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Veterans, GI Bill & ROTC

Education Abroad fully supports Veterans, their dependents, and ROTC students who wish to study abroad. There are some special considerations to take into account, so we have outlined that important information below.

Veterans and their Dependents who attend CU on the GI Bill will need to work closely with the CU VMA Office and with the Education Abroad office to determine if you can use your benefits for your program. Currently, there are a lot of restrictions on the type of program to which benefits can be applied. We have outlined the possibilities on the bottom of this page (expand the drop down menu as needed). After reading that info we encourage you make an appointment with Sarah Westmoreland to answer any questions you might have about selecting a program, which programs are eligible, and additional scholarships that might apply to your program.

ROTC students will want to speak with their reporting officer about the possibility of spending a semester or summer abroad. We know ROTC students have commitments that might make study abroad challenging, but we offer many short-term programs that might be a good fit, and we have worked with many students who have made a semester abroad possible while still meeting their ROTC requirements. 

Throughout the experience, be organized, stay on top of your paperwork, and stay cognizant of how your military association may impact your interactions with locals abroad.

Questions to Consider

  • What kind of program abroad am I interested in? If I have previous experience living/serving abroad, a study abroad experience might be very different. How will any prior international experiences shape my perceptions during my program?
  • Will I need to list my military service on a visa application, and how will I do so?
  • Do I need to maintain a fitness regimen, and what facilities will be available?
  • How will I discuss my military experience with locals, and how might it be perceived?
  • Has the U.S. military been involved in prior action with or in my host country? What is the perception of those military actions among locals?
  • How will the academic and cultural context abroad shape this international experience?

Scholarships & Financial Aid

If you are able to use your VA benefits (by going on a CU faculty-led program) or ROTC scholarships to study abroad, that's great! If not, we are here to support you as you apply for other scholarships or grant funding. If you use financial aid to attend CU Boulder, you can use that aid for an education abroad program*. There are a few awards that you might be eligible for listed below, and we encourage you to browse the full range of scholarships on our website.

  • CU Education Abroad offers two scholarships per term to GI Bill recipients with financial need. $5,000 for semester; $3,000 for summer; $1,500 for Global Intensives. Please indicate your GI Bill status in your Buffs Abroad/CU in D.C./Global Intensive scholarship application.
  • Boren Awards: Veterans have a very high acceptance rate of almost 60% for the Boren award! Boren is for students planning an overseas program in a country outside of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand who wish to study language as part of the program.
  • Gilman Scholarship: For students currently receiving Pell grants as part of their federal financial aid.
  • Gilman McCain Scholarship: For dependents of Active Duty service members - other criteria apply.


*Note: to use financial aid you must be attending an approved education abroad program. You cannot use financial aid if you are pursuing the Parent/Guest letter option to study abroad independently in the hopes of using your GI Bill benefits.

Security Clearance

Worried about a current or future security clearance? Create a spreadsheet to store sustained foreign contact information for serious connections you make abroad. Keep track of your addresses abroad and details for two references per address. You can check out the Questionnaire for National Security Positions SF-86 (.pdf) form for more info.

GI Bill Funds and Your Program

The current VA guidance only allows students to use GI Bill benefits to pay for an education abroad program under very strict rules. In most cases, students cannot use their GI Bill funds to pay for an education abroad program. The GI Bill benefits can be used only under these scenarios:
 
  1. If course(s) abroad are CU Boulder Instructor-led (must be a CU Boulder Global Seminar or Global Internship; Global Intensives will not qualify). For this option, the GI Bill will cover the amount of tuition and fees equivalent to taking the same number of credits on the CU Boulder campus. You will be responsible for the remainder of the Program Fee and the Estimated Costs Not Included in the Program Fee.
     
  2. If students attend a foreign institution using a Parent/Guest Letter, this scenario comes with many hurdles:
    • this option requires you to go abroad independently of the CU Education Abroad office. You won't be enrolled at CU while pursuing this option which means you cannot use financial aid you typically receive to attend CU.
    • the school abroad must be approved by the VA in the Weams database
    • the school abroad must be willing to accept non-degree study abroad students; many schools only accept full degree-seeking students
    • the student must go abroad independently of our office which usually means you cannot go on a program at a school with which we already have a partnership since the partnership requires you to enroll through our office
    • the student must find and seek out the Certifying Officials on the foreign school campus to get them to certify their enrollment
       
  3. If students enroll as degree-seeking at the abroad university (transfers to another VA approved school and then back to CU)
  • This scenario is not easy as it requires un-enrolling from CU Boulder and finding a school abroad to enroll in.
If you are thinking of using your benefits to help pay for your program please connect with the CU Boulder VMA office and with Sarah Westmoreland in the Education Abroad office to get more details on how this might work. Contact sarah.westmoreland@colorado.edu prior to pursuing option 2 or 3. 

Please also note:
  • In order to use GI Bill benefits for a study abroad program in one of the three scenarios above, the courses you take must be required for your degree. If the courses are not needed in order to complete your degree, they will not be covered by the VA.
  • If you are going abroad under one of the three approved scenarios, the VA will pay the equivalent to what they would pay if you were taking the same number of credit hours on campus. Please talk to the CU Boulder VMA office to estimate what this amount will be and how your housing stipend could be affected.

In most cases students cannot use GI Bill benefits for CU in D.C. The exception is the CU in D.C. Global Seminars, since these are CU Boulder instructor-led programs.

Please also note:

  • In order to use GI Bill benefits for a CU in D.C. Global Seminar, the course(s) you take must be required for your degree. If the courses are not needed in order to complete your degree, they will not be covered by the VA.

  • If you are going on a CU in D.C. Global Seminar, the VA will pay the equivalent to what they would pay if you were taking the same number of credit hours on campus. Please talk to the CU Boulder VMA office to estimate what this amount will be and how your housing stipend could be affected.

 
Last Updated August 2024