Eligibility Info
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official US government web site at benefits.va.gov/gibill.
Benefits Coverage
When applying for benefits the student must declare a major. Payment of educational benefits is based on the number of units in which a student is enrolled. Benefits will only be paid for courses required for the declared major. Once a satisfactory grade has been earned, the student may not receive benefits for a repeated course.* Benefits are restricted on some types of courses. Students should always check with the Feather River College Certifying Officers before registering for courses.
Eligibility Requirements for Each Program
- Served at least 90 days on active duty on or after September 11, 2001
- Received a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged after any amount of service
- Served for at least 30 continuous days on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged with a service-connected disability
-
Are a dependent child using benefits transferred by a qualifying Veteran or service member
The Post - 9/11 GI Bill® has a few specific components that are unavailable in other GI Bill® programs:
Post - 9/11 GI Bill® Links:
The MGIB-AD program—sometimes known as Chapter 30—provides education benefits to Veterans and Servicemembers who have at least two years of active duty. You may be an eligible if you have an honorable discharge; and you have a high school diploma or GED or in some cases 12 hours of college credit; and you meet the requirements of one of the categories below:
Category I
- Entered active duty for the first time after June 30, 1985
- Had military pay reduced by $100 a month for first 12 months
- Continuously served for three years or two years, if that is what you first enlisted for or if you entered the Selected Reserve within a year of leaving active duty and served four years (the 2 by 4 program)
Category II
- Entered active duty before January 1, 1977
- Served at least one day between 10/19/84 and 6/30/85, and stayed on active duty through 6/30/88
- (or through 6/30/87 if you entered the Selected Reserve within one year of leaving active duty and served four years)
- On 12/31/89, you had entitlement left from Vietnam-era GI Bill®
Category III
- Not eligible for MGIB under Category I or II
- On active duty on 9/30/90 AND separated involuntarily after 2/2/91
- OR involuntarily separated on or after 11/30/93
- OR voluntarily separated under either the Voluntary Separation Incentive (VSI) or Special Separation Benefit (SSB) program
- Before separation, you had military pay reduced by $1,200
Category IV
- On active duty on 10/9/96 and you had money remaining in a VEAP account on that date and you elected MGIB by 10/9/97
- OR you entered full-time National Guard duty under title 32, USC, between 7/1/85, and 11/28/89, AND you elected MGIB during the period 10/9/96 - 7/08/97
- Had military pay reduced by $100 a month for 12 months or made a $1,200 lump-sum contribution
MGIB Links:
MGIB-SR program provides education and training benefits to eligible members of the Selected Reserve, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard or Air National Guard. Eligibility for this program is determined by the Selected Reserve components and VA makes the payments. To qualify, you must meet the following requirements:
- Have a six-year obligation to serve in the Selected Reserve signed after June 30, 1985
- If you are an officer, you must have agreed to serve six years in addition to your original obligation
- For some types of training it is necessary to have a six-year commitment that begins after Sept. 30, 1990
- Complete your Initial Active Duty for Training (IADT)
- Meet the requirement to receive a high school diploma or equivalency certificate before completing IADT
- You may not use 12 hours toward a college degree to meet this requirement
- Remain in good standing while serving in an active Selected Reserve unit
- You will also retain MGIB-SR eligibility if you were discharged from Selected Reserve service due to a disability that was not caused by misconduct
- Your eligibility period may be extended if you are ordered to active duty
MGIB-SR Links:
VEAP is available if you elected to make contributions from your military pay to participate in this education benefit program. The government matches your contributions on a 2-for-1 basis. You must meet the following requirements to qualify:
- Entered service for the first time between January 1, 1977, and June 30, 1985
- Opened a contribution account before April 1, 1987
- Voluntarily contributed from $25 to $2,700;
- Completed your first period of service and were discharged or released from service under conditions other than dishonorable
- If you are currently on active duty and wish to receive VEAP benefits, you must have at least three months of contributions available
VEAP Links:
REAP provides educational assistance to members of the Reserve components called or ordered to active duty in response to a war or national emergency declared by the president or Congress.
Effective November 26, 2019, REAP benefits are no longer payable to claimants. Claimants with remaining entitlement under REAP will be evaluated without the claimant needing to request an election. Conversions will be automatic for claimants who do not have Post-9/11 GI Bill® entitlement based on another Period of Service (POS).
For more information regarding REAP, visit the US Department of Veterans Affairs website.
There are two main GI Bill® programs offering education assistance to survivors and dependents of Veterans:
- The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (Fry Scholarship) is available for children and spouses of Servicemembers who died in the line of duty after September 10, 2001.
-
The Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) Program offers education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of Veterans who are permanently and totally disabled due to a service-related condition or of Veterans who died while on active duty or as a result of a service-related condition.
For more information regarding transferability, visit the US Department of Veterans Affairs website.
Advancing your education often requires you to take costly national tests. Students can be reimbursed all required (mandatory) fees charged for national admission tests, national tests for college credit, and national tests that evaluate prior learning and knowledge and provide an opportunity for credit at an institution of higher learning (IHL).
The following tests are approved for reimbursement:
- SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test)
- LSAT (Law School Admission Test)
- GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
- GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test)
- AP (Advanced Placement Exam)
- CLEP (College-Level Examination Program)
- ACT (American College Testing Program)
- DAT (Dental Admissions Test)
- MAT (Miller Analogies Test)
- MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test)
- OAT (Optometry Admissions Testing)
- PCAT (Pharmacy College Admissions Test)
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
- DSST (DANTES Subject Standardized Tests)
- ECE (Excelsior College Examinations)
- PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) testing through Learningcounts.org
- TECEP (Thomas Edison College Examination Program)
National Testing Program Links:
Satisfactory Academic Progress
The Veterans' Administration requires that veterans maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward a degree. This includes:
- maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and
- completing at least 67% of attempted units
Veterans who become academically disqualified must follow the school's criteria for reinstatement after academic disqualification. Feather River Colleges SAP policy can be located here.
*Course Repetition
A course may be repeated for VA benefits only if repetition is necessary to successfully satisfy specific major requirements. Veterans may repeat a class more than once and receive VA educational benefits if the condition that required the initial repetition still exists.
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.