The Post-9/11 GI Bill is one of the most valuable military service benefits. For many veterans, it can pay for a college degree, professional training, or another educational path after leaving the service.
But another option can make the benefit even more valuable to a military family: transferring unused Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a spouse or children.
That opportunity can potentially save a family tens of thousands of dollars in future education expenses. However, service members shouldn’t wait until retirement to transfer benefits; if you do, you must submit your application before the end of your 16th year of service. Otherwise, you may not be able to fulfill the additional four years of service requirement before you reach 20 years of service.
In fact, one of the most important things to understand about transferring the Post-9/11 GI Bill is that the decision must be made while you’re still serving. That makes planning ahead essential.
The GI Bill and Tuition Assistance Serve Different Purposes
Active-duty service members who want to earn a degree while serving often have another education benefit available: Military Tuition Assistance (TA). TA and the Post-9/11 GI Bill are separate programs.
For service members who can complete much or all of their education using TA, preserving their GI Bill can provide additional options later. They might use the GI Bill themselves after leaving the military, save it for graduate school or professional training, or if they meet the eligibility requirements, transfer some or all of it to eligible family members.
If transferring your GI Bill might be part of your family’s education strategy, start planning years before you separate or retire.
You Can’t Simply Transfer the GI Bill After You Leave the Military
This is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding transferring GI Bill benefits. A veteran generally cannot retire or separate from the military and then decide to transfer previously Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement to a spouse or child.
The transfer must generally be requested and approved while the service member is still serving and eligible to transfer benefits. That makes timing extremely important.
Under the transfer-of-education-benefits rules, service members generally must have completed at least six years of service and agree to serve an additional four years from the date the transfer is approved, subject to Department of Defense and service-specific eligibility requirements.
For someone planning to make the military a career, that requirement may fit naturally into a reenlistment timeline. But for someone considering leaving the military after eight, ten, or twelve years, however, the additional service obligation can become a major consideration. Waiting too long can potentially eliminate the opportunity altogether.
Think About the Transfer Before Your Next Reenlistment
One lesson to learn is not to think of transferring the GI Bill as something you’ll take care of shortly before retirement; remember the 16-year rule. Instead, consider it when you’re making decisions about reenlisting and your remaining service obligation.
A service member approaching a reenlistment window should ask:
- Do I expect to use the GI Bill myself?
- Could Tuition Assistance cover the education I want while I’m serving?
- Would my spouse or children benefit more from the GI Bill?
- Do I have enough time remaining in service to satisfy the transfer obligation?
- Are my dependents correctly listed in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)?
- Have I allocated at least some entitlement to every dependent who may eventually use the benefit?
That last question can be particularly important. Once you leave the military, you no longer have the ability to allocate benefits to a child or spouse that did not previously receive benefits while you were serving. However, you can as a veteran, revoke and reallocate benefits from one individual to another as long as both individuals have already received benefits.
Allocating benefits appropriately while still serving can preserve options for your family later. The general rule of thumb is to allocate each child and your spouse at least one month of benefit while still serving. More on this later.
Why Using TA First Can Make Sense
For many active-duty service members, TA should be one of the first education benefits they investigate. Using TA while serving can allow you to earn college credits without immediately consuming your Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement.
There is another important financial consideration. Active-duty service members (and spouses) generally do not receive the Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) if using the Post-9/11 GI Bill or transferred benefits, respectively. However, eligible children using transferred benefits can receive the MHA while the service member is still serving – even if the children are still living at home.
That doesn’t mean an active-duty service member should never use the GI Bill. Individual circumstances vary, and there are situations where using GI Bill benefits while serving can make sense. But before doing so, compare the value of using those months of entitlement now against what those same months could potentially provide after separation or to an eligible family member.
A month of GI Bill entitlement can represent considerably more than tuition alone. Depending on eligibility and the type of education pursued, Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits may include tuition and fees, a monthly housing allowance, and money for books and supplies. Using TA first may therefore preserve a much larger benefit for the future.
Transferring Benefits Doesn’t Mean You Have to Give Everything to One Person
Service members with multiple eligible dependents can divide their GI Bill entitlement among family members. For example, a service member with 36 months of remaining entitlement could potentially allocate:
- 18 months to one child and 18 months to another
- 12 months to three eligible dependents
- another combination that fits the family’s plans
The right allocation depends on the family’s circumstances; there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation.
It is also worth considering whether allocating at least some entitlement to multiple eligible dependents while still serving could provide greater flexibility later. Before making that decision, however, service members should review the current transfer rules carefully because the ability to add new beneficiaries or make changes after leaving military service can be restricted.
Transferred Benefits Can Be Extremely Valuable to Children
For families with children approaching college age, transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits can dramatically reduce the cost of higher education. At the 100% eligibility level, the benefit can cover full in-state tuition and mandatory fees at qualifying public colleges and universities. Students attending private or foreign schools are subject to an annual tuition-and-fee maximum.
Eligible students may also receive a MHA and a books-and-supplies stipend. The Yellow Ribbon Program may provide additional assistance for certain tuition costs that exceed the standard GI Bill payment, depending on the school, program, and student’s eligibility.
For a child attending college for several years, the combined value can be substantial. That is why transferring the GI Bill shouldn’t be viewed simply as giving away a military benefit. For some families, it is part of a larger financial strategy for paying for college.
Don’t Assume the Transfer Is Complete Until You Verify It
Military benefits often involve multiple systems, eligibility rules, and administrative steps. The GI Bill transfer process is no exception. After requesting a transfer, verify that it has actually been approved.
Keep copies of important records, including transfer approvals and information showing how many months were assigned to each dependent. It can also be useful to periodically log into the appropriate military benefits system and confirm that the allocations still appear correctly.
This is especially important as retirement or separation approaches. Discovering an administrative problem while you’re still serving gives you an opportunity to correct it.
Discovering the problem after you’ve left the military can vary from being much more difficult to non-existent.
Build Your GI Bill Strategy Early in Your Career
The bigger lesson isn’t simply whether you should use or transfer your GI Bill; it’s that you should have a plan for it:
- Someone early in a military career might use TA to earn a bachelor’s degree while preserving the GI Bill. Later, that service member might decide to use the GI Bill for graduate school
- Another service member might complete both undergraduate and graduate education using TA and other programs, leaving most of the GI Bill available for a spouse or children
- Still another might determine that using the GI Bill personally after leaving the service provides the greatest financial benefit
There isn’t one strategy that works for everyone. What you want to avoid is reaching your final months in uniform and only then asking what you should do with your GI Bill (because at that point, it is too late to transfer benefits).
Realizing Your Education Benefits
The Post-9/11 GI Bill isn’t just an education benefit. For career service members, it can become an important part of the family’s long-term financial and college-planning strategy.
If you are still serving, take advantage of TA and other education programs when they make financial sense, and think carefully before consuming GI Bill entitlement that you may want later.
If transferring benefits to your spouse or children is even a possibility, investigate the requirements well before retirement or separation. Review your service obligation, make sure eligible dependents are properly listed, submit the transfer while you’re still eligible, and verify that it was approved.
Most importantly, don’t wait until you’re leaving the military to start thinking about it.
The best time to decide what your GI Bill should eventually do for you or your family, is while you are still serving and have all of your options available.
