By LEO SHANE III, Stars and Stripes
Student veterans attending online classes under the post-9/11 GI Bill will start receiving housing stipend checks next month for the first time, part of another slate of changes to the education benefit. Late last year, Congress approved numerous reforms to the 2-year-old education benefit, including changes in the amount paid to students attending private schools and fixes to how certain National Guard members receive tuition money. Most of the changes went into effect Aug. 1, but a handful of less heralded but significant updates will take effect Oct. 1. Among them are new rules regarding the housing stipend for online students. In the past, only veterans attending brick-and-mortar schools received a payout, worth about $1,300 a month. Now, full-time online students will receive a housing stipend of $673.50 a month, half the national average of what traditional students receive.
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