The Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill, formally the Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty (MGIB-AD), pays a monthly stipend directly to veterans and service members pursuing education or training after active duty. In exchange for a $100-per-month payroll deduction during your first 12 months of service (a total buy-in of $1,200), you earn up to 36 months of benefits. For fiscal year 2026, the full-time rate for veterans with at least three years of service is $2,518 per month. The VA sends the money to you, not your school, so you decide how to spend it on tuition, books, housing, and other costs.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 3011 – Basic Educational Assistance Entitlement for Service on Active Duty
2026 Monthly Payment Rates
Your monthly payment depends on how long you served on active duty and whether you attend full-time or part-time. The rates below apply from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026.2Veterans Affairs. Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (Chapter 30) Rates
For veterans with at least three continuous years of active duty:
- Full-time: $2,518.00 per month
- Three-quarter time: $1,888.50 per month
- Half-time: $1,259.00 per month
For veterans with two to three years of active duty:
- Full-time: $2,043.00 per month
- Three-quarter time: $1,532.25 per month
- Half-time: $1,021.50 per month
The $600 Buy-Up
While still on active duty, you can contribute an additional $600 to your MGIB account. That extra investment adds $150 to your full-time monthly rate, up to $5,400 in additional benefits across 36 months of full-time enrollment.3Veterans Affairs. $600 Montgomery GI Bill Buy-Up Program Rates You have to elect the buy-up before separating from the military, and the $600 is never refundable, even if you later switch to the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
Kickers
Some branches offer additional monthly payments called “kickers” (sometimes labeled the “college fund”) as a recruitment or reenlistment incentive. A kicker is funded by your branch, not by you, and it stacks on top of your standard monthly rate.2Veterans Affairs. Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (Chapter 30) Rates Check your enlistment contract to see whether one applies.
Who Qualifies
New entrants can qualify through September 30, 2030. Eligibility comes down to four things: your service, your pay reduction, your discharge, and your education level.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 3011 – Basic Educational Assistance Entitlement for Service on Active Duty
Service. If your enlistment obligation was three years or more, you need at least three continuous years of active duty. If your obligation was less than three years, you need at least two. Some early discharges still qualify, including those for a service-connected disability, hardship, or the convenience of the government, provided you served a minimum of 20 or 30 months depending on your obligation length.
Pay reduction. You must have accepted the $100-per-month reduction during your first 12 months of service. This was an opt-in decision at enlistment. If you declined, you are not eligible.
Discharge. You need an honorable discharge. A general discharge under honorable conditions does not qualify.
Education. Before applying, you need a high school diploma, a GED, or at least 12 semester hours of college credit toward a standard degree.
Separate legacy rules cover veterans who entered service before 1985 and had remaining Vietnam-era GI Bill entitlement, and Chapter 30 entitlement can be transferred to a spouse or children (up to 18 months) as a reenlistment incentive if arranged while you are still serving.4Federal Register. Transfer of Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty Entitlement to Dependents
What You Can Use It For
Chapter 30 covers a wide range of training, not just four-year college. Approved programs include:
- Undergraduate and graduate degrees at accredited institutions
- Vocational and technical training at trade schools
- Apprenticeships and on-the-job training programs approved by the VA
- Correspondence and distance learning courses
- Flight training, if you already hold a private pilot’s license
- Licensing and certification tests, reimbursed up to $2,000 per test5Veterans Affairs. Licensing and Certification Tests and Prep Courses
- Tutorial assistance for coursework you’re struggling with
Confirm your specific program is VA-approved before you enroll. The VA’s GI Bill Comparison Tool lets you check schools and programs.
Chapter 30 or Post-9/11: Which One to Use
If you served on active duty after September 10, 2001, you likely qualify for both Chapter 30 and the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), but you can’t collect both at once. The two programs pay very differently.
Chapter 30 sends you a flat monthly check regardless of what school you attend or what it costs. Chapter 33 pays tuition and fees directly to your school (up to the full in-state rate at public institutions), adds a separate monthly housing allowance tied to the local cost of living near your school, and includes a books-and-supplies stipend. For veterans at expensive programs or in high-cost areas, the Chapter 33 housing allowance alone can exceed the entire Chapter 30 monthly payment.
The reverse case: at a low-cost school where tuition is minimal, Chapter 30’s unrestricted cash may leave you with more spending flexibility than Chapter 33’s tuition-focused structure. That’s especially true at community colleges or if another source is already covering tuition.
Switching from Chapter 30 to Chapter 33 is irrevocable.6US Code. 38 USC 3327 – Election to Receive Educational Assistance You cannot switch back. The VA will refund a proportional share of your $1,200 buy-in based on your unused Chapter 30 months, but only after you fully exhaust your Post-9/11 entitlement. Don’t exhaust it, and you get nothing back.7Veterans Affairs. Montgomery GI Bill Refunds The $600 buy-up is not refundable in any case.
How Long You Have to Use the Benefit
Under the general rule, you have 10 years from your last discharge or release from active duty to use Chapter 30. After that date (the “delimiting date”), the benefits expire.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 3031 – Time Limitation for Use of Eligibility and Entitlement
The Forever GI Bill (the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017) removed the delimiting date for veterans whose last discharge from active duty was on or after January 1, 2013. If that’s you, your Chapter 30 benefits don’t expire.
If you’re still under the 10-year window, extensions are limited to specific situations: a physical or mental disability not caused by willful misconduct that lasted more than 30 days and made education medically infeasible9eCFR. 38 CFR 21.5296 – Extended Period of Eligibility; detention by a foreign power; and time spent ineligible because of a discharge characterization that was later upgraded.
Total entitlement is capped at 36 months of full-time benefits, or up to 48 months if you have two or more qualifying periods of active duty.
How to Apply
File VA Form 22-1990 (Application for VA Education Benefits) online at VA.gov.10Veterans Affairs. Apply for VA Education Benefits Form 22-1990 Have these ready before you start:
- Your Social Security number
- Your military service history, with dates and branches
- Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit
- Your DD-214, Member 4 copy, for each period of active service11Veterans Benefits Administration. 22-1990 Application for VA Education Benefits
The copy number appears in the lower right corner of the DD-214. Copy 4 is usually labeled “Member Copy” and shows your discharge characterization. Complete every field on the form; missing information is the most common reason applications stall.
Keeping Your Payments Coming
Once the VA approves your application, you’ll get a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Take it to your school’s certifying official (SCO), who submits your enrollment to the VA. The SCO is your point of contact at the school for anything related to your benefits.
Every month, you have to verify your enrollment or your payments stop. The VA replaced the older WAVE system with the Verify Your Enrollment tool, which offers several ways to confirm:12Veterans Affairs. Verify Your School Enrollment
- Online through the Verify Your Enrollment tool on VA.gov
- By text message, if you opt in to monthly texts
- By email, if you don’t opt in to texts
- By phone, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET
Report enrollment changes right away. If you drop a course, reduce your load, or switch schools and the VA keeps paying at the old rate, that becomes an overpayment and you’ll owe the money back. Options for resolving an overpayment (a repayment plan, a waiver, a dispute, or an appeal) are available through the VA Debt Management Center, but the simpler course is to report changes as they happen.13Veterans Affairs. Options to Request Help with VA Debt