Posted on Oct 17, 2014
Has anyone used the GI Bill (Montgomery or Post 9/11) to go to a foreign university?
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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the specific program I am looking for (Geo/Mine Engineering) and most of the information on that site is completely out-of-date.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!
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!
GI Bill
VA Claim
Higher Education
Australia
Edited 9 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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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!
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
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PO2 Naiatea Iuli
Omfg. THANK YOU S'ARNT AND THANK YOU WIFEYYYYY!!!!!!! Holy smokes this exactly what I needed. I'm an Aussie American, so it's a little easier for me as far as funding for school goes. Anyway, I just recently moved back Down Unda. I'm in Sydney, starting school at Western Sydney University in like two weeks. I didn't research enough so now I'm delayed for the GI Bill because I wasn't aware of the Foreign Program Approval Info (which I only found today, right before seeing this thread). The admin there has never dealt with the GI Bill yet so they've been troubleshooting with what to do all day and I really just need the form back to email to the VA.
Long story longer, I just stumbled across Rally Point today, this (among other threads and posts) has been so incredibly helpful. I'm so glad to see vets helping vets. Thanks guys! Be safe out there!
Long story longer, I just stumbled across Rally Point today, this (among other threads and posts) has been so incredibly helpful. I'm so glad to see vets helping vets. Thanks guys! Be safe out there!
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SSG Daniel Rosploch
PO2 Naiatea Iuli I posted an update below. I'm divorced now and most definitely did not get very far with USQ when I was living in Brissy. The problem I ran into was that the VA approved the school and the program, but the school wouldn't accept payments directly from the VA and the 9/11 GI Bill does not have an option for you to receive the payments and then pay the school, like the older Montgomery Bill did.
Check with your school to see if they accept US Treasury Department payments before getting yourself in a shitty-ation. Lol
Check with your school to see if they accept US Treasury Department payments before getting yourself in a shitty-ation. Lol
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PO2 Naiatea Iuli
SSG Daniel Rosploch Well thanks for this anyway! I’m in a little bit of a different situation. I’m a dependas dream with dual citizenship but my school is saying because I’m an Australian citizen as well (a domestic student) that they won’t approve it because my tuition is already taken care of even though I’m eligible for the GI Bill and enrolled in a VA approved program.
We’ll see how it goes. I’m still going back and forth between the VA and my school.
We’ll see how it goes. I’m still going back and forth between the VA and my school.
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SSG Daniel Rosploch
That sucks because it's great to have that BAH coming in. What if you play the loophole and just give them your non-Aussie citizenship. Pretend you're just a dumb American foreigner with lots of free money to spend
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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.
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SSG Daniel Rosploch
Yeah, the Buffalo Office is the one I've been working with. My biggest problem is getting the VA to pay for a program that they don't approve of. Basically, I am working on getting VA approval, but its difficult because they want everything emailed, yet they only respond with snail mail. Apparently, they can receive high-tech messages, but can't send them....
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SSG Daniel Rosploch
I am assuming its a secret that they do have email addresses that you can get if you ask for them, but they don't advertise them on their pages. Probably to make applying for benefits harder, so the weak will quit and save the VA some money.
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PO2 Naiatea Iuli
This is superb!! Thank you. I just moved to Sydney a month ago and am about to start at Western Sydney University, in which they've never experienced any student using the GI Bill so it's a learning op for them as well. I just want to know these things so I can do what y'all do and help future U.S vets know what to do and what questions to ask should they decide to maximize this incredible benefit we are entitle to.
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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
-Dr. Dawson
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SSG Daniel Rosploch
Oh they definitely do. I have figured out that as long as you put in the effort to getting a foreign program submitted, the VA and GI Bill will fund it. Thanks for the info on the masters and doctorate but I've got a few years before I get to that point. One day....
http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/foreign_school_information_for_students.asp
http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/foreign_school_information_for_students.asp
Foreign School Information for Students - Education and Training
This page provides information for students wishing to attend foreign schools
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