VA GI Bill Online Comparison Tool

I completely understand what you mean on getting back to me and there is no rush at all. I am going through the same thing, my lease is up May 31st so I will be most likely renting a room from a friend until I possibly leave in August. I have a lot of nice stuff but am getting rid of everything. Everything must go!

I'm pretty sure you are savvy on transitioning but I still would like to offer this site I have found that had good ideas and helped with information on how to get rid of EVERYTHING. Cool couple too. Take your time. Can't wait to hear from you!

http://tielandtothailand.com/
 
Update: Just to touch up the whole Webster university thailand thing, the reason one cannot receive the full overseas stipend is due to the home campus' location. In Thailand, to be considered a true foreign school, in must be based in Thailand. At least be the VA's definition.
 
Update: Just to touch up the whole Webster university thailand thing, the reason one cannot receive the full overseas stipend is due to the home campus' location. In Thailand, to be considered a true foreign school, in must be based in Thailand. At least be the VA's definition.

You are absolutely correct!

And that's what I've been bitchin' about for these last two years - trying to get the VA to fix this messed up, piss-poor, pathetic overseas subsidy "deal" on the Post 9/11 GI Bill for overseas schools.

The REGULAR, overseas stipend rate is based on the US National average of stipend rates for the USA.

It's NOT based on how much it really costs to live in London and attend a US University.

It would be like trying to live and attend school in New York City on the Stipend rate allowed for St. Louis, MO!

It can't be done - unless you can rent a dumpster by the week and leave right before the truck pulls up to empty it.

US Government workers - on the lowest wage rungs/levels - who work overseas in these areas - their housing subsidy is based on the actual, physical location of the country's cost-of-living area they are working at. It's not based on some weird and arbitrary US averaging of subsidy housing rates!

Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands - all the US Territories - the VA pays the OVERSEAS HOUSING ALLOWANCE for their respective locations (2013ish rate dollars). The Territories AREN'T thrown into this Mainland stipend average for their GI Bill subsistence rates.

WHY? Because the cost-of-living higher there!

This lame-brained computation of averaging US cost-of-living stipend rates to arrive at an overseas cost-of-living stipend rate creates only ONE winner.

And that's the FINANCIAL INSTITUTION that the Veteran goes to in order to take out Student Loans to pay for his rent in London, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Helsinki, Stockholm - or wherever else in Europe there might be a school he/she gets accepted to.

And remember, there are NINE countries in Europe that offer FREE or NEARLY FREE tuition to US citizens. And although these schools are NOT USA schools, they are that nation's MAJOR public colleges and universities. And many of them are top world ranked! And many of them teach and speak English in the classroom!

This means that the VA pays next to nothing out-of-their-pocket for your tuition and fees if you attend many European public schools!

Or, in some countries, it's such a small, token sum for tuition and fees as to be under 2,000 dollars a year for tuition and fees paid by the VA for your top-shelf education.

But that "un-BIG" and "un-LIVABLE" GI Bill overseas stipend rate is pathetic!

This NON-LIVABLE, NON-SUSTAINABLE, sub-existence subsidy rate forces you to have to talk to the Banksters and mortgage your future away with student loans just to be able to pay the rent over there. The VA saves TONS of money while you're mortgaging your future away just to pay the rent to get educated.

**********

Now, if you do decide to attend a USA school in Europe, well, USA schools DO charge the VA tuition for you to attend. And often-times, the tuition and fees to attend a USA school in Europe is already at or ABOVE the MAXIMUM annual ceiling that can be paid to that USA school by the VA.

And many USA schools have limited housing or NO housing, and you are forced to rent on the local economy.

So, in many cases, your GI Bill leaves you with a tuition and fees shortfall. You still owe out-of-pocket tuition and fees.

And no campus housing.

And having to rent on the open economy.

And you get a non-sustainable, overseas subsistence rate to boot.

"How many loans can I get?", I ask.
"The more, the merrier for me!", says the Bankster.

And the VA and Congress stand idly by, while the Veteran's future gets fleeced before it's even begun.

**********

This is why I mentioned that USA school that has their "Brick-and-Mortar" Main campus located in New York City.

They have "branch" campuses in several locations around the world.

And because their Main branch is in NYC, the VA is able to pay the Veteran the NYC subsidy rate of that main school's NYC zip code.

And the VA pays to the Veteran the NYC subsidy rate when that Veteran attends ANY of that schools overseas locations.

The NYC subsidy rate is ALMOST a "living subsidy" rate for Paris or Berlin. And, for most of Europe - not all - but most.

**********

BLUF: The VA needs to STOP using the "US zip codes averaging" subsidy rate for overseas schools and GET REAL!

START using the already established, tried-and-true OHA rates for overseas schools - OHA rates just like everyone else does in the Gov't.

A Student Veteran has to live in that country and pay the same prices to eat and rent just like everyone else stationed or posted by our Government over there.

So why not give the Veteran-Student the same standard of basic living?

An E-5 w/dependant OHA rate is NOT anywhere near capable of producing a "Top-Shelf" lifestyle.

Good Grief! That's still well below average OHA rates.

The Gov't will recoup this educational investment back many times over through income taxation from a lifetime of increased earnings generated by the educated Veteran.

The Banksters don't need to be into the pockets and fleecing the Student Veterans so soon.

There's plenty of lifetime left for that with car loans, 30-year mortgages and kids.

Give the Student-Vet some financial breathing room please!

Haven't they paid enough for this benefit at this point in their lives?

nwlivewire
 
You are absolutely correct!

And that's what I've been bitchin' about for these last two years - trying to get the VA to fix this messed up, piss-poor, pathetic overseas subsidy "deal" on the Post 9/11 GI Bill for overseas schools.

oh and like we know, if they hire or assign the duty of an on-site verification officer, the Stipend issues are fixed. I will be applying for the position once I complete the 10 classes for second degree. Even if I can volunteer to man the position, it would benefit my brothers and sisters that served. $1280 is not far from 1509.00, but in thailand that could be an apartment, internet,and phone

The REGULAR, overseas stipend rate is based on the US National average of stipend rates for the USA.

It's NOT based on how much it really costs to live in London and attend a US University.

It would be like trying to live and attend school in New York City on the Stipend rate allowed for St. Louis, MO!

It can't be done - unless you can rent a dumpster by the week and leave right before the truck pulls up to empty it.

US Government workers - on the lowest wage rungs/levels - who work overseas in these areas - their housing subsidy is based on the actual, physical location of the country's cost-of-living area they are working at. It's not based on some weird and arbitrary US averaging of subsidy housing rates!

Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands - all the US Territories - the VA pays the OVERSEAS HOUSING ALLOWANCE for their respective locations (2013ish rate dollars). The Territories AREN'T thrown into this Mainland stipend average for their GI Bill subsistence rates.

WHY? Because the cost-of-living higher there!

This lame-brained computation of averaging US cost-of-living stipend rates to arrive at an overseas cost-of-living stipend rate creates only ONE winner.

And that's the FINANCIAL INSTITUTION that the Veteran goes to in order to take out Student Loans to pay for his rent in London, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Helsinki, Stockholm - or wherever else in Europe there might be a school he/she gets accepted to.

And remember, there are NINE countries in Europe that offer FREE or NEARLY FREE tuition to US citizens. And although these schools are NOT USA schools, they are that nation's MAJOR public colleges and universities. And many of them are top world ranked! And many of them teach and speak English in the classroom!

This means that the VA pays next to nothing out-of-their-pocket for your tuition and fees if you attend many European public schools!

Or, in some countries, it's such a small, token sum for tuition and fees as to be under 2,000 dollars a year for tuition and fees paid by the VA for your top-shelf education.

But that "un-BIG" and "un-LIVABLE" GI Bill overseas stipend rate is pathetic!

This NON-LIVABLE, NON-SUSTAINABLE, sub-existence subsidy rate forces you to have to talk to the Banksters and mortgage your future away with student loans just to be able to pay the rent over there. The VA saves TONS of money while you're mortgaging your future away just to pay the rent to get educated.

**********

Now, if you do decide to attend a USA school in Europe, well, USA schools DO charge the VA tuition for you to attend. And often-times, the tuition and fees to attend a USA school in Europe is already at or ABOVE the MAXIMUM annual ceiling that can be paid to that USA school by the VA.

And many USA schools have limited housing or NO housing, and you are forced to rent on the local economy.

So, in many cases, your GI Bill leaves you with a tuition and fees shortfall. You still owe out-of-pocket tuition and fees.

And no campus housing.

And having to rent on the open economy.

And you get a non-sustainable, overseas subsistence rate to boot.

"How many loans can I get?", I ask.
"The more, the merrier for me!", says the Bankster.

And the VA and Congress stand idly by, while the Veteran's future gets fleeced before it's even begun.

**********

This is why I mentioned that USA school that has their "Brick-and-Mortar" Main campus located in New York City.

They have "branch" campuses in several locations around the world.

And because their Main branch is in NYC, the VA is able to pay the Veteran the NYC subsidy rate of that main school's NYC zip code.

And the VA pays to the Veteran the NYC subsidy rate when that Veteran attends ANY of that schools overseas locations.

The NYC subsidy rate is ALMOST a "living subsidy" rate for Paris or Berlin. And, for most of Europe - not all - but most.

**********

BLUF: The VA needs to STOP using the "US zip codes averaging" subsidy rate for overseas schools and GET REAL!

START using the already established, tried-and-true OHA rates for overseas schools - OHA rates just like everyone else does in the Gov't.

A Student Veteran has to live in that country and pay the same prices to eat and rent just like everyone else stationed or posted by our Government over there.

So why not give the Veteran-Student the same standard of basic living?

An E-5 w/dependant OHA rate is NOT anywhere near capable of producing a "Top-Shelf" lifestyle.

Good Grief! That's still well below average OHA rates.

The Gov't will recoup this educational investment back many times over through income taxation from a lifetime of increased earnings generated by the educated Veteran.

The Banksters don't need to be into the pockets and fleecing the Student Veterans so soon.

There's plenty of lifetime left for that with car loans, 30-year mortgages and kids.

Give the Student-Vet some financial breathing room please!

Haven't they paid enough for this benefit at this point in their lives?

nwlivewire

oh and like we know, if they hire or assign the duty of an on-site verification officer, the Stipend issues are fixed. I will be applying for the position once I complete the 10 classes for second degree. Even if I can volunteer to man the position, it would benefit my brothers and sisters that served. $1280 is not far from 1509.00, but in thailand that could be an apartment, internet, and phone for a month!
 
oh and like we know, if they hire or assign the duty of an on-site verification officer, the Stipend issues are fixed. I will be applying for the position once I complete the 10 classes for second degree. Even if I can volunteer to man the position, it would benefit my brothers and sisters that served. $1280 is not far from 1509.00, but in thailand that could be an apartment, internet, and phone for a month!

In Thailand, this absolutely can mean the difference between renting a wood frame bungalow with NO indoor plumbing or renting a studio that does and has electricity and internet!. (Thailand anyway).

And while volunteering is GREAT, it unfortunately will NOT fix the VA subsidy program issue for all the other thousands and thousands of Student-Vets who are utilizing their GI Bill and attending high-quality, VA approved colleges and universities around the other regions in this world.

They're still left holding a heavy bag of student loans - even in "average" cost-of-living areas all over Europe - even though the VA may pay a pittance in tuition and fees as many schools in Europe are FREE or VERY low cost. (except for the US schools in Europe - they will cost the VA and you an arm and a leg).

Again, what makes sense is to base the subsidy "stipend rate" on the PHYSICAL location of where the school is at!

If the VA and Congress thinks the Student-Veteran can survive in Europe on a St. Louis, Missouri stipend rate, then I say, "OK Boys and Girls. YOU choose ANY VA-approved school in ANY area in Europe (EU nations), and YOU try to rent a place on this "stipend". And YOU pay for public transportation, food, clothing, and other BASIC essentials from this stipend. Oh. And remember, YOU won't be able to get a job either as YOU have a student VISA - NOT a work VISA. YOU'RE the foreigner now, so no government aid or assistance for you, either."

HA! I bet they will say they can't do it and need mega student loans just to survive to make it through their education phase.

Surely, if the Student-Veteran can get accepted to many of the highest-tiered, highest ranking universities in the world, and in many cases, if the capital outlay for tuition and fees is LESS than what the VA would have to shell out for the Veteran to attend a mediocre, middle-of-the-road school in Podunk, USA, then why not RAISE the overseas subsidy rate to a MINIMUM SUBSISTANCE LEVEL as per the Government OHA rates used in regions around the world?

You can't pole vault on a match stick.

If this Government wants to attract US Student-Veterans into the fields of International Business and Trade, International Relations and Law, study cutting edge Science and Medical Technology, and bring back to America so many other critical fields of learning our nation desperately needs, then Congress and the VA ought to implement a world-wide OHA "living stipend" for the GI Bill.

You can't make bricks without straw.

They need to stop patting themselves on the back, thinking that just because they re-instituted the "new and improved" GI Bill, that that is the end of their road - Mission complete, now go away.

GET REAL!

Make this opportunity count for the long haul. This is a unique opportunity for our Government (and for Corporations) to be able to capitalize on its progressive futures and reap huge innovative, cutting-edge, creative rewards.

This investment is pennies on the dollar when compared to how much is spent on R&D grants to everything else that is spent.

A minimum OHA living stipend for the Student-Veteran will return a big bang for the buck.

The Veteran wins.

The Nation wins.

That's money well spent.

nwlivewire
 
NWLivewire,
First let me say how impressed I am with your information and attention to detail. Very helpful for this up and coming life transition I will be going through. A little back story on me. I am 35, was in the US Navy for 11 years and now work at Samsung Austin Semiconductor as a Equipment Engineering Technician. I have decided to pursue an education using the P-9/11 GI bill in Thailand at Mahidol University. My logic was based off of a simple ratio: Cost of living to prestigious education earned. I have so many questions and i see how knowledgable you are so I was hoping for your advice. Maybe its best if I just put my questions down in number format?

1. If you were in my shoes, could go anywhere, (single) where would you go for the best ratio of cost of living to prestigious education earned (I know not all institutions are equal)? What would be your top lists for the best utilization of your GI bill while being able to sustain with no job so I can immerse myself properly in my studies which is in agreeance to what you have previously stated.

2. I read the part that you spoke of going to school in Paris.

"I found ONE US College that has a location in Paris AND Berlin (and other places around the world and within the US, too). It offers a very limited selection of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. But if you want to major in psychology or business or a few other majors, this may be an excellent college for you to consider as it is affordable and pays a "LIVING STIPEND". PLUS, if you attend this school at their Paris or Berlin location as a full-time student under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you are eligible to receive OVER 2 1/2 TIMES THE MONTHLY STIPEND RATE AS WHAT WEBSTER UNIVERSITY CAN GIVE at ANY of their overseas locations."

Was wondering what you thought of that school and the great stipend?

3. What would you suggest for medical coverage? I am not retired, and have %40 service connected dissability so I do not have tricare. If you don't have an idea, don't worry, I will do my own research and try to figure it out.

4. "SE Asia is where I need to go right now. (I have a crazy plan up my sleeve and I need to have a 3-stage plan for the next 10 years). My education is phase I of III." This statement of your intrigues me to no end... I would like to emulate your plan im thinking! May I know your plans for world domination?! Is it similar as I have planned? Chiang Mai Thailand? Im guessing off of $1509 being enough to live on, especially if you have monthly disability income on top.

"(I had ed debt 20 years ago and it took me 10 years to pay it off. NEVER AGAIN!)" I am just getting over the same thing... Never ever again will I be so foolish...

5. I want to study for my BA in International Business Management with a definite plan for a MBA after. How do i find out if Mahidol University is US accredited or dually accredited? Should I be worried that after all the schooling, coming back to the states, my degree would not hold enough weight? I was thinking of doing my B.B.A in Thailand, then my MBA in the states.

Hopefully this is not too much, I have done non stop research for the past 2 months and still am seeking more information! Thanks a ton!
Chris

Dear Chris:

Thanks for the Ex-pat Chiang Mai page.

As far and as limited as my personal intel is and goes, their perspectives are on-the-mark with mine. I spent just a short time in Chiang Mai, but they now live there. But my observations and theirs seem to mesh well. Thanks for sharing!

Here is my response to your questions.

Click on the document.

If it doesn't work, or it's format weirded out or something, PM me with your email addy and I will re-send that way.

Hope this helps.

As always, trust – but verify.

V/R,
nwlivewire
 

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