The GI Bill, Tuition Assistance, and Federal Loan Discharge with Dr. Lucas Dyer
I love infantry Marines, they are without a doubt my favorite military counterparts. Talk about a respectful group of savages. If you’re familiar with the “Non-POG” faction of the Marine Corps, Aprox: 20% of the devil dogs on active duty, you know they don’t take kindly to books. I’m not making fun either. It’s a cultural thing for them and they don’t give a shit who knows. So it was interesting to hear Lucas tell me about his path to success.
Degree number 1 – Active Duty Tuition Assistance
Dr. Luca Dyer started his professional life as an infantry Marine. He ate red meat and chose to fight for America on the front lines. Lucas, however, chose to do something extra to prepare for life outside of the military. As he did, and I believe many of us have done, he dreamed of the day he’d rejoin normal society. Lucas started taking classes while he was still enlisted ON WHAT BASE. Originally the going was slow. It’s a hard thing to balance, especially with how draining the physical days of the military can be. You can’t choose how hard your week is in the military. Just like you can’t choose to turn a paper in late. After multiple years of work Lucas attained a Bachelors Degree while still active. That’s a free degree ladies and gentlemen and it isn’t the one your recruiters told you about. Each department of the military has an active duty degree program, but they don’t make it simple, especially if you take classes while deployed like Lucas did. “You’ll have to ask for help” Lucas said. That sentiment would become a theme in his career.
Degree number 2 – The GI Bill
After 13 years of service Lucas decided to break contact and check out what his DD-214 looks like. Before he left, he planned for school and worked with his admin department to transfer from The Montgomery GI to Poast 9/11. Luckily Lucas did his homework after his first degree and knew that he could use his GI Bill to get his Masters to be a competitive candidate in the job market. He also knew that he would make BAH while he got it.
You get that? – GI Bill = BAH + Better job opportunities
Lucas drained his GI Bill and got a Masters in WHAT. This Masters landed him a great paying job at Amazon. We all think military experience with leadership and adversity will help in the job market but it only helps when you’ve got the commensurate resume builders that get you in the door to have a conversation. While at Amazon Lucas wanted to continue moving up the corporate ladder, but he drained his GI, so what can you do? Doctorate.
Degree number 3 – VR&E? NOPE.
This is where Lucas’ major error in operations comes in to play. Pay Attention! If you want to continue your education to a Doctorate degree to get higher pay, but you’ve used all of your GI Bill, you will have to create a fantastic use case to be accepted into the VR&E program. VR&E is used specifically to aid you in finding gainful employment. Sure, it can be done… but why even bother with the risk?
If you follow me on any channels, you know my layout for veteran education goes TA -> VR&E -> GI Bill.
Soon to be Dr.Dyer is no quitter. He researched his options and decided he would figure it out as he went. He signed up for school out of pocket for the first time and worked with his school and google search to find a way. His degree WOULD HAVE cost him what number? However, he used the yellow ribbon program, which helps veterans attain degrees that are outside reach of their GI. Did he do that for his grad or doc?, AND he used a tool most are unaware of called TPD Discharge. TPD Discharge or Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Is a government program that allows veterans with a 100% total and permanent disability to discharge their student debt. This is not a loan forgiveness program like FAFSA. This is a payment to the school to expel your debt to them. ASK Lucas about BAH during the doc
Life After School
Dr.Lucas now runs his own financial planning company (Go figure after all the magic he pulled for those degrees), and enjoys his career immensely. He’s a stand up guy and I’ve enjoyed talking with him for the past year. When I aske Lucas to give one little piece of advice to anyone who wants to pursue education through the military, he said, “Don’t be too proud to ask for help”. I love that advice, because I need that advice more often than not. He missed out on BAH through his doctorate degree because he couldn’t find the best information before he started his education process. He would have had to think ahead by about 5 years as he was getting out to have nailed that plan. He was flexible enough to manage the whole process without spending out of pocket which is pretty hard to do.
If you’re making you next big plan and need advice go to our website’s HOMEPAGE and scroll to the bottom to send me a message. OR BETTER YET read our articles on veteran education.