REAP – More Free Money For College For Veterans

January 3rd, 2009 by Ben Moreno

('’)

This post is dedicated to all military veterans out there.  It is unfortunate how many U.S. Military Verterans are unaware of the potential benefits they may be entitled to for their services as a military professional.

One such benefit is called R.E.A.P.  The Reserve Educational Assistance Program.  What is REAP?  REAP is a new Department of Defense education benefit to veterans who served on active duty in response to war or national emergency.  Most recently, would be the war in response to the attacks of September 11th. 

If you served at least 90 days of active duty service during Operation Iraqi Freedom II, then you may be eligible for education benefits.  Be sure to visit the REAP section on the the V.A. website for all of the details to this program.

Back in 2004 I served around 8 months of active duty time during OIF II.

I recently decided I was going to go after my MBA so I enrolled in this program a few weeks ago.  This morning I got up and checked the mail and received a package from the V.A.  I was delighted to when I read the first line of the document inside.  It read as follows:

“Dear Mr. Moreno, This certifies that you are entitled to benefits for an approved program of education or training under the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP).  You have 12 months and 0 days of full time benefits remaining.  You have until October 6, 2014, to use your benefits under this program.”

Trust me, I don’t need until 2014 to use this money.  I was already planning on starting in March of 2009.  Based on the payout breakdown from the V.A. I should receive about $220 a month from this program to go toward my stiff $2100 dollar tuition per class at Keller Graduate School of Management.

I was also delighted to learn that I also qualify for another program called the Veteran Appreciation Grant. This is an exclusive program that Keller offers.  I think it is an additional $250 off the tuition charges.  So, if I do decide to go to Keller, I could have up to about $910 off the tuition fees per class!

This certainly makes me feel much better about the time I served on active duty.  All other veterans should feel this way as well.  This is why I encourage all other veterans to take advantage of the programs that they qualify for.  First off you deserve it, simply because you have made true sacrifices for our country.  Second, you pay taxes even in the military, so you are helping pay for these programs anyway!

So don’t waste time, get online or head over to your local V.A. office and enroll for what is rightfully yours. 

If you are a veteran and are reading this article I suggest you subscribe to my blog.  I am always researching and will post any other information I discover in the future.  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  Godspeed!

Subscribe to get free updates.

Enter your email address:

Don’t forget to check your spam filter and verify your subscription.

Tags: college tuition, REAP, Veterans

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm and is filed under News, Veterans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.