GI Bill on the job: 3 steps to use your benefit out of school p1 - GI Bill Benefits - Tuition Assistance for the Military - Military Times EDGE

It sounded too good to be true: Army veteran Dean DiMarzo was working as a golf pro at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., when another veteran told him the PGA apprenticeship program he’d just started might be covered under the GI Bill. Get paid by the Veterans Affairs Department on top of his regular salary? For working at a golf course? There’s gotta be a catch ... right?

Well, a little one.

Veterans have been getting paid for on-the-job training for years, first under the original GI Bill, then the Montgomery GI Bill. The Post-9/11 GI Bill will start covering the same programs in October. The catch is that you might have to kick a few doors open to make it happen.

But, as DiMarzo found out, it’s nothing you can’t handle — and well worth the effort. If you’re eligible for GI Bill benefits, and your new job has some kind of training program, here’s what you should do:

1. Find out if your training program is approved for GI Bill benefits.

Most employers who have been approved will tell you that during the hiring process, but ask your training coordinator just in case. You can also search for approved programs at VA’s GI Bill website, http://gibill.va.gov. Click on “Choosing a School,” then “Search for approved Education & Job Training Programs.” If your employer’s program is approved, all that stands between you and some extra cash is a little paperwork. Tell your training coordinator that you’re eligible for VA benefits.

If your employer is not approved ...

2. Find out if your training program is approvable.

The task of approving training programs for GI Bill benefits falls to each state. Contact your state approving agency — a full list of phone numbers is on the website of the National Association of State Approving Agencies — and describe your training. The agency will tell you if it has potential to be approved.

Short, vague or haphazard training programs will not cut it. For starters, “any program has to be at least six months, and has to have a training plan and a progressive wage schedule, though public entities are exempt from the progressive wage schedule,” said Jenny George, a program specialist with the Bureau of State Approving for Veterans’ Training at the Florida Veterans Affairs Department.

Training programs for the skilled trades, law enforcement agencies and corrections agencies often qualify, George said, but they are not the only ones. Exhibit A: the professional golf management program at the Walt Disney World courses.

“I would never in my wildest dreams [have] thought that a golf course would be an approved facility,” DiMarzo said.

Bobby Welborn, a 20-year Marine veteran also in the program, assumed the same.

“I looked into it briefly, but not very seriously,” he said. “I just figured it doesn’t work for golf.”

Lesson learned — don’t assume. Call your state approving agency and ask.

When DiMarzo saw that his supervisors “didn’t quite have the time to do the grunt work to figure out if this was something that would work for us,” he asked if he could do it, and then contacted George.

“I didn’t want this opportunity to slip by,” he said.

If the state approving agency says your training program has potential, all you have left to do is ...

3. Ask your employer to apply for approval.

Applying for approval doesn’t cost money, but it does involve time. Employers have to fill out paperwork, submit their training plans and arrange a site inspection. Start the process by talking to your training coordinator or human resource manager, and asking him to contact the SAA.

The housing allowance is prorated for veterans with less than three years of service since Sept. 11, 2001.

Your employer may balk, but often, George said, the hesitation is, “‘Look, I’ve got stacks on my desk. This is one more thing and it sounds like it’s going to take a lot of time.’”

SAA officials may be able to help by explaining the time and energy commitment involved, and even walking employers through the process.

But that reluctance doesn’t arise very often, said Bill Stephens, manager of the Division of Veterans and Military Education at the Pennsylvania Education Department. “I’ve been doing this for almost 24 years, and there have only been a handful of employers who have said, ‘No, thanks. We don’t want to do this,’” he said.

It may take the state a month or so to approve your program, and another several months for VA to process your benefits application, but don’t worry: Your on-the-job training or apprenticeship benefit will be paid retroactively for up to a year.

There, that wasn’t too challenging, was it?

The bigger challenge, Stephens said, is getting the word out to veterans and employees.

“It’s the best-kept secret the government has ever had,” he said. “When you first hear about it, it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, you mean I can work for a company, get a wage and get a check from the government?’ It doesn’t sound legal.”

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How much?

On-the-job training and apprenticeship pay is meant to supplement entry-level wages until the veteran starts earning more, which is why the benefit decreases over time.

Under the Montgomery GI Bill, the OJT benefit is a percentage of the Chapter 30 monthly payment:

• 75 percent, first six months

• 55 percent, second six months

• 35 percent thereafter

Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, effective Oct. 1, the OJT benefit is a percentage of the Basic Allowance for Housing for E-5s with dependents for the location of the employer:

• 100 percent, first six months

• 80 percent, second six months

• 60 percent, third six months

• 40 percent, fourth six months

• 20 percent thereafter