Hello all,
I am exiting the military here in just a few short months and moving to Ft Worth/Dallas area. I am looking to use my benefits towards as much as I can. I know speaking with the financial department directly will give the most up to date answers. I am wanting to hear about anyone’s experience using veteran benefits and what is the best way to proceed.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Rob
GI Bill will not cover the cost of tuition but it will cover the cost of FAA examiner fees. I’m doing some research to determine if I can score housing allowance as well…I will let you know what I find out.
Trey
I’d be interested to see about receiving housing allowance as well. Please share what you find out. I will let you know that there are schools out there where you can have the VA pay for everything for everything after your PPL. Only problem is it’s reimbursements of $10,000 a year. You can imagine how long that will take.
A veteran can tap into their GI Bill benefits for flight training as long as it’s an approved part 141 school AND the school accepts GI Bill funding. There are local flight schools that may qualify for GI Bill funding but most of the time, the student will need to attend a university that has a flight training program.
As for housing allowance, looks like the answer is no, ATP students are not eligible for any allowances, including for housing. Think of tuition assistance and housing allowance as a package deal. The only exception to this rule would be if you were on a scholarship to a university that qualifies for GI Bill funding. Obviously, you would not need tuition assistance because you are on a scholarship that covers the cost of tuition,. But, because the university qualifies for funding, you can utilize the housing allowance available. Make sense?
Trey
Thanks for the answers Trey.
I am currently in the middle of this as well. I will post a link to all the flight schools in texas that accept the GI Bill. A few things to note about using the GI BIll for flight training are that you will NOT be eligible for BAH while using it to get your certifications. Another is that you will only be eligible for a little over $13,000 a year for training as opposed to the approximately $22,000 you can get going to a private school. The third thing to note is that the GI Bill will NOT cover the cost of obtaining your private pilot license. You must pay for this on your own before you can use your benefits to pay for other certifications. Your private license will cost anywhere from $10,000 to $21,000 based on my research. I hope this gives you a starting point for your research and good luck my friend!
Texas flight school that accept the GI Bill:
https://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/searchInst.do#content-area