Post-9/11 Tuition Assistance + Top-Up Help

I was hoping that somebody here can help shed some light on some questions I have on TA/TU.

BLUF: Is there a cap currently on how much Top-Up will cover per quarter hour for a private IHL school not currently listed on the VA site? I know the current fiscal cap is 18,077.50 according to VA Gi Bill 2012 Academic Year information page but it did not specify a cap per quarter/semester hour.

I am still active duty and I plan to start my first graduate course at Northwestern University. Here is a quick break down of what I’m looking at right now.

One Class (4 quarter hrs) Totaling: $3698.00
Tuition Assistance Total: $666.68
Total Remaining Student Cost: $3,031.32
Total Remaining Cost per Quarter Hour: $757.83

Will Top-Up cover that $757.83/Qtr Hr in its entirety?
Is there some kind of hourly credit cap that I am not aware of?

I’ve searched all over VA/GI Bill 2012but I can’t seem to find an answer. Just want to double check that I didn’t miss anything and maybe get some kind of confirmation before I make a very expensive assumption. Along with this, I will also check with the school & VA reps but I cannot get a hold of anyone and I want to take some proactive steps because I'm overseas. Any feedback or even experiences with Northwestern would help immensely!

 

*EDIT Some issues with original post....

I was hoping that somebody here can help shed some light on some questions I have on TA/TU.
BLUF: Is there a cap currently on how much Top-Up will cover per quarter hour for a private IHL school not currently listed on the VA site? I know the current fiscal cap is 18,077.50 according to VA Gi Bill 2012 Academic Year information page but it did not specify a cap per quarter/semester hour.

I am still active duty and I plan to start my first graduate course at Northwestern University. Here is a quick break down of what I’m looking at right now.

One Class (4 quarter hrs) Totaling: $3698.00
Tuition Assistance Total: $666.68
Total Remaining Student Cost: $3,031.32
Total Remaining Cost per Quarter Hour: $757.83


Will Top-Up cover that $757.83/Qtr Hr in its entirety?
Is there some kind of hourly credit cap that I am not aware of?

I’ve searched all over VA/GI Bill but I can’t seem to find an answer. Just want to double check that I didn’t miss anything and maybe get some kind of confirmation before I make a very expensive assumption. Thank you in advance.

 

"(2) Concurrent Use of Post-9/11 GI Bill and Tuition Assistance (commonly called “Top Up”). In accordance with section 3313(e) of Reference (a), a Service member entitled to basic educational assistance who is pursuing education or training described in subsection (a) or (c) of section 2007 of Reference (b), may use, at their discretion, Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to meet all or a portion of the charges of the educational institution for the education or training that are not paid by the Secretary of the Military Department concerned under such subsection. DVA shall administer fully that portion of the Post-9/11 GI Bill Program."

Source: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/DTM-09-003.pdf

Based on this information, the best you can do is contact the VA. I did the same, with regards to my question about the Post 9/11 GI-Bill, and they did answer me. (The mistake I made was that my query was actually covered by their FAQs.)

Their FAQs are located here:

https://gibill.custhelp.com/app/answers/list

Hope this helps!

 

This benefits page may shed some light (Welcome to the GI Bill Web Site | The Home for All Educational Benefits Provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs) but it does not give a definitive answer to your question. Your best bet is to contact VA directly as indicated above.

 

Quick and short answer to this question is yes you can use Top up to cover the gap between TA and your actual tuition cost. However, and I know it is dependant on your ability to pay, it may be a waiste because the time counts the same in Post 911 money as if you were using the post 911 GI Bill alone. So you are eating up the same amount of benefit at a lower cost to the funding agency, ie they are getting a better deal by you using top up.

 

PS have you looked at any other schools? That seems massively expensive compared to other schools. I could be off base maybe Northwestern has a great name and that is what you are paying for but there are numerous schools with a much lower tuition cost, some even offer discounted tuition to military members/veterans, no idea what you plan to major in for your graduate degree but wanted to make sure you looked and were going to be getting the best bang for your buck here.

 

Now that the other poster mentions it, I also realize that there is a large amount of money being put down for the degree.
Does it carry a job guarantee at that cost?

Also, with TA being essentially put on hold for now (according to prior reports), you might be better served to look for more affordable, regionally accredited options.

What subject is the graduate course in?