College Tool: the method from The Order Matters, phase by phase, with the math and its sources

A family's VA education benefits are used one after another, and the order they are used in can change the total.

College Tool is the companion app to The Order Matters. It lays out a family's plan phase by phase, with each VA-approved school's housing rate, stateside or overseas, and prints the plan with its official references to take to the School Certifying Official.

What a family sees in it:

• Each phase: stateside or overseas, and its school.
• What each phase pays, and the gaps.
• The savings buffer, phase by phase.
• The plan in order, and whether it covers the degree.
• The printed plan, with its official references.

The rates, rules, and figures in College Tool link to their official VA sources, so a family can check the math themselves rather than take a number on faith.

One path from the book, with its money

The book works one path start to finish, FSU Panama. It is a worked example, not a usable plan as it stands: rules, programs, schools and conditions change, and the pieces move.

• Year 1: Florida State University, Tallahassee. DEA (Chapter 35) plus Bright Futures.
• Year 2 and beyond: Florida State University, Republic of Panama. Switch to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Same university, same degree, international experience built in.
• The money, on the Tallahassee housing rate the example plans on: $1,824 a month at full time in 2026-27. Estimated monthly cost of living $850 to $1,050, remainder $774 to $974, savings at 20 percent $155 to $195, final monthly surplus $619 to $779.
• Housing is the edge case. VA's older regulation paid a branch abroad at the home campus rate, while today's regulation and VA's guidance since 2018 point to the foreign rate, up to $2,396 a month. FSU's School Certifying Official confirms which applies.

Who has read it

The Order Matters has been read by people who know these benefits from every side: Veterans who earned them, spouses and children who used them, and School Certifying Officials, university Veterans offices and college advisers, who apply the rules for a living. Every reader is invited to send input on anything that no longer matches its official source.

In their words: "I believe The Order Matters will be an excellent additional resource that I can recommend moving forward as they begin their educational journey." (School Certifying Official) "The information you have is very valuable and the way you have it [packaged] is awesome." (University registrar for Veteran services)

Public libraries have cataloged The Order Matters under both Veterans benefits law and personal finance, so a Veteran or a parent can look it up, request it and check it out.

It is also in MERLOT, the California State University system’s library of free teaching materials, and the Jump$tart Clearinghouse, a database of curated financial education resources from the Jump$tart Coalition, a nonprofit.

College Tool is listed in ISTE’s Learning Technology Directory, the EdTech Index. On Veterans Directory, free Veteran transition resources from Salute Veterans Inc., it and The Order Matters are both marked Popular, November 2026.

The book, College Tool and the reference charts are brought current at least once a year against VA's rules and rates, with changes between as needed. The site's PDF and EPUB show the date they were last revised, and every official source they use is listed in one place at wegotyou1776.com/sources.

College Tool is on the App Store and Google Play, free to start, and a one-time purchase unlocks the full phase approach. No account. No tracking. What you type stays on your phone unless you share it.

We Got You 1776, LLC is a Veteran-founded education-technology company and independent publisher in Melbourne, Florida.

The book

The app

How the app works