{
  "id": "gi-bill",
  "version": "eaa6d8f46a6f",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "GI Bill Calculator",
  "question": "What will the GI Bill pay me?",
  "summary": "Estimates what the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays for a school year from August 2026: tuition and fees, the monthly housing allowance, and books, by eligibility tier and course load.",
  "category": "education",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/education/gi-bill-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/education/gi-bill-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Tuition paid = tier × net tuition (private: up to $30,908.34); housing a month = school rate (online: $1,261) × tier × rate of pursuit rounded to the tenth, if over 50%; books = tier × $41.67 a credit, up to $1,000.",
  "assumptions": [
    "Post-9/11 GI Bill rates for August 1, 2026, to July 31, 2027, for students who started on or after January 1, 2018.",
    "Yellow Ribbon, tutoring, the rural relocation grant, and kicker payments are not included.",
    "Not on active duty (active-duty students and their spouses get no housing allowance).",
    "Standard-length terms; VA prorates housing for partial months."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "tier": {
        "title": "Your benefit level",
        "description": "The percent of the full benefit VA says you can get (100% after 36 months of active duty).",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "100",
          "90",
          "80",
          "70",
          "60",
          "50"
        ]
      },
      "school": {
        "title": "School",
        "description": "A public college or university (in-state tuition), or a private or foreign school.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "public",
          "private"
        ]
      },
      "tuition": {
        "title": "Tuition and fees a year",
        "description": "Net in-state tuition and mandatory fees for the school year, after scholarships and grants.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 1000000
      },
      "classes": {
        "title": "Classes",
        "description": "In person (at least one class on campus) or online only.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "campus",
          "online"
        ]
      },
      "mha": {
        "title": "School’s monthly housing rate",
        "description": "The full monthly housing allowance for your school’s ZIP code (the E-5 with dependents BAH rate), from the VA GI Bill Comparison Tool.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 20000
      },
      "credits": {
        "title": "Credits a term",
        "description": "The credits you take in a standard term.",
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 40
      },
      "ft": {
        "title": "Full-time credits",
        "description": "The credits your school counts as full time in a term (often 12).",
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 40
      },
      "months": {
        "title": "Months in school a year",
        "description": "Months you are enrolled; housing is not paid during breaks.",
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 12
      },
      "yc": {
        "title": "Credits in the year",
        "description": "All the credits you take in the school year, for the books payment.",
        "type": "number",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "total": {
      "label": "GI Bill for the year",
      "description": "Tuition and fees paid, plus housing for the months in school, plus books.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "tuitionPaid": {
      "label": "Tuition and fees paid",
      "description": "Paid to the school: your tuition (up to the private school cap) times your benefit level.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "youPay": {
      "label": "Tuition left to pay",
      "description": "Tuition and fees minus what the GI Bill pays.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "housing": {
      "label": "Housing allowance a month",
      "description": "The full monthly rate times your benefit level times your rate of pursuit; none at 50% or less.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "pursuit": {
      "label": "Rate of pursuit",
      "description": "Credits a term divided by full-time credits, rounded to the nearest 10%.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "books": {
      "label": "Books and supplies",
      "description": "$41.67 a credit, up to $1,000 a year, times your benefit level.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "tier": "100",
      "school": "public",
      "tuition": 12000,
      "classes": "campus",
      "mha": 2200,
      "credits": 12,
      "ft": 12,
      "months": 9,
      "yc": 24
    },
    "outputs": {
      "total": 32800,
      "tuitionPaid": 12000,
      "youPay": 0,
      "housing": 2200,
      "pursuit": 100,
      "books": 1000
    },
    "text": "At a 100% (36 months or more, or a service-connected discharge) benefit level, the GI Bill pays about $32,800.00 for the year, with $2,200.00 a month for housing."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "tier": "100",
        "school": "private",
        "tuition": 45000,
        "classes": "online",
        "credits": 12,
        "ft": 12,
        "months": 9,
        "yc": 24
      },
      "expect": {
        "tuitionPaid": 30908.34,
        "youPay": 14091.66,
        "housing": 1261,
        "books": 1000,
        "total": 43257.34
      },
      "source": "VA Post-9/11 GI Bill rates 2026-27 (https://www.va.gov/education/benefit-rates/post-9-11-gi-bill-rates/): private cap $30,908.34, online housing $1,261, books up to $1,000; $30,908.34 + 9 × $1,261 + $1,000"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "tier": "80",
        "school": "public",
        "tuition": 10000,
        "classes": "campus",
        "mha": 2000,
        "credits": 9,
        "ft": 12,
        "months": 9,
        "yc": 18
      },
      "expect": {
        "pursuit": 80,
        "tuitionPaid": 8000,
        "housing": 1280,
        "books": 600.05,
        "total": 20120.05
      },
      "source": "VA Post-9/11 GI Bill rates page: 9 of 12 credits is an 80% rate of pursuit (rounded to the nearest tenth); 80% tier: $10,000 × 0.8; $2,000 × 0.8 × 0.8 = $1,280; books 18 × $41.67 × 0.8 = $600.05 (hand calculation in content.mdx)"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "tier": "100",
        "school": "public",
        "tuition": 8000,
        "classes": "campus",
        "mha": 2500,
        "credits": 6,
        "ft": 12,
        "months": 9,
        "yc": 12
      },
      "expect": {
        "pursuit": 50,
        "housing": 0,
        "books": 500.04,
        "total": 8500.04
      },
      "source": "VA Post-9/11 GI Bill rates page: a rate of pursuit of 50% or less gets no housing allowance; books 12 × $41.67 = $500.04"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Post-9/11 GI Bill rates, August 1, 2026, to July 31, 2027: https://www.va.gov/education/benefit-rates/post-9-11-gi-bill-rates/",
    "U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, GI Bill Comparison Tool (housing rate for a school): https://www.va.gov/education/gi-bill-comparison-tool/",
    "United States Code, 38 U.S.C. 3313 (Payment of educational assistance): https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/38/3313?type=usc&year=mostrecent&link-type=html"
  ],
  "related": [
    "va-disability",
    "student-loan",
    "va-loan"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}