Has anyone used the GI Bill (Montgomery or Post 9/11) to go to a foreign university?

SSG Daniel Rosploch — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 07:55:20 -0400

I am looking to go to school in Australia and after doing some research, have found out that the GI Bill will cover most foreign schools. My problem now is that even though the VA website (http://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/buildSearchCountryCriteria.do) says they cover the school, they don't seem to cover the specific program I am looking for (Geo/Mine Engineering) and most of the information on that site is completely out-of-date. I have spoken with many people in the VA and have tried to get some help from the Wounded Warrior Project, but nothing has panned out so far. Also, most foreign schools do not have VA reps or assistants at the school to help with enrollment.

My question is, has anyone ever had to deal with using the GI Bill to attend a foreign school and does anyone know who I can contact for help with this?

EDIT 01 APRIL 2015
This question has been answered by myself in the below comments. I have copied and pasted it here if searching through the comments sounds too lame:

I have answered my own question and have some very important information to put out to anyone interested. Enough with the suspense...

BACK STORY (Skip to "INFORMATION" if not interested):
I am married to an Australian and had decided to move to her home country for many reasons, one being that I wanted to use my GI Bill to attend a foreign university in Brisbane. I initially applied through the VA's website, VONAPP, to gain approval for The University of Queensland (UQ) and The University of Southern Queensland (USQ). UQ's Bachelor of Mine Engineering was approved for VA funding, but the school wouldn't accept me due to poor grades in high school and lack of 1 year of college credit. USQ accepted me into their Associate of Mine Engineering despite my poor grades, but the program I wanted wasn't approved by the VA. A rock and a hard place was where I found myself with schooling.

Do I pay out of pocket for remedial classes in order to gain acceptance into UQ, or do I tempt fate and apply for VA funding approval for USQ and hope it happens before I die of old age?

INFORMATION (The purpose of this post. The meat and potatoes):
In December 2014, I emailed USQ to have them apply for VA approval for the Associate of Mine Engineering course by sending them a link, which I will post in a second comment because Rallypoint doesn't like links AND pictures in the same post (hint, hint RallyPoint team!)

USQ responded with a weak sauce letter, which even misspelled my name! I wasn't going to even attempt to sort this out because I just had a feeling the VA was going to shred it. Besides, the VA wanted this information, including a 2000+ page course catalog, mailed to them, and coming from Australia, that was going to cost a small fortune.

My wife forced me to find an email address for the VA office, which I did after having to contact the VA directly and ask for it ( [login to see] ). And then she forced me to email the weak sauce USQ letter, which I did on 31 March 2015. Today is 01 April 2015 and the VA has responded with an email telling me that my foreign program has been approved. In less than 24 hours, the VA approved a foreign school program!

Despite the fact that the VA website says everything must be snail mailed, along with them requiring a school official to do all the communicating, the VA approved the emailed request from my email address with only the crappy letter attached. Please share with anyone interested in going to a foreign university, that approval is fast and easy and was extremely painless. The only part that hurts is that I assumed that this wouldn't work so I sat on my butt until my wife told me that it can't hurt to try. If anybody has any questions regarding the process I went through or if you need more explanation, please let me know so I can help.

The moral of this story doesn't have anything to do with the VA. It is this: Get yourself a spouse that will "force" you to do the hard stuff, because even in civilian life, veterans need an NCO to push them forward!

WEAMS Public - (Weams Institution Search)

GI Bill Information

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 17 at 2014 8:34 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:34:18 -0400

Have you verified the GI Bill Comparison Tool?

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Dec 30 at 2014 8:58 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 20:58:24 -0500

SSG Daniel Rosploch keep us in the loop with what you discover. If I get my way, we'll be heading out to Saipan/Guam and I have 8 months of bennies left for some archaeology courses. Thanks brother.

Response by SGT James Sedlacek made Jan 2 at 2015 8:42 AM

SGT James Sedlacek — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 08:42:42 -0500

I am trying to use Post 9/11 in the UK. So far it's a nightmare of paperwork. Just as you say, they won't have VA reps or assistants. I have to figure out what the school needs, through a person in Rochester, NY that specialized in qualifying a school to receive VA funds. Then I go to the school and try to get them set up, and then back again to the USA to ensure progress. So far, I've not gotten it complete.

Response by SGT Jeff Decker made Jan 2 at 2015 1:46 PM

SGT Jeff Decker — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 13:46:45 -0500

Yes, I used all of my GI Bill benefits attending Bond University in Australia. I did not have any difficulty setting it up after communicating with the Buffalo office which is in charge of using VA educational benefits at foreign schools. Unfortunately, I no longer have the contact information for the specific person I spoke with but the number to the office is: Buffalo Regional Office at [login to see] or [login to see] . If this doesn't work, I would contact your county veteran support network. Feel free to private message me if you require further assistance.

Response by SSG Daniel Rosploch made Apr 1 at 2015 9:34 PM

SSG Daniel Rosploch — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 21:34:07 -0400

I have answered my own question and have some very important information to put out to anyone interested. Enough with the suspense...

BACK STORY (Skip to "INFORMATION" if not interested):
I am married to an Australian and had decided to move to her home country for many reasons, one being that I wanted to use my GI Bill to attend a foreign university in Brisbane. I initially applied through the VA's website, VONAPP, to gain approval for The University of Queensland (UQ) and The University of Southern Queensland (USQ). UQ's Bachelor of Mine Engineering was approved for VA funding, but the school wouldn't accept me due to poor grades in high school and lack of 1 year of college credit. USQ accepted me into their Associate of Mine Engineering despite my poor grades, but the program I wanted wasn't approved by the VA. A rock and a hard place was where I found myself with schooling.

Do I pay out of pocket for remedial classes in order to gain acceptance into UQ, or do I tempt fate and apply for VA funding approval for USQ and hope it happens before I die of old age?

INFORMATION (The purpose of this post. The meat and potatoes):
In December 2014, I emailed USQ to have them apply for VA approval for the Associate of Mine Engineering course by sending them a link, which I will post in a second comment because Rallypoint doesn't like links AND pictures in the same post (hint, hint RallyPoint team!)

USQ responded with a weak sauce letter, which even misspelled my name! I wasn't going to even attempt to sort this out because I just had a feeling the VA was going to shred it. Besides, the VA wanted this information, including a 2000+ page course catalog, mailed to them, and coming from Australia, that was going to cost a small fortune.

My wife forced me to find an email address for the VA office, which I did after having to contact the VA directly and ask for it ( [login to see] ). And then she forced me to email the weak sauce USQ letter, which I did on 31 March 2015. Today is 01 April 2015 and the VA has responded with an email telling me that my foreign program has been approved. In less than 24 hours, the VA approved a foreign school program!

Despite the fact that the VA website says everything must be snail mailed, along with them requiring a school official to do all the communicating, the VA approved the emailed request from my email address with only the crappy letter attached. Please share with anyone interested in going to a foreign university, that approval is fast and easy and was extremely painless. The only part that hurts is that I assumed that this wouldn't work so I sat on my butt until my wife told me that it can't hurt to try. If anybody has any questions regarding the process I went through or if you need more explanation, please let me know so I can help.

The moral of this story doesn't have anything to do with the VA. It is this: Get yourself a spouse that will "force" you to do the hard stuff, because even in civilian life, veterans need an NCO to push them forward!

Foreign Program Approval Information for Schools - Education and Training

Foreign Program Approval Information for Schools

Response by SPC Maurice Dawson, D.Sc. made Jun 10 at 2015 8:27 PM

SPC Maurice Dawson, D.Sc. — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 20:27:52 -0400

Many foreign universities are relatively inexpensive compared to America. I don't think the G.I. Bill covers foreign institutions. I am working on my 2nd doctorate at the moment and I must say the entire cost is a not even close to half of my 1st doctorate. The problem is if you are not going to do a MPhil or DPhil which means you may have a residency. There are $11,000.00 masters you can get online through Robert Kennedy College in Switzerland for universities in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Visit https://college.ch/

-Dr. Dawson