The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays tuition and fees directly to your school, and it also pays you a monthly housing allowance while you study. For many students the housing money is worth more than the tuition. Here is how the amount is set.
The basic rule
The monthly housing allowance, often called MHA, equals the military housing allowance (BAH) for an E-5 with dependents, using the ZIP code of the campus where you attend most of your classes. Your own rank does not matter. A former private and a retired colonel at the same school receive the same rate.
That means the allowance follows local rent. Near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the E-5 with-dependents BAH is $1,806 a month in 2026. A student at a campus in that housing area would receive about that amount at the full-benefit, full-time level. A campus in a high-rent city can pay more than twice as much.
What reduces the amount
Two percentages are applied to the full rate.
Your benefit level. You receive 100% of the GI Bill if you served at least 36 months on active duty after September 10, 2001, or if you were discharged for a service-connected disability after 30 days. Shorter service gives a lower percentage, starting at 50%, and the housing allowance is cut by the same share.
Your rate of pursuit. This means how much of a full-time load you take. VA divides your credits by what your school counts as full-time, then rounds to the nearest tenth. You must be above half-time to get any housing allowance. A student at 60% of full-time receives 60% of the rate, and so on up to 100%.
For example, at a campus where the full rate is $1,806, a student at the 80% benefit level carrying a full load receives about $1,445 a month. The same student at three-quarter time would receive about $1,156, because a 75% load rounds up to 80%, and 80% of $1,445 is about $1,156.
Online and foreign schools
If all your classes are online, the allowance is half the national average BAH for an E-5 with dependents, not a local rate. This comes to roughly $1,200 a month at the full-time, full-benefit level in recent years. Take at least one in-person class each term and you qualify for the local campus rate instead, which is usually much higher.
When you get paid
MHA is paid at the start of each month for the month before. It is prorated by the days you are enrolled, so you receive nothing for the gaps between terms. If a term ends in mid-December, the payment for December covers only the days the term was in session. Plan for the break months when your income drops.
New rates take effect each August 1, not January 1, so a January BAH increase reaches GI Bill students in the following academic year.
Who does not receive it
Service members on active duty do not receive the housing allowance, because they already receive BAH. Their spouses using transferred benefits also do not receive it while the member is on active duty. Children using transferred benefits do receive it.
Common questions
Is the GI Bill housing allowance taxable? No. Like BAH, it is not counted as taxable income.
Can I get the allowance for summer classes? Yes, if you are enrolled above half-time during the summer term. Short summer courses can count as full-time even with few credits.
Does the allowance change if I move? It changes if the campus changes, not your home address. The rate is tied to where your classes meet.
What about other GI Bill programs? The Montgomery GI Bill pays one flat monthly amount that covers everything, with no separate housing allowance. This guide covers the Post-9/11 GI Bill only.
To estimate the allowance for a school, find the E-5 with-dependents BAH rate for the campus ZIP code on our BAH page, then apply your benefit level and rate of pursuit.