New GI Bill and Flight Training

[ozziecat35]

If youre an IL resident just go to SIU. Its all covered.

Yup, just quit my full time job that I use to support my wife and kid in the Chicago suburbs...and ask my wife to leave her dream job to move to BFE Southern Illinois.

It's not always black and white friend.

HeyEng, I belive that as long as you have months left on your entitlement, you can do whatever you please. I'd verify with the VA, but that's how I understand it.

Also folks, just heard back from Mountain State's VA Rep last night, she confirmed they are close to a deal with ATP to have EVERYTHING covered. If you're entitled to 100% benefits under the Post 9-11 GI Bill, the Yellow Ribbon Program also kicks in, and you'll go from a max of $17,500 a year (they are a private school) to $25,500. She also confirmed that there is some flexibility to scheduling, so you could load up on your flight labs first if you're so inclined. You'd need to take into account pre-requisites however.

Cautiously Optimistic....

 

[vaheyboats]

Ozziecat,

Thats great news! Can you give me the contact name of the VA rep at Mountain State? Ive been speaking to someone else there who doesnt seem to be as informed. Thanks

Mike

 

[ozziecat35]

Ozziecat,

Thats great news! Can you give me the contact name of the VA rep at Mountain State? Ive been speaking to someone else there who doesnt seem to be as informed. Thanks

Mike

I'm not sure I'm comfortable forwarding that info. I spoke with the director of Veterans Services however, and the contact info is readily available on the schools website. I just don't want them to get bombarded with questions about this when they don't even know what it looks like. I've put everything they've told me into this thread though, so hopefully that is sufficient.

 

[mat]

Clarify please? So if I'm an IL resident, attending IHL in WI....?

Each college is different but I'm just throwing this out there. I'm from CA, doing flight training in FL right now.

Last semester:
My out of state tuition was 323/unit
VA covered 298/unit (the max in state resident rate of some college in FL)

From now on:
My out of state rate is 349/unit (it went up)
VA covers 96/unit (the actual tuition rate at this college for in state residents)

You cover the difference. Or use Yellow Ribbon or whatever else to cover it. To get the full BAH you need however many units. Multiply by the difference and it's a few throusand up front. Still, it's an easy choice for me. It sounds like your college is all over this though, so you may not need to deal with it.

 

[ozziecat35]

Each college is different but I'm just throwing this out there. I'm from CA, doing flight training in FL right now.

Last semester:
My out of state tuition was 323/unit
VA covered 298/unit (the max in state resident rate of some college in FL)

From now on:
My out of state rate is 349/unit (it went up)
VA covers 96/unit (the actual tuition rate at this college for in state residents)

You cover the difference. Or use Yellow Ribbon or whatever else to cover it. To get the full BAH you need however many units. Multiply by the difference and it's a few throusand up front. Still, it's an easy choice for me. It sounds like your college is all over this though, so you may not need to deal with it.

Agreed, and from past experience going to school online, you are given "in-state" tuition anyways.

 

[HeyEng]

OK...so talked to my local FBO that is 141 approved and that works with the local college for the AAS degree, however I am not doing that. I talked to them about the 10K a year starting in October and they said that they are going to do that as well. The question I have is about what the VA says...
"If you are enrolled in any type of vocational flight training you can be reimbursed up to the full cost of training or $10,000 per academic year, whichever is less..."

This leads me to believe that if you complete the IR and submit it for reimbursement then you're done for that year. With the hours/experience I have, I would be able to complete the IR, CSEL and CMEL most likely for about 10K...so how would I go about this? Complete each rating and submit for reimbursement? Or, get the school to "create" a program that would be inclusive of the tickets that would equal around 10K and submit it all at once?

What I don't want to do is spend lots of cash out of pocket in "one academic year" and have the VA say "sorry Charlie, but we are only paying for the IR". Thoughts?

 

[ozziecat35]

I'm not sure that's accurate. As long as the school is an approved school (Private or Public IHL), if the flight costs are rolled into the tuition as a "lab" or whatever they call them, the VA doesn't differentiate the fact that any of it is flight training versus just going to class.
The FBO/141 thing though is $10k / year...if you do the math, even at $150/hr, you'll still get less then 70 hours of training out of your money...it seems that way is a quick way to waste your bennies.

 

[afjw2006]

I am not sure if this had been answered on this thread because it is rather long to look thru but I plan on using my Post 9/11 GI Bill for CTI school at CCBC in the Spring. Does anyone know if flight fees will be covered with the use of the GI Bill? I emailed financial aid and they said flight fees will not be covered because the GI Bill will only cover one program, but I responded and said that since getting your pilots license is required in getting an ATC degree shouldn't the GI Bill cover everything, including flight costs? I did not even receive a response. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks

 

[ozziecat35]

I am not sure if this had been answered on this thread because it is rather long to look thru but I plan on using my Post 9/11 GI Bill for CTI school at CCBC in the Spring. Does anyone know if flight fees will be covered with the use of the GI Bill? I emailed financial aid and they said flight fees will not be covered because the GI Bill will only cover one program, but I responded and said that since getting your pilots license is required in getting an ATC degree shouldn't the GI Bill cover everything, including flight costs? I did not even receive a response. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks

Sorry, but if you're now willing to go through and read the info that's already been given to you, I question your work ethic....and I'm pretty sure you don't need a pilots license to be an ATC...

 

[afjw2006]

Well I'm deployed right now in Afghanistan and only have a few minutes a day to check this after I contact family members. So looking thru 10 pages of threads is pretty low on my priority list and I'm just looking to see if someone can give me a quick answer to my question.....it's pretty sad you're questioning my work ethic when you don't know me whatsoever. So please keep your smart ass comments to yourself. Thanks.......Also with the ATC program at CCBC, it is required to get a recreational or private pilots license..

 

[ozziecat35]

Well I'm deployed right now in Afghanistan and only have a few minutes a day to check this after I contact family members. So looking thru 10 pages of threads is pretty low on my priority list and I'm just looking to see if someone can give me a quick answer to my question.....it's pretty sad you're questioning my work ethic when you don't know me whatsoever. So please keep your smart ass comments to yourself. Thanks.......Also with the ATC program at CCBC, it is required to get a recreational or private pilots license..

First off, let me say welcome to JC & thank you for serving our country (from one veteran to a future veteran). I say go through the thread, because there is not a quick answer as you suggest. The Post 9-11 GI Bill as it relates to pilot training is very complicated and it depends on your program. As far as your other question about requiring a PPL for the ATC program, the FAA does not require that to be an ATC'er, so I'd question why the program would require it...kinda sounds like they're trying to make a little (LOT) more $$$ off their students.

Wasn't trying to be a smart ass, but way to make an impression at a very tightly knit community. Best of luck in your research and stay safe!

 

[mat]

Well I'm deployed right now in Afghanistan and only have a few minutes a day to check this after I contact family members. So looking thru 10 pages of threads is pretty low on my priority list and I'm just looking to see if someone can give me a quick answer to my question.....it's pretty sad you're questioning my work ethic when you don't know me whatsoever. So please keep your smart ass comments to yourself. Thanks.......Also with the ATC program at CCBC, it is required to get a recreational or private pilots license..

So they have two programs? Get the license, switch programs, and finish the CTI degree. But, if it's low on your priorities, then leave it there until you get back. This is the kind of stuff you can't trust anybody else with. The CCBC website should have all that info though.

 

[Flush!]

Flush,

I spoke with MSU yesterday. The admissions guy told me that so far, only 2 ATP schools in FL were on board with the VA for participating in MSU's Flight training degree. He said they may bring on more locations later. Personally, I need the one in Richmond, so I guess I will be waiting until I find out. There are no IHls with flight degrees anywhere near me.

I know that's bad news (for now), and it still doesnt answer the BAH question.

Yeah, I guess we're "in limbo" until further notice...

Have you guys been getting the scary "VA Benefits Might Be Cut" e-mails from Military.com...? Any truth to that?

 

[ozziecat35]

Yeah, I guess we're "in limbo" until further notice...

Have you guys been getting the scary "VA Benefits Might Be Cut" e-mails from Military.com...? Any truth to that?

I'm going to take the word of the Veteran's Rep @ MSU over admissions, seeing how this stuff changes so quickly...Haven't seen anything about the VA Bennies being cut Flush...can't see how they could just take that away.

 

[tsauers]

If you are at a IHL that offers an aviation degree do you still have to pay to get your PPL? I called the VA today about this and was told my flight fee's should be covered but yet I had to take out a student loan to start flying. Is anyone else having trouble with there University covering the costs of there PPL? I was told they by the schools veteran services office that the VA would cover the fees for Commercial and above but not the PPL. Any advise on what to do and how to fight this to get my PPL paid for since I need the course to graduate?

 

[ozziecat35]

It all depends how your IHL rolls up flight costs into the program.

 

[subpilot]

If you are at a IHL that offers an aviation degree do you still have to pay to get your PPL? I called the VA today about this and was told my flight fee's should be covered but yet I had to take out a student loan to start flying. Is anyone else having trouble with there University covering the costs of there PPL? I was told they by the schools veteran services office that the VA would cover the fees for Commercial and above but not the PPL. Any advise on what to do and how to fight this to get my PPL paid for since I need the course to graduate?

We're getting our private paid for right now going through an IHL. The course has to lead to an AA or AS degree.

 

[brown1]

I just started attending Central Oregon Community College in their fixed wing program. They have a pretty good set-up as far as using Chapter 33 benefits. For me, it has been seamless to start my instrument rating, and I start flying this week. Classes and flight costs are covered 100%, with zero out-of-pocket expenses (you do get $375/year for books). I moved up here from California to do it. If you don't have a Private certificate, the program will take you from PPL to CFII and MEI all covered by VA. They also have helicopter training that goes from PPL to CFII if you want to take that route. There are a few guys who are earning both fixed-wing and rotor CFI tickets, again all covered by VA. It is truly amazing considering the cost of the turbine heli transition alone is 22 grand. You sort of have to work the system to do both airplane and heli, but there are guys here doing it. Just thought I'd throw this info out there to show that getting flight training for free is absolutely possible with Chapter 33 benefits. I'm collecting about a grand in BAH /month on top of it, and am loving life right about now.

 

[Duksrule]

It's sad that if I want to go to an FBO and get any rating, I am capped at $10,000 but if I want to go to a school and get a degree they will pay 100% (in state school) plus a housing allowance. So my plan is to go back and finish my Master's Degree getting it completely paid for and then use the $1,500 a month housing allowance to pay for flying. I figure that way I get a free master's degree and $18K a year for flying rather than $10K.

 

[ozziecat35]

That's definitely a way to do it.