Student Loan Repayment Programs and the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill

Yes, 100% of the benefits.
 
Hey Carnelli53,

First of all ... thank you for the FANTASTIC work you are doing here! It is so appreciated!

My wife has almost two years in on a three year SLRP contract. She is being medically separated (sorry if I use the wrong terminology) and is likely to be retired (30% or above). Her second slrp payment should be going out in approx. three months ...

Will her contract be voided and the slrp payments stop? I'm trying to determine if she will still be covered by her contract with the Army or if, even through no fault of her own her seperation will 'void' the rest of the repayment.

It is great that she will also have the G.I. Bill, but that last year's (give or take a month or two) payment will equal around $22,000!

Any insight would be welcome and thanks again!
 
HerHusband,

Funny you ask...I am in the same predicament. I am still trying to research the applicable regulations concerning medical discharges and continued SLRP payouts (whether retirement or separation, it should not matter), but there is little if any guidance in regard to the SLRP. The people that actually run the program down in Alexandria, VA have given me the wrong pieces of information over and over again so I try not to call them until I have regulations to back me up.

One thing you should watch for is to ensure that DFAS pays out 33 and 1/3 of her total principal debt at the time of enlistment/commission and not 33 and 1/3 of her total principal debt after the first SLRP payment. I have a feeling they have done the latter in my case (I received my second payment in June), I'm waiting to see if any more payouts are made before I take action.

If I can offer any advice in lieu of a direct answer to your question, don't listen to the folks when they tell you to 'look at your contract' or 'read the regulations on the website' in regard to if you receive payment once placed on the TDRL/PDRL or medically separated. It seems logical to me that this benefit should continue, however, as we all know these programs are not always setup with the best interests of medically separated/retired servicemembers in mind.
 
Thanks for the info and good luck on your end, canelli53.

We have run into a brick wall several times by asking people here, only to get mixed answers in the same office. :shrug:

The plan that we arrived at was to wait and see if they included it and if they didn't, then we would try and appeal. I don't know if that is the actual best bet or not, but sifting through the regs got us nowhere fast.

I can honestly say that we have received more bad information during her short two years of service than at any other time in our lives. I continuously wish that the Army had a phone number with several experts in regulations on the other end to answer questions such as these.

That reminds me of a saying I've heard:

Good enough for government work ...
 
OK, i am reading something that I don't understand, can someone interpret it for me? I am reading something dated 22 June 09, from William J. Carr,
deputy Under Sec;

d. Advise all Service members participating in the Student Loan Repayment Program under chapter 109 of Reference b that their service counted under chapter 109 does not count as qualifiyng active duty service for the Post/9-11 GI Bill Program. Any service that obligated period of service may qualify as active duty for Post 9/11 GI Bill eligibility.
 
Edited (law has changed)
 
Hello; I am new to this site.

I was just warned today at sick call that I will be strongly considered for discharge if my wrist does not improve in the near future--I've already done a partial deployment and I'm due to deploy in the spring. I hurt my wrist doing push ups during pt back in February and have been on profile ever since, and on pain medications.

A few (mostly topic-related) questions:

1) What about bonuses? Do you get any amount of any unpaid bonuses if you are medically discharged? I'm still due $13,000 in bonuses over the next two years. I've seen the "garanteed bonus act of 2007," but that only applies to those wounded in combat? What if it's a service related injury, but you weren't deployed?

2) Student Loan repayment? Is it really just prorated? I don't understand why you'd be eligible for 100% of one educational benefit (the GI Bill) and not for another, if you're medically discharged. I just got my second loan repayment and I'm due for my last $18,000 payment in a year.

3) Severance pay? Would I get that in addition to the GI Bill?

4) Disability? How is it determined and by whom?

5) Also, do you happen to have the written correspondence from the VA verifying eligibility of medically discharged personel for the GI Bill as a file of some sort that's easily e-mail-able?

Any answers from anyone would be MUCH appreciated.

Thank you all.
 
Hey Timberowl,

Obviously, I'm no expert ... but I might be able to help you out on one or two things:

2) He(we) does not have an answer to that yet. He is searching regs looking for some definitive answer as to whether they will stop making payment and just prorate what time you were in or if they will continue making payments. My wife and I sifted through the regs for hours and hours and couldn't find a definitive answer ...

3) Severance pay should not have any bearing on your GI Bill eligibility. From what he said earlier, it appears that as long as you were active for 30 days and then medically separated/retired, you are eligible.

4) From my understanding, disability is determined by both the Army AND the VA. The Army only considers what medical problems you have that are causing you to be separated (which decides severance [10-20%] or retirement [30+]) and the VA considers that and any other things caused or aggravated by your military service.

Those are the only answers I can give you personally, but reading these forums is a GREAT place to start. There is a wealth of info available here.

Good luck,

Herhusband
 
HerHusband covered most of the topics, but I'll answer anyway,

1) You receive the rest of your bonus if medically separated/retired (I'm fact checking this answer to be sure, and will edit this answer if I find I am wrong - or someone will correct me)

2) As HerHusband said, there is no definitive guidance on this. The SLRP has terrible oversight and little to no regulations governing it's application. Most of the important criteria is in the SLRP contract you sign upon enlistment/commission. I've searched through the regulations concerning this issue and have come out empty. Along with HerHusband (and others I'm sure) we are playing a "wait and see" approach to see how DoD treats our cases - I too just had my second payment and will be eligible for my last one next June (I will still be on the TDRL, as a small detail that may or may not affect possible payment).

3) HerHusband is absolutely correct - 30 continuous days of active duty and discharged due to a service-connected disability = 100% of Post 9/11 benefits.

4) Disability and fitness for duty is determined by the Physical Evaluation Board on the DoD side. Due to the size of your bonuses I'm going to guess you're in the Army - AR 635-40 and AR 40-501 are two good regulations to start with. The VA also assigns a disability rating upon discharge for any service-connected disabilities. Both the PEB and the VA are bound to rate in accordance with the VASRD - Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities - a link to which can be found here:


VBA 38 CFR Book C (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)

(Edited: law changed)
 
I can tell you from experience that you are eligible for pro-rated SLRP payments after an early discharge. Heads up, the second SLRP payment never came on its own. I had to contact a series of people at DFAS and eventually sorted things out and I received the final pro-rated payment. There is a small department that handles SLRP, you just need to contact DFAS and get in touch with them.

I was discharged EPTS (Existed Prior to Service) but VA overturned and declared my condition SC (Service Connected).

You will find this language or similar in the faqs about SLRP and/or your contract, and it is the standing for pro-rated payments:
"Individuals enrolled in the LRP earn 33 1/3 percent or $1,500, whichever is greater, toward the remaining original unpaid principal on all qualifying loans for each successfully completed year of enlisted active duty up to $65,000."


 
wingsofchai,

Do you have the contact information for the individuals at DFAS who handle the SLRP?
 
How do you know if the loan is getting repaid? I have not seen any paperwork. I have no idea how it works. I have SLRP and i've been in a total of a year and now i'm getting MEB.

Thanks
 
This is an old thread I'm resurrecting. Does anyone have any updated info on this problem of getting the Post 9/11 GI Bill and having both the SLRP and a service-connected medical discharge before the SLRP period is up?

I was separated after 2 years with service connected disability. At the time I was receiving the SLRP payments; when I separated they paid off a calculated amount based on my time in service. I just found out about the SLRP time in service requirement for the Post 9/11 GI Bill (meaning the 30 days for medical discharges doesn't start until the SLRP obligation is completed, which is I think 3 years), so now I'm freaking out thinking that I am not eligible because I was still in the SLRP repayment period when I separated. Does anyone have any good info about this?

I haven't been able to get through to the VA. I've been on hold off and on all afternoon, and I keep getting disconnected, which is why I''m looking for answers elsewhere. Any help would be great! Thank you!
 
I manage; SLRP/SRIP. SLRP is paid on the amount of time you served. For every good year you receive a payment on your loans. Some contracts read 15% or 500% whichever is greater. The end result; recently they just came out with a new policy (which is in law) that states pro ration is not allowed. However if you did not receive your past payments I would go back to your unit and ask for help.

The SLRP program needs help; I have recommended the use a federal website to view loans etc. no old promissory notes etc. It has finally been put in place. The end result; what should happen is the lender and DFAS should work the payments automatically. If your status changes than of course this would affect pay etc.
 
Thanks but, it's not the SLRP I'm having trouble with, it's the medical separation in combination with the SLRP and how it affects my GI Bill eligibility:
This is an old thread I'm resurrecting. Does anyone have any updated info on this problem of getting the Post 9/11 GI Bill and having both the SLRP and a service-connected medical discharge before the SLRP period is up?

I was separated after 2 years with service connected disability. At the time I was receiving the SLRP payments; when I separated they paid off a calculated amount based on my time in service. I just found out about the SLRP time in service requirement for the Post 9/11 GI Bill (meaning the 30 days for medical discharges doesn't start until the SLRP obligation is completed, which is I think 3 years), so now I'm freaking out thinking that I am not eligible because I was still in the SLRP repayment period when I separated. Does anyone have any good info about this?

I haven't been able to get through to the VA. I've been on hold off and on all afternoon, and I keep getting disconnected, which is why I''m looking for answers elsewhere. Any help would be great! Thank you!
 
Hey everyone! First post for me.

I'm in BCT at Ft. Jackson right now, going through the MEB process. I have been here for almost 8 months now, and I'm looking forward to moving on with my life. My NARSUM was signed and sent out a few days ago, so I'm just waiting for my findings to come back right now. According to the MEB and my PEBLO, they are expecting me to be found unfit and get some severance, because my injury prevents me from completing BCT and I've reached the maximum medical care for an IET soldier or something.

Anyway, I was wondering what this might mean for educational benefits. I disenrolled from the Montgomery GI Bill and instead signed up for SLRP. After reading through this forum a bit, it seems that I won't be entitled to ANY of the SLRP, but I will still be able to get 100% of the Post-9/11 GI bill. Can anyone verify this for me? I'm unsure if my status as a BCT soldier makes any difference, but I would like to know if I'm going to at least get a little bit of educational benefit from this whole mess. And I apologize if the information is somewhere here, I've been looking as much as I can but I have to do so on my phone and I only get it for a bit on certain days.
 
Carnelli and Group,

I was active duty for 3yrs 9 months before being med sepd for my back and hip. I received 20% severance pay and was rated 20%

The orignial POST 9/11 GI BILL never included contingencies for disabled vets who were discharged before a re-enlistment that wished to transfer there 9/11 GI BILL to there dependents. I know the house has a bill in committee that would ammend the bill to include this group of vets however I forgot the number HR 2002 maybe.

I was wondering if anyone had the status on that bill or any other bill in regards to this issue.

I would like to transfer my remaining benefit to my daughter.

Thank you!
 
as long as you paid into the old mongomery GI BILL, you should still be able to use it. For the 9/11 GI BILL, you can go to va.gov to learn more about it. I called the VA numbers and they are pretty good explaining it. Also education offices have good information related to this. If you have a student loan out there and become permanently disabled, there is a chance you can have the loan waived. I just saw some small articles with this but plan to do more research. I really think VA.GOV has the most information on this. Good Luck.
 
I guess resurrecting this thread now.

But I signed up for the SLRP in may of 2009 I was medically retired in Feb of 2011 with 80% rating from the VA and 50% from the DOD. I did not receive a SLRP payment towards my loans and have paid off my loans on my own.

Am I eligible for post/911? Can I transfer the benefits to my wife?

Thank you
 
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