More than one million veterans may be eligible for extended education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A federal appeal over a 2024 Supreme Court ruling was withdrawn, clearing the way for soldiers to collect benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill, depending on their years of service.
“It used to be you could only use one set of these benefits,” said Veteran Kay Perkins, who served in the Air Force for six years and now works as a video editor in Washington D.C. “If you choose to use one, you forfeit the other.”
Rudisill V. McDonough Case Questioned Veteran’s ‘Double-Dipping’
The issue involves the case of Rudisill v. McDonough, which questioned whether the Veterans Administration could allow soldiers to “double-dip” the system for education benefits under both the Montgomery and the Post-9/11 GI bills. The case was challenged up to the U.S Supreme Court, which eventually ruled soldiers could be eligible for both programs.
“Soldier Rudisill had been told he could only use one who program or the other,” said Perkins, who explained to Military.com why she later filed her own lawsuit, challenging the how the VA was interpreting the Supreme Court’s Rudisill decision. Perkins lawsuit claimed the VA’s position was too narrow, preventing her from accessing an extended period of benefits because she left military service but later returned, under two tours of duty.
“I remember explicitly at basic training, they advised us to pay into the Montgomery, so you can collect when you leave service,” said Perkins in an interview with Military.com. “I would never had paid into the Montgomery, that $1200, if I thought that I wouldn’t be eligible for both after separating.”
In Perkins 2025 lawsuit, Perkins v. Collins, a VA appeals court ruled she is eligible for a full 48 months of benefits, not just 36 months, which had been the VA’s interpretation of the high court’s ruling.
“The Board was wrong as a matter of law,” read the decision in Perkins’ lawsuit, which has been reviewed by Military.com. “We hold that a veteran whose single period of service is long enough to qualify for benefits under both the MGIB and Post-9/11 programs without using any period of time twice to establish eligibility is entitled to receive benefits under both programs up to a statutory 48-month cap on such educational benefits.”
Further, because the VA recently withdrew its appeal of the case, some 1.2 million veterans who may not have known or were told they couldn’t “double-dip” – are now eligible for benefits under both bills.
“My case was more about all you have to do is qualify for six years of total service,” Perkins said. “I would like to go to graduate school, definitely in the next two or three years, and maybe law school. This definitely opens the door for that.”
VA Notifying Veterans of Expanded Benefits
The next steps may be just as lengthy and complicated. The VA is now tasked with notifying and assisting more than one million veterans with their rightful military education benefits, even those who were denied in the past.
“VA will automatically review the files of all 1.04 million Veterans who were previously identified as being potentially eligible for benefits and either issue a formal decision or inform you of additional action that is required,” reads a notice on the website VA.gov. “If you were previously informed as one of the 380,000 Veterans by VA to request a review to receive a formal decision on how the Rudisill decision impacts you, you no longer need to submit a request.”
The notice also shifts the burden of researching benefit eligibility from the individual veteran, to the VA.
“If you are a Veteran who may be eligible for benefits through a qualifying single obligated period of service, VA will also automatically review your file and either issue a formal decision or inform you if additional action is required.”
The VA also makes it clear that future applicants for VA education benefits should not face the same hurdles.
“VA is updating systems to automatically evaluate Veteran files without any further action on your part. Veterans no longer need to request a review to learn about earned VA education and training benefits.”
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