Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill,a Veteran enrolled at more than one-half time can qualify for a monthly housing allowance based on DoD's Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate for an E-5 with dependents. VA determines eligibility for housing allowance by calculating the rate of pursuit. Rate of pursuit is expressed in a percentage calculated by dividing the number of credits in which the student is enrolled by the number of credits considered to be full time. A student with a rate of pursuit greater than 50% can qualify for the housing allowance.
Undergraduate
For undergraduate enrollments, 12 semester or quarter hours are generally required for full-time training. The school submits the term dates and credit hours of the enrollment to VA and we calculate the rate of pursuit.
For example, if 12 credits is considered full-time, a course load of 6 credits yields a rate of pursuit of 50% (6 ÷ 12 = .50), whereas a course load of 7 credits yields a rate of pursuit of 58% (7 ÷ 12 = .58). In this scenario, a Veteran would need to enroll for at least 7 credits (such as two 3-credit classes and a 1-credit lab) in order to receive the housing allowance benefits.
Some schools offer classes in terms that are shorter than a semester or quarter. This is especially true for online classes and summer enrollments, but some schools offer accelerated terms at brick-and-mortar campuses year round. In these cases, VA calculates weighted "equivalent credit hours" so that fewer credits are required for full-time (and more than half-time) training.
Graduate
Because graduate level programs vary in the amount of credits required for full-time training, the school provides the training time information to VA in addition to the term dates and credit hours of the enrollment.
Monthly Housing Allowance Payments
Once the training time is determined, the monthly housing allowance is paid at the nearest 10% level. If your training time is determined to be 58% as calculated above you will be paid 60% of the applicable housing allowance. If your training time is calculated to be 84% you will be paid 80% of the applicable housing allowance.