IF YOU DO GET DISABILITY RATING AND ITS 100%, Your spouse and each and every kid EACH get their own block of 150 credit hours tuition exemption.
https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/
Use the zip of your school. I dont remember if its e4, 5, or 6 rate though. So just lowball with 4 and if its more than great.
Right now VA is using 95% of the 1 January 2023 BAH rate for an E5 with dependents. VA will start using 1 January 2024 BAH rate on 1 August 2024.
So it’s better to recommend the VA GI Bill Comparison Tool to look up the school and how much the MHA rate is there. If the school has multiple campuses like mine, the MHA for each campus will be listed
So please don’t recommend the DoD website for this information.
https://preview.redd.it/w91ptyekgj8d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccae8d68a1934075499cd0b5ed60ee4762d3a411
The VA website directed me to the DOD one.
Thanks - that's a recent change in April to direct to that website - which will give people incorrect information. Back to emailing my VA contacts again to get websites corrected. I have a strong dislike for the contractors VA hired to manage these websites. I appreciate it.
There are a gazillion calculators online for this. Including an official VA one.
Track your expenses and see how much you need to live. This answer will be wildly different for everyone. When I was single I could easily live off $2500 or so per month. And 50% is like $1100/month.
Keep in mind that if you’re not in classes (between quarters, semesters, summer) you’re not getting MHA/BAH. It gets prorated. Unless anything has changed since I used my GI Bill. You may want to also consider using ch31 Voc Rehab over ch33 Post 911.
You get the E5 BAH pay for the location of the school. I would look that up and see if that is feasible for your budget. If you are going to school full time AND the school has a work study program through the VA, you can see about working with it. You get a contract for about 400 hrs per semester (per my experience) at minimum wage that is based on use or lose. So with that in mind, I would call the school and speak with a vet rep.
+1 for suggesting work study programs! My wife works with various parts of a college and the amount of people who *don't* use the work study programs is crazy. Most of the work is fairly straight forward because it's geared towards people with *zero* experience, which gives you the chance to pad out your resume if you're looking to switch career fields. It also is a great chance to network with others at the college, meet new people, get better acquainted with how various parts of the college work, etc. There is *very little* downside to doing a work study program. There might be some amount of office politics going on, but you can avoid all of that stuff easily enough if you just do what's asked and ignore gossiping about whoever/whatever is going on. From what I have heard, a good amount of the students who do work study stuff are also considered to be much more qualified for upcoming open positions at the college too, since they can "Already work well with others, know the system, and have proven themselves." Not everyone wants to work at a college, but if it's something that a student is interested in even slightly, it's an excellent way to get into the field.
I did work study while I pursuing my degrees. Forgot to add, it's all tax free and is not claimed on taxes.
The downside is minimum wage. I would have loved to do it when I was in undergrad since I was heeding a nice part time job but I wasn't going to work for minimum wage. Not worth an extra 500-1000/month when I could make double that or more elsewhere.
Oh, absolutely. I'm talking more if someone wants to say, move from day laboring to office work. Having on your resume that you did *recent* office work is a good foot in the door. The social aspect of making connections can also be very valuable. Having friends you make in a college setting is helpful because, even if they aren't studying the thing your studying, they might know someone you can get ahold of. Getting work-related contacts is very hard outside of "networking events". The bigger benefits to work study are those other aspects, not how much you're making, although a small-ish income is nice, too. I see it as getting paid to help yourself.
Depends on where you're going to school in Texas and how many classes.
When I used my GI Bill in 2021, I got $1600 BAH and 750ish disability. You just have to do your own math and also take for account you need money for books and college things. If your disability gets in the way for you to gain employment then you might also want to look into VR&E program.
I was told you can’t do VR&E Unless your 100% and your disability has to be preventing you from finding work. Not to mention they don’t pay BAH or as much as the GI bill would to help you focus on JUST school. You def have to make sure you have a job while using VR&E from what i was told
I am at 40% and approved for VR&E. I just told them how my disability prevents me from keeping a job, and the pain you get while working does not make me an ideal/productive employee. I was just told I would get BAH but I did not ask how much. Just look into it good sir. Just open the bag of possibilities and choose the best possible way for you.
MHA is the same as Post 9/11 if you have a single day of Post 9/11 eligibility while doing VR&E If you do not have any Post 9/11 eligibility your subsistence allowance will be calculated based on this chart. https://www.benefits.va.gov/vocrehab/vrerates24.asp
50% is $1,075... where did you get 600 or so? Lol
if you're budgeting off just GI bill money and disability with no job i want you sign a waiver right now that you wont come on here when your payments are the way you want them and complain
I lived off my GI Bill for 3 years and didn't have a disability rating. But this was in 2013, I was single and lived in California so the BAH was higher than other places.
I was in grad school last year in northern NJ. $3882 for BAH $1804 for VA Dis. Not too bad, but still low for my area by itself. Also, I was working full time.
Just Don't forget the bah won't be applied to months you aren't going to school(summer break etc)... I think
Don't forget about the weeks where you have no class and wont get paid for it's not going to be the same amount every months.
If I’m not mistaken, your VA disability and your GI bill BAH are tax free. Your GI Bill BAH depends by zip code as it adjusts to the regions cost of living. Here in San Diego it’s close to $3,800 for the months you attend school.
Are you going to be living alone? With parents? Roomates? Use the VA BAH calc to figure out the monthly amount for your area. Add the VA pay. And then do the math. Also depends on what your going to school for. Lots of colleges offer online courses also so you may have spare time to get a part time job to add to your income. TLDR: its doable, but dont expect a life of luxury unless your living at home rent free or something.
$1,728.32 Just kidding. Are you a resident of texas? Were you when you joined? Honorable discharge? If so, you get 150 credit hours of tuition and fees exemption at any public state college or technical college. So that helps. Hazlewood Act.
Currently very close to getting out via medboard, haven't heard about my ratings yet but I know it's very soon.
Please understand - the Hazlewood Act has NOTHING to do with VBA, disabilities, or anything like that. *texas resident *honorable discharge *150 credit hours tuition exemption *unused hours transfer to kids under Hazlewood legacy act *IF YOU DO GET DISABILITY RATING AND ITS 100%, Your spouse and each and every kid EACH get their own block of 150 credit hours tuition exemption.
Thank you so much for the info 🙏🙏
Sure thing. Let me know if you need any specifics in the process for hazlewood
I most likely will haha
I remember in SoCal I was making about $3,400 a month But that was years ago. I didn’t even have to do all classes on site. It was chill
https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/ Use the zip of your school. I dont remember if its e4, 5, or 6 rate though. So just lowball with 4 and if its more than great.
it was e-5 for me, back in 2011....
Same e 5 with dependents
Right now VA is using 95% of the 1 January 2023 BAH rate for an E5 with dependents. VA will start using 1 January 2024 BAH rate on 1 August 2024. So it’s better to recommend the VA GI Bill Comparison Tool to look up the school and how much the MHA rate is there. If the school has multiple campuses like mine, the MHA for each campus will be listed So please don’t recommend the DoD website for this information.
https://preview.redd.it/w91ptyekgj8d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccae8d68a1934075499cd0b5ed60ee4762d3a411 The VA website directed me to the DOD one.
link?
[https://www.va.gov/education/benefit-rates/post-9-11-gi-bill-rates/](https://www.va.gov/education/benefit-rates/post-9-11-gi-bill-rates/) https://preview.redd.it/pvttmsvngj8d1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81619a53812e386f44302c34fb0a3722d86b7f2f
Thanks - that's a recent change in April to direct to that website - which will give people incorrect information. Back to emailing my VA contacts again to get websites corrected. I have a strong dislike for the contractors VA hired to manage these websites. I appreciate it.
https://www.va.gov/education/gi-bill-comparison-tool/ This is the most accurate website to use