Chapter 1606 Rates 2026-27: $508 a Month vs. the Post-9/11 GI Bill

Last Updated: October 8, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

The new Chapter 1606 rates took effect October 1, 2026. The Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve now pays $508 a month for full-time study through September 30, 2027. Three common beliefs about this benefit are wrong: the 14-year expiration was repealed in 2008 for most members, 90 days of qualifying duty ordinarily earns Post-9/11 at 50% rather than 100% unless a separate 100% route applies, and switching programs is not always permanent. Here are the rates, the rules as the statute reads today, and FedTools' computation of what 36 months of each program is worth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Chapter 1606 rates for 2026-2027?

From October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, VA pays $508 a month for full-time enrollment, $408 at three-quarter time, $253 at half time, and $127 below half time, though nothing below half time where tuition assistance is available. On-the-job training and apprenticeships pay $381 a month for months 1 to 6, $279.40 for months 7 to 12, and $177.80 after the first year. These are full amounts: VA says you must work at least 120 hours in the month to get them.

Who qualifies for the Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve?

Under 10 U.S.C. § 16132, you need a six-year enlistment, reenlistment, or extension in the Selected Reserve (officers agree to six years beyond any other obligation), a high school diploma or equivalency certificate before you apply, and completed initial active duty for training. VA also requires that you stay in good standing in an active Selected Reserve unit. The same section bars crediting one period of service to both Chapter 30 and Chapter 1606, and excludes full-time duty spent organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training the reserve components in those end-strength positions.

Does Chapter 1606 still expire after 14 years?

Not for most members. A 2008 law amended 10 U.S.C. § 16133(a) so that eligibility ends on the date you are separated from the Selected Reserve. VA says the 14-year measure from your first six-year obligation still applies only in exception cases, such as a separation for a disability not caused by willful misconduct.

How much is the Chapter 1606 kicker?

Your service decides, for skills or units with a critical shortage and with Secretary of Defense approval, and 10 U.S.C. § 16131(i) caps the increase at $350 a month. VA adds the kicker to your monthly payment on top of the base rate.

Can I use Chapter 1606 and Post-9/11 at the same time?

No. Under 38 U.S.C. § 3322(a), you cannot receive assistance under two programs concurrently and must elect which one to receive. Charged months, counted as full-time months or the part-time equivalent, generally count toward a 48-month aggregate limit across these GI Bill programs.

If I switch to Post-9/11, do I lose Chapter 1606 forever?

If both programs rest on the same period of service and you elect Post-9/11 in place of Chapter 1606 under 38 U.S.C. § 3327, the election is irrevocable. If your Post-9/11 eligibility comes from a separate period of service, VA's January 2025 Rudisill guidance says you may use both, never at the same time, up to 48 months combined. Confirm with VA first, because VA's own eligibility page still names only the active-duty Montgomery program.

Does a 90-day deployment give me the full Post-9/11 GI Bill?

No. Under 38 U.S.C. § 3311(b)(7), an aggregate of 90 days to under 6 months of qualifying active duty earns the 50% tier, and entry-level and skill training do not count toward it. The 100% tier takes 36 aggregate months, a Purple Heart, or a discharge for a service-connected disability or sole survivorship after 30 continuous days.

Do drill weekends or annual training count toward Post-9/11?

No. Under 38 U.S.C. § 3301(1)(B), only service under the listed Title 10 call-up authorities counts, plus Coast Guard orders under 14 U.S.C. § 712. For Army and Air National Guard members, 38 U.S.C. § 3301(1)(C) adds full-time Guard duty to organize, administer, recruit, instruct, or train the Guard, and full-time duty under 32 U.S.C. § 502(f) authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense to respond to a presidentially declared national emergency and supported by federal funds.

Which program is worth more?

Usually Post-9/11, if you have qualifying active duty. Even at the 50% tier, 36 months is worth up to $86,514.68 for a housing-eligible online student at a private school who studies full time and is not on active duty, about 4.7 times a full Chapter 1606 entitlement, by FedTools' computation. The exception is a member taking one class a term: Post-9/11 pays no housing at half time or below, and Chapter 1606 still pays $127 a month unless tuition assistance is available for the course.

Does my kicker carry over to Post-9/11?

Yes, if you elect Post-9/11 in place of Chapter 1606 under 38 U.S.C. § 3327 and hold the kicker on the election date: subsection (g) keeps the § 16131(i) increase. On the Rudisill separate-period route it is unresolved, so ask VA before you switch.

The apprenticeship and OJT rows are full monthly amounts; VA says you must work at least 120 hours that month to get them. Correspondence courses pay 55% of the established cost and flight training pays 60% of approved charges, with one month of entitlement charged for every $508 VA pays. Licensing and certification tests are reimbursed up to $2,000. Rates rise every October 1 by the change in the Consumer Price Index for the twelve months ending the prior June 30, under 10 U.S.C. § 16131(b)(2). VA says to check back in August 2027 for the next table.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 16131(b)(1)(D), VA pays nothing for less-than-half-time pursuit if military tuition assistance is available for the course. And VA's three-quarter-time figure of $408 is 80% of the full-time rate, while the statute's base ratio and the apprenticeship rows run at about 75%. A proportional figure would be about $381. Check the amount on your payment statement.

Eligibility, and the 14-Year Rule That Was Repealed

The entry rules in 10 U.S.C. § 16132 are a six-year Selected Reserve contract (for officers, six years beyond any other Selected Reserve obligation), a diploma or equivalency certificate before you apply, and completion of initial active duty for training before any benefit is paid. Those are not the only limits: the same section bars crediting one period of Selected Reserve service to both Chapter 30 and Chapter 1606, and denies Chapter 1606 credit for full-time duty organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training the reserve components in positions counted in the authorized full-time support end strength. Maximum entitlement under § 16131(c)(2) is 36 months.

Under 10 U.S.C. § 16135, a member who received benefits and then "does not participate satisfactorily in required training" can, at the service's option, be ordered to active duty for the lesser of two years or the remaining obligation, or be made to repay the benefits.

On expiration, VA's regulation still prints a 14-year period, but the statute controls, and it was amended in 2008: under 10 U.S.C. § 16133(a) as it reads today, the period expires "on the date the person is separated from the Selected Reserve." VA's plain-language page says the same: eligibility "usually ends the day you leave the Selected Reserve." If you are mobilized, VA extends your eligibility by the time mobilized plus four months. The 14-year measure from your first six-year obligation survives only in the exception cases, such as a disability separation. The statute's other exceptions cover separations caused by unit inactivation during set periods and extensions when an emergency prevented you from using the benefit.

What a 90-Day Mobilization Earns

The Post-9/11 tiers in 38 U.S.C. § 3311 are built on aggregate qualifying active duty since September 11, 2001. For reserve-component members, qualifying duty under 38 U.S.C. § 3301(1)(B) means orders under the listed Title 10 authorities (sections 688, 12301(a), (d), (g), (h), 12302, 12304, 12304a, and 12304b, plus 14 U.S.C. § 712 for the Coast Guard). For Army and Air National Guard members, 38 U.S.C. § 3301(1)(C) adds full-time Guard duty to organize, administer, recruit, instruct, or train the Guard, and full-time duty under 32 U.S.C. § 502(f) authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense to respond to a presidentially declared national emergency and supported by federal funds. Drill weekends and annual training are not on the list.

The exclusion is what catches people. At the tiers below 24 months of aggregate service, including the 90-day tier, basic training and initial skills training do not count, so a member whose only active duty is initial training plus a 90-day mobilization sits at the 50% tier.

36 Months of Each Program, in Dollars

FedTools computed what 36 months is worth under each program at the 2026-27 rates. Inputs: the $508 Chapter 1606 rate and the $350 kicker cap; the Post-9/11 private and non-college tuition cap of $30,908.34 per academic year, the $1,000 annual book stipend, and the $1,261 online-only monthly housing allowance for students who first used benefits on or after January 1, 2018, all effective August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027. Assumptions: a housing-eligible student who is not on active duty (and not a spouse using transferred benefits while the member is on active duty), taking online-only courses above half time, who first used benefits on or after January 1, 2018; 36 months equals four nine-month academic years of full-time study, rates held flat, tuition at the private cap as an upper bound (public schools pay actual in-state net cost), no tuition assistance, no Yellow Ribbon.

Worked row: $30,908.34 × 4 = $123,633.36, plus $1,261 × 36 = $45,396, plus $4,000, gives $173,029.36, which is 9.46 times $18,288. A student attending in person above half time, and not on active duty, gets the E-5-with-dependents housing allowance for the school's ZIP code instead of the online rate.

The boundary case runs the other way. Post-9/11 pays no housing allowance to a student at half time or below. Chapter 1606 pays $127 a month below half time. For a drilling member taking one course a term, Chapter 1606 can be the better monthly cash, as long as tuition assistance is not available for the course.

Switching Programs: Three Different Rules

Same period of service. If one six-year contract is the basis for both your Chapter 1606 and your Post-9/11 eligibility, 38 U.S.C. § 3322(h) says you elect which program that service is credited to. Electing Post-9/11 in place of Chapter 1606 under § 3327 is irrevocable under § 3327(i). Your kicker follows you if you hold it on the election date: § 3327(g) keeps the § 16131(i) increase under Post-9/11.

Separate periods of service. After the Supreme Court's April 2024 decision in Rudisill v. McDonough, VA's January 2025 guidance to veterans service organizations says a member with one period that qualifies for a Montgomery benefit, "MGIB-Active Duty or MGIB-Selected Reserve," and a separate period that qualifies for Post-9/11 may use both, up to 48 months combined, and that VA removed the irrevocable election from Form 22-1990. VA's live eligibility page, however, names only the active-duty Montgomery program. Ask VA in writing before you count on the extra months. If you have two separate qualifying periods and previously gave up Montgomery months to use Post-9/11, VA says the deadline to claim a recalculated expiration date is October 1, 2030; whether that recalculation reaches Chapter 1606 expiration dates is not confirmed. Whether a kicker transfers on this route is unresolved.

The 48-month cap. Under 38 U.S.C. § 3695(a), the aggregate across the listed programs, including Chapter 1606, may not exceed 48 months or the part-time equivalent. Separate limits apply when Chapter 31 or Chapter 35 is in the mix, and Chapter 1606 payments for a course interrupted by a qualifying mobilization that earned no credit are not charged. Post-9/11 entitlement is 36 months "subject to section 3695," so a member charged 20 full-time-equivalent months of Chapter 1606 can draw at most 28 months of Post-9/11, not 36.

Look Up Your Post-9/11 Housing Rate

Post-9/11's in-person housing allowance starts from the Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code where you attend most classes, and VA then applies your tier percentage and rate of pursuit. For your school's exact figure, use VA's school-specific result or the Defense Travel Management Office BAH lookup by ZIP code that VA links to. The BAH and RMC Calculator gives selected-area illustrations only: it lists 44 housing areas and a national-average fallback, with no school ZIP input. Our GI Bill housing allowance reset guide explains the August 1 rate year.

Related Resources

• BAH and RMC Calculator: Selected-area E-5-with-dependents BAH illustrations, not your school's exact rate.
• GI Bill MHA August 2026 Reset: The Post-9/11 housing allowance by rate year.
• Guard and Reserve Retirement Points: How drills, annual training, and mobilizations count toward retirement.
• Guard and Reserve vs. Active Duty at 20 Years: The retirement side of the same decision.
• GI Bill and the Roth Conversion Window: Using a low-income school year for tax planning.
• Reserve Retirement Points Calculator: Track points toward a reserve retirement.

Sources

• VA: Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve rates, effective October 1, 2026
• VA: MGIB-SR future rates
• VA: Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve eligibility
• VA: Post-9/11 GI Bill rates, effective August 1, 2026
• VA: Eligibility for VA education benefits (Rudisill section)
• VBA: Rudisill v. McDonough communication to VSOs, January 2025
• 10 U.S.C. § 16131, 10 U.S.C. § 16132, 10 U.S.C. § 16133, 10 U.S.C. § 16135
• 38 U.S.C. § 3301, 38 U.S.C. § 3311, 38 U.S.C. § 3312, 38 U.S.C. § 3313, 38 U.S.C. § 3322, 38 U.S.C. § 3327, 38 U.S.C. § 3695
• 38 C.F.R. § 21.9520 (eCFR)