Can you use VR+E to pay for post bac coursework?

[skaran17]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently active duty and working on a plan to go to medical school after I get out. My ETS is May 2023. As of now, I'm not sure if I will stay in or not; if I do, I'd be in for another 4 years doing a software development program.

I only recently learned about VR&E and I'm not sure if I will even qualify but I hope so. I don't know what my disability rating will be. I have a bad knee, sleep problems, and possible mild PTSD from a sexual assault on deployment but it's not diagnosed.

After this fall I will have a bachelor's in linguistics. Unfortunately that's not really what I want to pursue career-wise; it's just something I picked to study when I was young (pre-Army) and (edit: screwed around lol) a lot in college. There's not a lot of career options outside of academia (not my goal) and possibly government work. I'd like to knock out pre-med requirements and apply to medical school. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to make it work, financially.

I am married with a 1 year old and another baby on the way, and currently I'm the sole income for my family. My husband does not have a lot of good employment options unfortunately due to a criminal record. So I need to find a way to support my family through the post-bac and medical school period.

My plan was to use GI bill for medical school, which would provide BAH to cover housing, and then we'd just need to find a way to make enough money to pay the rest of the bills. But for the post bac coursework, I have two options. Either stay in and try to use tuition assistance, and try to find evening/weekend class options, or find another way to pay for it (loans, voc rehab?)

Is vocational rehab an option for paying for the post bac coursework? Do y'all think there's a better way to plan all this, financially?

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[martvubo]

If you plan to use VR&E at all, get on it as soon as you can and use it for med school so you don't use up your GI bill time (then you'll still have that time left to either use during residency-- a period where VR&E won't offer benefits-- for the BAH or save it for other education later on).

 

[BC_89]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently active duty and working on a plan to go to medical school after I get out. My ETS is May 2023. As of now, I'm not sure if I will stay in or not; if I do, I'd be in for another 4 years doing a software development program.

I only recently learned about VR&E and I'm not sure if I will even qualify but I hope so. I don't know what my disability rating will be. I have a bad knee, sleep problems, and possible mild PTSD from a sexual assault on deployment but it's not diagnosed.

After this fall I will have a bachelor's in linguistics. Unfortunately that's not really what I want to pursue career-wise; it's just something I picked to study when I was young (pre-Army) and (edit: screwed around lol) a lot in college. There's not a lot of career options outside of academia (not my goal) and possibly government work. I'd like to knock out pre-med requirements and apply to medical school. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to make it work, financially.

I am married with a 1 year old and another baby on the way, and currently I'm the sole income for my family. My husband does not have a lot of good employment options unfortunately due to a criminal record. So I need to find a way to support my family through the post-bac and medical school period.

My plan was to use GI bill for medical school, which would provide BAH to cover housing, and then we'd just need to find a way to make enough money to pay the rest of the bills. But for the post bac coursework, I have two options. Either stay in and try to use tuition assistance, and try to find evening/weekend class options, or find another way to pay for it (loans, voc rehab?)

Is vocational rehab an option for paying for the post bac coursework? Do y'all think there's a better way to plan all this, financially?

At this point, I would not rely on VR&E as a viable option for post bac coursework. VR&E is an employment program, not at an education program (which is a bit confusing since its main goal in this forum is to do just that - pay for education).

Without a disability rating and details of multiple outlines of each service connected disability claim, it is hard to gauge what you may or may not qualify for. If you are able to work once you leave the service with a viable degree, you will be hard pressed to convince a counselor why your current credentials prevent you from seeking employment. At that, you would need to provide evidence that could explain on how becoming a physician will not aggravate your disabilities when compared to being a teacher or a linguistic.

Although the new rule set down earlier this year in April states that your GI Bill is preserved if you start out using VR&E (VR&E no longer takes time away from the GI Bill), I would safely plan on how to best cover medical school expenses presuming you are not eligible for VR&E (if it turns out you are, then fantastic - I would start with that and save your GI Bill for residency coverage for housing benefits).

Honestly, if you are able to stay in and use additional benefits for both health coverage for your growing family and education coverage, I would take advantage of those opportunities while you still can. Within that timeframe, I would keep updating your med-pros and any doctor appointments throughout your remining TOS. If you truly feel your disability rating would allow enough of a pension coverage to assist in outside finances coupled with the GI Bill for medical school, then that is when I would make that pivot to your end career goal (presuming you use tuition assistance while still AD and before applying to med school).

VR&E is very difficult to obtain for higher healthcare professional degrees (I am 100% service connected and was rejected twice for my doctorate before being granted approval). However, it is not impossible. I would plan for the worst and see what benefits you may end up having in the end w/o the aid of VR&E.

 

[skaran17]

At this point, I would not rely on VR&E as a viable option for post bac coursework. VR&E is an employment program, not at an education program (which is a bit confusing since its main goal in this forum is to do just that - pay for education).

Without a disability rating and details of multiple outlines of each service connected disability claim, it is hard to gauge what you may or may not qualify for. If you are able to work once you leave the service with a viable degree, you will be hard pressed to convince a counselor why your current credentials prevent you from seeking employment. At that, you would need to provide evidence that could explain on how becoming a physician will not aggravate your disabilities when compared to being a teacher or a linguistic.

Although the new rule set down earlier this year in April states that your GI Bill is preserved if you start out using VR&E (VR&E no longer takes time away from the GI Bill), I would safely plan on how to best cover medical school expenses presuming you are not eligible for VR&E (if it turns out you are, then fantastic - I would start with that and save your GI Bill for residency coverage for housing benefits).

Honestly, if you are able to stay in and use additional benefits for both health coverage for your growing family and education coverage, I would take advantage of those opportunities while you still can. Within that timeframe, I would keep updating your med-pros and any doctor appointments throughout your remining TOS. If you truly feel your disability rating would allow enough of a pension coverage to assist in outside finances coupled with the GI Bill for medical school, then that is when I would make that pivot to your end career goal (presuming you use tuition assistance while still AD and before applying to med school).

VR&E is very difficult to obtain for higher healthcare professional degrees (I am 100% service connected and was rejected twice for my doctorate before being granted approval). However, it is not impossible. I would plan for the worst and see what benefits you may end up having in the end w/o the aid of VR&E.

Thank you for the reply! Yeah, VR&E sounds like an amazing program but very difficult to get. I definitely don't want to make plans and then find out I won't qualify.

I was hoping there would be some sort of financial aid I could use for post-bac coursework after ETS, because otherwise like you said my best option is to stay in, but that unfortunately extends my timeline quite a bit because I'll have to find night courses and only take about 2 per semester, so altogether it would take 4 years just to qualify to apply to medical school (and then of course 4 years of med school and 4 years of residency, so I'm looking at 12 years before I can actually be a doctor). Doing school full-time would be easier and faster, but financially less viable.

 

[MusicDOc124]

I know 3-4 people personally who used VRE for post-bacc and medical school. Just the same, I know people who were denied altogether, and people who were denied for medical school but had other coverage.

Rec to apply for VRE to cover things ASAP. As was mentioned, the recent change means if you use VRE first, there is the possibility of extending, and whenever VRE finally ends, have your GI bill. If you start with GI Bill, this will still reduce the amount of potential VRE, and while extension could still be possible, it would be less likely at that point. This is based on my current understanding as I'm unaware of any other interpretation or further changes.

 

[GB4ME]

Thank you for the reply! Yeah, VR&E sounds like an amazing program but very difficult to get. I definitely don't want to make plans and then find out I won't qualify.

I was hoping there would be some sort of financial aid I could use for post-bac coursework after ETS, because otherwise like you said my best option is to stay in, but that unfortunately extends my timeline quite a bit because I'll have to find night courses and only take about 2 per semester, so altogether it would take 4 years just to qualify to apply to medical school (and then of course 4 years of med school and 4 years of residency, so I'm looking at 12 years before I can actually be a doctor). Doing school full-time would be easier and faster, but financially less viable.

So just so you know the VRE counselors get bonuses based on how many cases they close and veterans get employed. So they love to put people in barber school because it’s quick and they get their bonus faster. But when you try to go post grad work they have piles of excuses to not approve you. They want easy fast money without doing work. It’s so messed up there is a lawyer that all he does is fight denials for VRE cases.