From a Department of Veterans Affairs News Release
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2014 – The Veterans Affairs Department
today launched a new online tool to make it easier for veterans, service
members and family members to calculate their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and
learn more about VA’s approved colleges, universities and other education and
training programs across the country.
“We are pleased that Post-9/11 veterans are taking advantage
of this significant benefit program,” said Allison A. Hickey, undersecretary of
veterans affairs for benefits. “The new GI Bill Comparison Tool will help
future beneficiaries as they make decisions about what education or training
program best fits their needs.”
The GI Bill Comparison Tool provides key information about
college affordability and brings together information from more than 17
different online sources and three federal agencies, including the number of
students receiving VA education benefits at each school. It is one item in a
series of resources VA is launching in response to President Barack Obama’s
Executive Order 13607, which directs agencies to implement and promote
“Principles of Excellence” for education institutions that interact with
veterans, service members and their families, and to ensure beneficiaries have
the information they need to make educated choices about VA education benefits
and approved programs, VA officials said.
Recently, VA also instituted a GI Bill online complaint
system, designed to collect feedback from veterans, service members and their
families who are experiencing problems with educational institutions receiving
funding from federal military and veterans educational benefits programs,
including benefits programs provided by the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Defense
Department’s military tuition assistance program.
The executive order, signed April 27, 2012, directs federal
agencies to provide meaningful cost and quality information on schools, prevent
deceptive recruiting practices and provide high-quality academic and student
support services. VA works closely with partner institutions to ensure the GI
Bill beneficiaries’ needs are met, officials said, noting that more than 5,000
education institutions have agreed to the Principles of Excellence.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill is a comprehensive education benefit
created by Congress in 2008. In general, veterans and service members who have
served on active duty for 90 or more days since Sept. 10, 2001, are eligible.
Since 2009, VA has distributed more than $30 billion in the form of tuition and
other education-related payments to more than 1 million veterans, service
members and their families, as well as to the universities, colleges and trade
schools they attend.
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