News Topic: Education

June 22^nd marks the 75^th Anniversary of the GI Bill, and VA wants you – all Veterans, service members, and your families from all generations – to share your story of how the GI bill has made a difference in your lives.

Because the GI Bill has impacted the lives of millions of Veterans, we would like the states/counties to assist us in having Veterans share their GI Bill Story.

1. Here’s How: Record a Video using your cell phone and answer the following questions:

Applications for the scholarship program are being accepted through February 28, 2018. Renewable scholarships for up to $7,000 per year will be granted to honorably discharged veterans or spouses of disabled veterans. Recipients must be high school or GED graduates. Scholarships are determined by financial need and consideration of academic performance, work experience, leadership, community service, and challenges with completing a post-secondary program. Each award renewal will increase by $1,000 over the previous year to encourage program completion for each recipient.

On November 25, 2015, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2016 sunset the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP). The REAP program was originally created to provide benefits to members of the Reserve components who were called or ordered to active service by the President or Congress in response to a war or declared national emergency.

REAP served to bridge the education benefit gap between those eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve and those serving in the Reserve component who were called to active duty but were not eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve.  Long story short … the Post-9/11 GI Bill in many ways has replaced REAP because it has also closed this gap by providing eligibility for certain Reserve and National Guard members called to active duty. This will impact students right away.