Outside Awards

VA Benefits and the Yellow Ribbon Program

If you are a qualifying veteran, you may be eligible for educational benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through one of several VA programs. Children of veterans may also be eligible. In all cases, the decision to use your benefits or to save them for graduate school, for example, is a personal one and we encourage you to consider all of your options. For all VA programs, Stanford’s Office for Military-Affiliated Communities (OMAC) serves as liaison between the University, its students and the VA. Instructions for activating VA educational benefits for enrollment at Stanford are on the OMAC web page for Activating VA Educational Benefits. Students may also contact OMAC directly by phone at (650) 721-1563. 

The Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as Chapter 33, is the most commonly used VA educational benefits program at Stanford. This program provides funding for tuition, required fees, books and housing. The level of an individual student’s Chapter 33 benefits is determined by the qualifying veteran’s length of military service since 9/11/2001. For the 2017-2018 academic year, the base benefit for tuition and fees is capped at $22,805.34.

If you qualify for Chapter 33 benefits at the 100% level, you may be eligible for additional funding through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Under this program, Stanford provides an annual contribution to supplement the Chapter 33 base tuition benefit. The VA matches Stanford's Yellow Ribbon contribution. For the 2017-2018 academic year, Stanford's maximum annual Yellow Ribbon contribution for undergraduate students is $10,000 per student, with the VA providing a matching amount of up to $10,000. For graduate and professional students, the amount of Stanford's Yellow Ribbon contribution varies by school and program; please consult the Yellow Ribbon chart on the Office for Military-Affiliated Communities website.

Most of the VA educational benefit programs pay benefits directly to students on a monthly basis. However, under the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), the VA sends tuition and fees benefits to Stanford, where the Financial Aid Office is responsible for applying the funds to the student account (university bill). Chapter 33 books and housing benefits are sent directly to students monthly. You may need to apply the housing benefits to the university bill to pay for on-campus room and board.

The logistics of receiving Chapter 33 benefits at Stanford vary depending on your program level and dependency status. In general, undergraduate students who are veterans themselves are considered independent, and undergraduates who are receiving transferred benefits from their parents are usually considered dependent. The pages linked below provide details for each category of students.

Updated on September 21, 2017 10:45 AM