Most veterans having served for three years or more after September 10, 2001 know the Post-9/11 GI Bill will pay 100 percent of their tuition costs if attending a public school. But what does it pay if they attend a private school? And the biggest question is: What costs remain uncovered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill?
Consumer Finance Comparison Tool
To find a representative answer, I chose to a comparison tool provided by the people at Consumerfinance.gov. It allows a comparison of up to three schools at a time. As a standard, I left the Program Type and Program Length at the defaults of Bachelor’s and 4 years, respectively, and selected the Housing Situation of With Family for each of the selected three private not-for-profit schools of approximately the same size in Iowa:
- Cornell (Mount Vernon)
- Luther (Decorah)
- Central College (Pella)
The cost of attendance that automatically filled-in were:
- $35,515 – Cornell
- $37,140 – Luther
- $40,174 – Central College
Of those costs, the Post-9/11 GI Bill would pay up to $21,970 per year, leaving $13,545, $15,170 and $18,204, respectively, at each school. The form also allows inputting other types of financial aid, such as scholarships, work study, loans and what the student can contribute themself – all subtracting from the bottom line of what is left to pay.
Also included on the form was information on the Graduation Rate, Loan Default Rate, Median Borrowing and Debt at Graduation, if loans were taken out – all good information when trying to select a school.
GI Bill Comparison Tool
Another good tool is the GI Bill Comparison Tool from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. It allows for a greater selection of options, such as if someone other than the veteran (a spouse or child) will be using transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, and accounts for a greater selection of GI Bills and multiple cumulative-service-length selections. The last one is very important for veterans having served less than three qualifying active duty years, as is the case for many Selected Reservists having been deployed with partial Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage.
The results from this tool also show the estimated housing allowance for the school selected and book stipend. As the percentage of coverage changes, so does the amount of tuition, housing allowance and book stipend authorized.
As far as our three representative schools, the estimated monthly housing allowance (at 100 percent tier coverage) for each is:
- $1,243 – Cornell
- $1,072 – Luther
- $1,168 – Central College
Shopping Sheet
Many schools have subscribed to providing a shopping sheet to prospective students visiting their school that shows a breakdown of anticipated costs based on information provided both by the school and student. Grants and scholarships are subtracted from the cost of attendance, leaving an estimated net cost balance left for the student to pay. Work study, loans and other financial contributions (including the GI Bill) are also subtracted from the net cost, thus further reducing the amount left (if any) for the student to pay out-of-pocket.
All three tools are valuable when trying to figure how much an education will cost out-of-pocket at various private schools. Being able to compare apples to apples makes for a more realistic and accurate cost comparison, and in the end, a better decision.
