How much money for college do military enlistees really get?

[bluestateguy]

The conventional wisdom is that many young people from working class families join the military to earn money for college under a reciprocal government program. There is also a lot of anecdotal evidence that I have heard that says that underneath all of the military's promises of money for college are lines of red tape, technicalities, loopholes and qualifications. These folks say that in reality the amount of money most young people get is about enough for a couple of community college classes at best. Could anyone here share what they know about this?

[ant]

1. this might help

According to this site:
http://www.objector.org/before-you-enlist/myths.html

Two-thirds of all recruits never get any college funding from the military. Only 15% graduated with a four year degree.

You can read more about how much they actually get, who gets it and how here:
http://www.objector.org/before-you-enlist/gi-bill.html

[DocSavage]

2. Montgomery GI Bill

I would look at this site vs. the concienctious objector site. I use my GI Bill for 3 years at the University of Arizona. This was in 80, but after I became a instate student, the money that I got paid all of my tuition and a fair amount for books. After I went back in, I used TA (Not connected with GI Bill) and finished my degree. Read the info. But remember, the GI Bill kicks in after you complete your Active Duty. While on Active duty, you use Tuitions assistance which pays generally 70-85% of the class course (not at MIT or Harvard), but at schools that have campuses on base.

http://www.gibill.com/default-overture.cfm

[qazplm]

3. the military IS good for education

1. you can take CLEP tests for free, a smart soldier can test out of a year of college that way.

2. The GI Bill by itself is 12K. Thats for all services. The Army has the Army College Fund which is by far better than the other services. I have seen it as high as 60K and that was a few years ago. I myself got 27K for college and that was in 92 when I enlisted.

3. The military also has the tuition assistance program that pays 100% now I believe of tuition while the solider is on active duty

Why would someone not use/qualify? Well, you have to get an honorable discharge for one. Two, you have to serve at least two-thirds of your enlistment (or you get a month for month credit if you serve under that).

I gotta tell, for the army at least, even if it does nothing else right, there really are a lot of educational opportunities if a young soldier takes advantage of them. They have education centers on every base. ANY soldier could CLEP out of a years worth of college over 6 months easy.

Sadly, most soldiers dont know or dont get aggressive enough with it.
Also, many states such as Texas and Illinois give their active duty residents free tuition if their GI Bill benefits run out.