For service members getting out within a year, or for veterans already out and considering using their GI Bill benefits to go to school, choosing the right higher learning institution is not easy. But the VA does have a couple of tools that make the search easier.
Weams Institution Search
If you don’t have a location or school picked out yet, the Weams Search Tool helps you narrow your search by inputting some search criteria.
1. Country
If you are unsure which country you want to attend school, click the Country Button and Select the country from the 99 countries in the dropdown box and click the Submit button. It will return a list of authorized schools in that country.
2. State
If you know that you want to attend a school here in the U.S, searching by State and Program Type can be a good place to start. Since the search defaults to the state search, all you have to do is select the Program Type from the Dropdown box and if you want schools that have a Yellow Ribbon Program or not.
Then click on the state you want from the U.S. Map or click on the state abbreviation below the map. The tool will return a list of schools in that state matching the search criteria you selected. From there, just click on the school you are interested in attending. It will return two types of information about that school: Institution Profile and Programs.
3. Institution Profile
This information is specific to the contact information of the school, Basic Housing Rate, if the school is a Yellow Ribbon School or not, and the names of the Certifying Officials at that school.
4. Programs
By clicking on Programs, it will bring up a list of courses available at that school. Choose either Institutions of Higher Learning (degree awarded) or Non-College Degree (vocational/technical type courses) depending on which type of training you want.
GI Bill Comparison Tool
Once you have chosen a school using the Weams Tool, copy the name of the school and click on the GI Bill Comparison Tool Link at the top of the Weams Page. Paste in the name of the school in the Search By Name and click on the Search Button. In the example below, I used the Flathead Valley Community College at Kalispell, MT.
Clicking on the Flathead Valley Community College link brings up this page.
For your school, input your GI Bill specific information on the left-hand side, and your GI bill benefits will be on the right-hand side. Because the Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) is driven in large part by zip code, your school may have very different numbers.
Other Factors
The other factor that affects the MHA is if you will be taking classes in person or online. By changing the question” Will you be taking any classes in person?” to “No”, the MHA drops to the online amount of $988/month instead of $1,638/month. By taking just one class on campus per term (and the rest can be online) will get you the full MHA.
These two tools can be a great assistance in helping you compare schools and choose one that best fits your needs and to see how much you can receive in GI Bill benefits.
