How do I find my school’s GI Bill® housing allowance?
Look the school up in VA’s GI Bill Comparison Tool, which shows each school’s housing figure. The housing allowance is DoD’s Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code of the campus where you attend most classes. Your rate of pursuit above half time and your eligibility tier set how much of it you are paid.
Authority38 U.S.C. 3313Registercomparison-tool, mha-zip, mha-more-than-half, rate-of-pursuit
Where the housing allowance goes furthest depends on many factors. We factor in things like the rent near the campus, how many credits you take, your eligibility tier and the city you want to live in, and that still is not all. Only you can answer it for your situation and how you live.
Transcript
- Asked, plainly. How do I find my school’s GI Bill housing allowance? Asked by a service member doing four years and getting out
- Look the school up in VA’s GI Bill Comparison Tool, which shows each school’s housing figure.
- The housing allowance is DoD’s Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code of the campus where you attend most classes.
- Your rate of pursuit above half time and your eligibility tier set how much of it you are paid.
- The law behind it. 38 U.S.C. 3313. The full answer is at wegotyou1776.com/questions
- We Got You 1776. Plan around your education benefits. wegotyou1776.com/questions
How does this apply to you?
If you are getting out after one enlistment
The housing figure follows the campus you choose, at the E-5 with dependents rate for its ZIP code. Look up each school you are weighing in VA’s GI Bill Comparison Tool and compare the figures.
Registermha-zip, comparison-tool
If your child or spouse is using your months
A child using your transferred months may get the housing allowance even while you are on active duty, at the rate for the child’s campus. A spouse using them is paid no housing allowance while you are on active duty.
Registerteb-child-housing, ch33-no-mha-active-duty, mha-zip
If you are the student
If you are choosing between schools, the housing figure moves with the campus ZIP code, and all-online study pays half the national average. One in-person class keeps the local rate.
Registermha-zip, online-mha
Is GI Bill housing based on where I live or where the school is?
Where the school is: the ZIP code of the campus where you attend most classes. Since August 1, 2018 housing follows where you physically attend classes.
Registermha-zip, split-term
How much housing will the GI Bill pay me at my school?
Look the school up in VA’s GI Bill Comparison Tool for its housing figure. Your rate of pursuit above half time and your eligibility tier set how much of that figure you are paid.
Registercomparison-tool, rate-of-pursuit, mha-more-than-half, ch33-tier
Which year’s BAH rates does the GI Bill housing allowance use?
The rates in effect on January 1 of the year the academic year starts, under 38 U.S.C. 3313. Transferred months follow the same rule.
Registerbah-year-transferred, rate-dates
Do I get the GI Bill housing allowance while I am on active duty?
No. The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays no housing allowance to a member on active duty, or to a spouse using transferred months while the member is on active duty.
Registerch33-no-mha-active-duty
Does a school overseas use a local housing rate?
No. At a school outside the U.S. the GI Bill pays one foreign housing rate, the national average, whatever the country or city.
Registerforeign-mha
What sets the GI Bill housing allowance at a school?
The figure starts with the campus. The housing allowance is DoD’s Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code of the campus where the student attends most classes. Since August 1, 2018 it follows where the student physically attends classes, so a student who moves between campuses can see it change from one term to the next. VA’s GI Bill Comparison Tool shows each school’s housing figure, along with its approval, its Yellow Ribbon participation and its caution flags.
The full figure is the most a student can be paid. Housing pays only above half time; at exactly half time, 6 credits where 12 is full time, it pays nothing. Above half time it is paid at the rate of pursuit rounded to the nearest 10 percent: 7 credits of 12 is 60 percent, 8 is 70, 9 or 10 is 80, 11 is 90. How much of it is paid also depends on how long the member served (the eligibility tier).
Two kinds of study change the figure entirely. All-online study pays half the national average housing allowance, and one in-person class keeps the local rate. At a school outside the U.S. the GI Bill pays one foreign housing rate, the national average, whatever the country or city.
The rates move on a calendar. Post-9/11 rates change each August 1, and DoD’s BAH table takes effect each January 1. Housing uses the BAH rates in effect on January 1 of the year the academic year starts. Transferred months follow the same rule, set in 38 U.S.C. 3313.
Who is paid depends on duty status. The Post-9/11 GI Bill pays no housing allowance to a member on active duty, or to a spouse using transferred months while the member is on active duty. A child using transferred months may get it even while the parent is on active duty. VA pays housing after the month, prorated by the days enrolled, and pay stops between terms.
By We Got You 1776, LLC.
Other ways people ask this
- GI Bill MHA calculator
- how much is the GI Bill housing stipend at my school
- GI Bill housing rate by school
- how much is the GI Bill housing allowance at my college
- where do I look up GI Bill BAH for a school
Related questions
- Is the GI Bill housing allowance based on my rank?Asked the way a service member doing four years and getting out asks
- Can I use the GI Bill at a school overseas?Asked the way a student thinking about college asks
- Why is my first GI Bill housing payment late and smaller?Asked the way a Veteran after separation asks
Terms (6)
- Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)
- 38 U.S.C. 3312(a), 38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)
- The Post-9/11 education benefit: up to 36 months that pay tuition and fees to the school, a monthly housing allowance set by the campus ZIP code, and a yearly payment for books and supplies. How much it pays depends on how long the member served (the eligibility tier).
- Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB)
- 38 U.S.C. 3319(b) and (c), 38 CFR 21.9571(b)
- Giving Post-9/11 GI Bill months to a spouse or children, the member’s dependents in DEERS. The Defense Department decides it: a member with at least 6 years of service who agrees to 4 more can transfer up to 36 months, requested through milConnect while still serving. VA’s rule calls it transfer of entitlement.
- Yellow Ribbon Program
- 38 U.S.C. 3317(a)
- A voluntary agreement in which a school and VA share tuition and fees above what the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays. The school sets how much it pays a student a year and for how many students, and VA matches it. It needs the 100 percent level.
- Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA)
- 38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)(B)
- The GI Bill’s monthly housing payment: DoD’s Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code of the campus where the student attends most classes. Schools abroad use one foreign rate instead, and a U.S. school’s campus abroad may not get the home campus rate.
- Rate of pursuit
- 38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)(B)(i), 38 CFR 21.9641(c)(1)
- How much of a full load you are carrying, as a percentage. Nine credits where 12 is full time is 75 percent. The GI Bill pays housing by it, rounded to the nearest 10 percent, and only when it is over 50 percent. It also sets how fast your GI Bill months get used. DEA uses steps instead: full, three-quarter, half, and less than half.
- Full time, three-quarter time and half time
- 38 CFR 21.4270(c), 38 U.S.C. 3532(a)
- How VA measures a course load. VA counts 14 credits a term as full time unless the school certifies 12 or 13 for its undergraduates. Where 12 is full time, 9 to 11 is three-quarter time and 6 to 8 is half time; for graduate work, full time is what the school certifies, or 14 credits. Chapter 35 DEA pays in steps by it, and the GI Bill pays housing only above half time.
From The Order Matters, The Terms, Plainly, and terms added or reworded here since, which go into the book at its next update.
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See all the artSources (13)
The official sources this answer is built on, the law first, then the official pages.
- 38 U.S.C. 3311Post-9/11 educational assistance: who is entitled, including the Fry Scholarship
- 38 U.S.C. 3313What the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays: tuition and fees, housing by rate of pursuit, the foreign and online rates, books
- 38 U.S.C. 3319Transfer of Post-9/11 GI Bill months to a spouse or child
- 38 U.S.C. 3680Payment in arrears, and dropping a class with or without a reason
- Public Law 115-48, section 107Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 (the Forever GI Bill): housing by the campus where you attend, from August 1, 2018
- 38 CFR 21.9641Post-9/11 GI Bill rates of payment: housing more than half time, rounded to the nearest 10 percent, the foreign rate
- VA.govGI Bill Comparison Tool: approved schools, housing, Yellow Ribbon, caution flags
- VA.govPost-9/11 GI Bill rates, August 1, 2026 to July 31, 2027
- VA.govFry Scholarship rates
- VA.govTransferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit rates
- VA.govChapter 35 (DEA) rates, effective October 1, 2026
- VA.govTransfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits
- Defense Travel Management OfficeBAH rate lookup, the table the GI Bill housing allowance is drawn from
The full list is on Sources and Official References.
Last updated .
The current edition of each publication, and when it last changed.
| Publication | Edition | Date |
|---|---|---|
| This page | wegotyou1776.com/questions/find-school-gi-bill-housing | |
| The Order Matters, PDF | First Edition, Revised October 2026, ISBN 979-8-9967812-0-1 | |
| The Order Matters, EPUB | First Edition, Revised October 2026, ISBN 979-8-9967812-1-8 | |
| College Tool | Version 1.2.3, App Store and Google Play | |
| Reference charts | All sizes, light and dark | |
| Official sources | Citation register, 110 sources |
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