Veterans of Foreign Wars and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are part of a federal lawsuit challenging a VA policy requiring veterans to have a break in service before they can qualify for up to 48 months of education benefits under two GI bills. (Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Two major veterans groups, joined by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, are appealing a Department of Veterans Affairs rule mandating a break in military service for veterans seeking up to four years of education benefits under two GI Bills.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., claiming veterans are being denied full education benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Plaintiffs point to a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision that enabled qualifying veterans to tap up to 48 months of combined education benefits under the two GI Bills.
The high court ruled that veterans whose length of service qualified them for both GI Bills are “separately entitled to each of [the] two educational benefits” with a 48-month cap, according to court documents.
“The law is clear that veterans whose lengthy service qualifies them for benefits under both GI Bills are entitled to the full benefits they earned,” said Luke A. Schamel, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
But the VA has operated under a policy requiring veterans to have distinct periods of service — separated by a break — to access benefits from both programs, according to court documents.
The VA declined to comment on the complaint, filed March 5, because it is pending litigation.
The Montgomery GI Bill typically pays up to $2,518 per month in direct payments to qualifying veterans, according to court documents.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill covers up to the full cost of attendance, including a monthly housing allowance.
The complaint argues that “veterans who serve long enough to qualify for benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill — without double-counting any time in service — are entitled to full benefits under both. This is subject only to requirements that they not receive such benefits concurrently or exceed the 48-month aggregate-benefits cap,” according to the lawsuit.
The state of Virginia joined the lawsuit, because higher education costs are shifted to its programs when veterans cannot access their federal benefits under both GI Bills.
Veterans seeking benefits from both GI Bills are typically older students with families, because they have served longer — five years or more, according to court documents.
The complaint includes several individual veterans on active duty for six to 24 years but denied both benefits because their service was continuous.
Attorneys argued that under current VA policy, a veteran who has served continuously for decades may receive fewer education benefits than someone who served six years with a break in service.
Education benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill are granted to veterans who joined the military after 1984 and served two or three years.
Benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill are available to veterans who were on active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001, and served for three years.
“The loss in earning power from delaying or halting their pursuit of higher education cannot easily be undone. Once their educations are delayed, many may never restart their academic pursuits,” according to the lawsuit.
