Reservists and Guard members using the Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve benefit are paid $508.00 a month for full-time study starting today, Oct. 1, 2026. That is $15 more than the $493.00 the same full-time category paid under the table that expired on Sept. 30. The $15 is this publication’s subtraction of two published figures; VA does not state it anywhere.
The program is Chapter 1606 of the GI Bill, built for people serving in a Reserve or Guard unit rather than people who have left active duty. The new schedule covers Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027.
The full table, old against new
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ future-rates page, last updated Aug. 14, 2026, lists four monthly amounts for training at an institution of higher learning: $508.00 for full-time, $408.00 at three-quarter time, $253.00 at half time and $127.00 below half time. The current-rates page, last updated Nov. 17, 2025, shows what those lines paid for the year just ended: $493.00, $369.00, $246.00 and $123.25.
Line by line, the changes are $15.00 at full time, $39.00 at three-quarter time, $7.00 at half time and $3.75 below half time. Full time rose about 3.0 percent. Three-quarter time moved the most, about 10.6 percent, which leaves it $100 under the full-time rate instead of the $124 gap in the old table. Those comparisons are derived from VA’s figures, not stated by the department.
Part-time students and the lower rungs
The part-time lines matter more here than in most education programs, because many Selected Reserve members study around a drill schedule and a civilian job. A member carrying half the credits of a full load is now paid $253.00 a month, which is just under half of the full-time amount, so the rate scales almost in step with enrollment. Below half time, VA publishes $127.00.
The same page lists separate figures for on-the-job training and apprenticeships: $381.00 a month for months one through six, $279.40 for months seven through twelve and $177.80 after the first year. Correspondence courses are paid at 55 percent of established charges, flight training at 60 percent of approved charges, and licensing and certification tests up to $2,000, according to the VA table.
Who the Selected Reserve program is for
Eligibility turns on a Reserve or Guard commitment instead of active service. According to VA’s eligibility page, an applicant needs a six-year obligation in the Selected Reserve that began after June 30, 1985, or, for an officer, an agreement to serve six years beyond the initial obligation. The member must also complete initial active duty for training, hold a high school diploma or equivalent by the end of that training, and stay in good standing in an active Selected Reserve unit.
The covered components are the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Reserve, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. VA says the benefit provides up to 36 months of education and training, available until the eligibility period ends or the entitlement is used up, whichever comes first. Questions about a specific enrollment go to VA’s education line at 888-442-4551, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
A fraction of the active duty rate
The gap between this program and its active duty counterpart is wide. VA’s Active Duty table for the same Oct. 1 reset lists $2,601 a month at its top full-time tier, which is about 5.1 times the $508 Selected Reserve figure, or roughly $2,093 more each month. The two programs are separate VA tables with separate eligibility, and neither figure should be read against the other as a like-for-like offer.
For a Guard member weighing school costs, that contrast sets expectations: the Reserve payment is a monthly supplement sized to a fraction of the active duty benefit. VA’s pages do not estimate any member’s total, and neither does this article.
What the VA tables establish
No VA official is named on any of the pages used here, so the figures rest on the department’s own published tables. VA states $508.00 for each full month of full-time study for Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027, and $493.00 for the year before. Every other number in this article, including the $15 change, is derived from those two entries or taken from the other VA pages cited.
A Reserve GI Bill rate on one side, a VA pension claim on the other
The Selected Reserve education rate is a monthly table that resets each Oct. 1, and it says nothing about VA’s pension program for wartime veterans with limited income. A household following the education figures can still be missing the pension side, where the application is separate and the levels are easy to confuse. The costly gap is a pension claim left unstarted or filed in the wrong form.
The Veterans Benefits Action Kit is a 10-page kit covering the three VA pension levels including Aid & Attendance, how to file with VA Form 21P-527EZ at no charge, and a claim tracker.
Open the Veterans Benefits Action Kit to line up the pension paperwork →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
