John Plahovinsak
A 2024 Supreme Court decision has been implemented by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that will provide additional benefits for veterans. On January 3, 2025, the VA announced that it was updating the process for their awarding of GI Bill benefits.
The G.I. Bill has provided financial assistance to veterans for education and training, stemming from the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which helped World War II veterans with tuition, mortgages and unemployment benefits.
The Montgomery G.I. Bill, introduced in 1984, expanded these benefits to cover various forms of education for active duty and reserve members.
In 2008, the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill further extended benefits, offering full tuition coverage, housing allowances, and book stipends for veterans who served after September 11, 2001. The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill has paid over $143 billion to over 2.7 million beneficiaries, according to the VA.
In April of 2024, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the Rudisill v. McDonough case, siding with former Army Captain James Rudisill, in a 7-2 ruling.
The former Captain Rudisill believed he had 10 months of educational benefits under a previous plan, but he was denied by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Supreme Court ruled that Rudisill could maintain some of his educational benefits under two (2) different G.I. Bills.
Under the previous policy, eligible veterans who served at least two periods of service were limited to a maximum total of thirty-six (36) of GI Bill benefits, between the Montgomery G.I. Bill and the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. Under the updated policy, that limitation is removed.
The VA’s change in awarding benefits will allow veterans who have served multiple periods of military service, such as those who reenlisted, to be eligible for up to an additional twelve (12) months of education benefits.
The updated VA policy removes this limitation, allowing eligible veterans to qualify for up to forty-eight (48) months of total G.I. Bill benefits. This could impact as many as 1.04 million veterans and beneficiaries.
The VA is launching a targeted outreach campaign to encourage them to file a claim and to make sure that every veteran gets the additional educational benefits that they deserve.
Of the projected 1.04 million veterans who may potentially be eligible for an additional twelve (12) months of benefits, the VA will be able to automatically adjudicate the claims for approximately 660,000 without any further action required on their part.
According to the VA, “supporting veterans and their families is a key pillar of President Biden’s Unity Agenda for the nation.” In 2024 alone, VA helped more than 900,000 veterans or their families pay for school and cover expenses while training for a job.
“This policy will not only help veterans who apply for G.I. Bill benefits in the future — it will also allow VA to provide additional benefits to many Veterans who used G.I. Bill benefits in the past,” said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs.
“Every veteran,” concluded the VA Under Secretary Jacobs, “has earned the right to get a good, affordable education — and under this new policy, many veterans will get additional twelve (12) months of G.I. Bill benefits.”
The VA is also extending the expiration dates for using G.I. Bill benefits for eligible Veterans. For each veteran with multiple periods of service who chose the Post-9/11 GI Bill over the Montgomery G.I. Bill, the VA will reinstate the time they had remaining at the time of their election plus 90 days.
For example, if a veteran chose to use the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill at a time when they had five (5) years left to use the Montgomery G.I. Bill, they would be given five (5) years plus ninety (90) days to use any additional Montgomery G.I. Bill benefits. To receive an expiration date extension, all applications must be submitted by October 1, 2030.
My Opinion: It is great that the VA is implementing this change in awarding G.I. Bill benefits to veterans. The G.I. Bill has long been used as a recruiting and retention tool for the military.
The G.I. Bill has enabled countless veterans and service members — as well as their eligible dependents, through the Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer of Education Benefits Program, to train and attend school while greatly reducing their out-of-pocket costs.
The change in the awarding of these educational benefits was caused by a Supreme Court decision, not by legislative action by our elected officials. As stated earlier, it was a 7-2 vote in the in the Rudisill v. McDonough case.
The Supreme Court opinion stated that Rudisill began his time in the U.S. Army in 2000 and went on to serve eight (8) years, on three (3) separate periods of military service.
During his first period of service, Rudisill enlisted in educational benefits under the Montgomery Bill but the Supreme Court opinion stated that “through his subsequent periods of service, Rudisill also became entitled to more generous educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Rudisill sought to use his Post-9/11 benefits to finance a graduate degree.”
Supreme Court Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson; John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor; Amy Coney Barrett; Elena Kagan; Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh supported Captain Rudisill in his case against the VA.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito decided not to support Captain Rudisill against the VA, who had previously denied his request for G.I. Bill benefits that he had earned.
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran, who served from 1967 to 1999. He has used thirty-three (33) months of his allowable thirty-six (36) months of G.I. Bill benefits back in the early 1970’s.
He is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Adjutant for Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.