Assistance program
All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance
$1.5 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026
- Agency
- Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Affairs, Department of
- Assistance
- Direct Payments With Unrestricted Use
- CFDA number
- 64.124
- What it does
- To help servicepersons readjust to civilian life after their separation from military service. Assist in the recruitment and retention of highly qualified personnel in the active and reserve components in the Armed Forces by providing education benefits.
- Who benefits
- As stated above under Applicant Eligibility.
- Who applies
- What follows is not a complete list of eligibility requirements. For more information on the newest MGIB program changes go to the VA web-site address listed below. A high school diploma or equivalency certificate is always required for eligibility to the MGIB as is an honorable discharge from the qualifying period of service unless the individual is currently on active duty. (1) Individuals initially entering military service on or after July 1, 1985 may be eligible unless they specifically elect not to participate in the MGIB program. Service members can use the MGIB benefit after completing two continuous years of service. Veterans whose initial obligation was 3 years or more may use the MGIB benefit after completing three continuous years of active duty, or less time if discharged early for an acceptable reason. Veterans whose initial obligation was less than 3 years, may use the MGIB benefits after serving two years of active duty, or less time if discharged early for an acceptable reason or if they sign up for 4 years in the Selected Reserve. Any period of active duty may be used to meet these requirements, but generally, periods of active duty cannot be combined. (2) Individuals who were eligible for the Old (Vietnam-Era) GI Bill benefits as of December 31, 1989, and served on continuous active duty for 3 years after June 30, 1985, may be eligible for the MGIB. (3) Persons involuntarily separated from the military for certain reasons may be eligible for the MGIB. Likewise, persons who received voluntary separation incentives may be eligible for the MGIB. (4) Persons who converted from VEAP (Veterans Educational Assistance Program) to the MGIB during open seasons from October 9, 1996 through July 8, 1997, or from November 1, 2000 to October 31, 2001, may be eligible for the MGIB. Likewise, certain persons serving full-time under title 32 in the National Guard during the period from July 1, 1985 to November 28, 1989 with no previous active duty and who elected the MGIB during the open season from October 9, 1996 through July 8, 1997, may be eligible for the MGIB. In addition, in very limited circumstances, dependents of veteran or service member may be eligible for the MGIB if the veteran or service member transferred entitlement to those dependents.
- Authorized by
- Montgomery GI Bill
- Program site
- https://www.va.gov/education ↗
Committed by fiscal year
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
Recipients
This program's money is paid out as non-itemized direct payments — USAspending records it under a single aggregate, so individual recipients aren't listed. The dollars and agencies above are complete; the recipient roster isn't part of the public record for programs like this.
How to read these numbers
- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
Most programs pay out one way — a grant, or a direct payment to individuals; the flow bar only appears when a program genuinely mixes types.
- Some recipients aren't itemized
For entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, the government reports one aggregate instead of naming tens of millions of people, so the recipient roster isn't part of the public record.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments