Lawmakers recognize the important role of online learning in helping veterans advance their postsecondary educations. Veterans can use their GI Bill benefits to cover the cost of attending either in-person or online programs. There is, however, a major exception to this parity: students pursuing exclusively online programs cannot receive a full housing benefit, and their housing allowance is not based on where they live. The rationale that led lawmakers to adopt this restriction is not well documented, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide an explanation for the reduced benefit on its website or as part of its online benefits calculator.
Our analysis of data from the US Department of Education and the Department of Veterans Affairs finds little justification for the reduced housing benefit for fully online programs. Housing costs among GI Bill recipients attending fully online undergraduate courses are not lower than costs for students attending in person or through a mix of in-person and online courses. We estimate that these fully online students, however, receive a housing benefit that is $1,533 less per year, on average, than if they were attending some classes in person. The data also show that GI Bill recipients attending fully online classes have similar or even lower incomes than those attending in traditional or mixed formats, meaning that the policy affects students who do not have additional resources to make up for the reduced benefits meant to cover their housing costs.
It is difficult to determine whether predominantly online institutions that enroll a large share of GI Bill recipients produce weaker student outcomes. Postenrollment earnings at predominantly online institutions popular among GI Bill recipients are not substantially different from those at institutions offering predominantly in-person courses. But students attending predominantly online institutions make slower progress paying down their student loans shortly after leaving school.
Congress could consider allowing a full housing benefit for students attending programs exclusively online and that the housing benefit for these students be based on where they reside rather than a national average. As veterans increasingly turn to online education options to use their GI Bill benefits, these changes will ensure that former members of the armed forces receive the educational benefits they have earned.
