The rulings (Rudisill v. McDonough and Perkins v. Collins) potentially enable millions of Veterans to receive additional education benefits under both the Montgomery G.I. Bill and the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. Veterans may be eligible under either court decision for an additional 12 months of benefits, up to a total of 48 months. 

VA is taking three steps to help Veterans in the wake of these rulings. 

• First, VA is no longer requiring Veterans to formally request a VA assessment of their eligibility under Rudisill. VA will automatically assess their eligibility under this decision.
• Second, VA is reviewing eligibility under both Rudisill and Perkins for any Veteran who has less than three months of benefits left and who is either enrolled in school or was enrolled in the last six months. Focusing on these high-priority cases will ensure that no current or recent students will be left without benefits if they qualify for additional benefits under either decision.
• Third, VA is updating its automated adjudication systems to apply the Perkinsdecision. Once this is complete, VA will review all Veterans’ files for additional entitlement under Perkins. To reduce delays, VA has been automatically approving the initial 36 months of benefits for eligible Veterans and will notify them of any additional entitlement under Perkins or if additional action is needed.

I always thought the 36 months of benefits was odd when it takes 48 months to get an undergraduate degree. Maybe they don’t pay your when school is out.