EDUCATIONVA program
Transfer of Education Benefits (TEB)
Active duty servicemembers with 6+ years of service may transfer unused Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement to a spouse or dependent children, subject to a 4-year service extension commitment.
Available to servicemembers with 6+ years of service who commit to 4-year extension
Step-by-step guide
What the Defense Department looks for
- 6 years served, 4 more agreedAt least 6 years of service on the date the request is approved, and an agreement to serve 4 more. A Purple Heart recipient has no service requirement but must request the transfer while on active duty. The Defense Department decides; VA cannot approve a transfer.
- A spouse or child in DEERSThe transfer can go to a spouse, one or more children, or a mix, up to 36 months in total and no more than the months you have left. A child must be designated before turning 23. Everyone named must be in DEERS, the Defense Department's dependent record system.
- A request in milConnect while servingThe request is made through milConnect while still on active duty or in the Selected Reserve, and it names each dependent, the months, and the start and end dates. Changing the split, taking months back, and cancelling unused months also go through milConnect at any time, except for months already awarded for a term that has begun.
Source: VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab)
Are you the service member or the family member?
- Service member transferring months
The Defense Department decides whether you can transfer, and only while you serve. VA then pays the family member.
Source: VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab)
- Family member using transferred months
Once the Defense Department approves the transfer, the spouse or child applies to VA in their own name and uses the months under the Post-9/11 rules.
- A transfer the Defense Department approvedThe service member's request was approved, and you are enrolled in DEERS.
- Within the time the rules allowA spouse can start right away. If the member separated before January 1, 2013, the spouse has 15 years from that separation; on or after that date, no deadline, as long as the transfer is not revoked. A child can start only after the member has served 10 years, needs a diploma or to be 18, and must use the months before turning 26.
- An application in your own nameThe dependent applies online signed in to their own account, or by mail on VA Form 22-1990e. An application filed from the member's account is denied. A parent files the paper form for a child under 18.
Source: VA.gov: transferred education benefits for family members (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab); VA Form 22-1990e (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9530(d) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9530(e) (opens in new tab)
What to gather, and what it shows VA
| Document | What it shows | How VA gets it | Have it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| milConnect transfer approval The approved Transfer of Education Benefits request, naming the dependent, the months, and the dates. | That the Defense Department approved the transfer, and to whom | The member requests it in milConnect and can print the status. VA accepts the designations the member signed. | Yes |
| DEERS enrollment The dependent's record in DEERS, made at a RAPIDS office with two forms of identification, one with a photo. | That the dependent can be named in the transfer | Visit a RAPIDS office; the VA.gov transfer page links the locator. | Yes |
| VA Form 22-1990e The application for a family member to use transferred benefits. It asks the dependent's details, the benefit transferred, the school and goal, and the member's details. | The dependent's claim to use the months | Apply online signed in to the dependent's own account, or mail the PDF to the regional processing office listed on it. A parent signs for a child under 18. | |
| VA's approval letter to the dependent The letter VA sends after approving the dependent's application. It states the months transferred and the time left to use them. | Months available and the deadline, if any | VA mails it after the application. Dependents cannot download it on VA.gov yet; a copy comes through Ask VA. | Yes |
The transfer request lives in milConnect, and VA reads the approval from the Defense Department. BeneVets does not ask for copies of anything.
Steps, in order
- Get free help from a VSO
Free help: an accredited VSO can file this with you. Find one near you in the BeneVets VSO directory at Find an accredited VSO near you.
Source: VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab)
- Member: request the transfer in milConnect
While still on active duty or in the Selected Reserve, request the transfer through milConnect and name each dependent, the months, and the dates. Questions about status go to your branch, not VA.
Source: VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab)
- Make sure the dependent is in DEERS
Each person named must be enrolled in DEERS first, at a RAPIDS office with two forms of identification, one with a photo.
Source: VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab)
- Dependent: apply with VA Form 22-1990e
After the Defense Department approves, the dependent applies online from their own account, or by mail on the paper form. A parent files the paper form for a child under 18, by mail, through QuickSubmit, or through Ask VA.
Source: VA Form 22-1990e (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transferred education benefits for family members (opens in new tab)
- Take VA's letter to the school
VA sends a letter stating the months and the time to use them. Give it to the school's VA certifying official so the school can certify enrollment.
Source: VA.gov: transferred education benefits for family members (opens in new tab); VA.gov: after you apply for education benefits (opens in new tab)
- Changing or taking back months
The member changes the split, takes months back, or cancels unused months in milConnect. Months already awarded for a term that began cannot be taken back. VA awards months at the start of each term.
Source: VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transferred education benefits for family members (opens in new tab)
Good to know
VA pays the dependent as if the member were enrolled, at the member's benefit percentage. A child gets the veteran rate, including the housing allowance, even while the member is on active duty. A spouse gets no housing allowance while the member is on active duty.
Source: 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab); VA.gov: Post-9/11 GI Bill rates (opens in new tab)
The dependents lose the months, and VA treats payments already made as overpayments, unless the member left because of death, a pre-existing medical condition the service says is not service-connected, hardship, a condition that interfered with duty, a disability discharge, or a reduction in force.
Source: 38 CFR 21.9571(l) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab)
A former spouse keeps the months unless the member revokes them. Transferred months are not marital property in a divorce. If a dependent dies or does not use the months, the member moves them in milConnect; after a member's death on or after August 1, 2009, a dependent can ask VA through Ask VA to move unused months to another dependent.
Source: VA.gov: transferred education benefits for family members (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab)
A dependent using months from a member at the 100 percent level can use the Yellow Ribbon Program at a participating school, and can get free Chapter 36 career counseling.
Source: 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: educational and career counseling for family members (opens in new tab)
A dependent with months from two members, or with both transferred months and Fry Scholarship rights, picks one in writing and can switch between terms, not during one. A dependent with their own Post-9/11 service is not bound by the 48-month cap when combining their own months with transferred ones.
Source: 38 CFR 21.9691 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab)
BeneVets is informational and is not an accredited representative. Free help: an accredited VSO can work through VA benefits with you at no cost. Find an accredited VSO near you
Sources checked October 7, 2026: 38 CFR 21.9530(d) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 21.9530(e) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 21.9571 (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 21.9571(l) (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 21.9691 (opens in new tab), 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab), VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab), VA.gov: after you apply for education benefits (opens in new tab), VA.gov: download your VA education letter (opens in new tab), VA.gov: educational and career counseling for family members (opens in new tab), VA.gov: Post-9/11 GI Bill rates (opens in new tab), VA.gov: transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (opens in new tab), VA.gov: transferred education benefits for family members (opens in new tab), VA Form 22-1990e (opens in new tab)