EDUCATIONVA program

Yellow Ribbon Program

Helps pay the tuition and fees the Post-9/11 GI Bill does not cover at a private school, a foreign school, or a public school attended as a nonresident. A participating school contributes toward the extra cost and VA matches that contribution.

Available at the 100% Post-9/11 GI Bill level at a participating school, including active-duty members with 36 months of service, spouses and children using transferred benefits, and Fry Scholars

View on VA.gov

Step-by-step guide

What the school and VA look for

100 percent of the Post-9/11 GI Bill36 months of active duty after September 10, 2001 with an honorable discharge, a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001 with an honorable discharge, or a discharge for a service-connected disability after 30 continuous days. VA.gov also lists an active-duty member with 36 months served.
A participating school with a spot openThe school is an institution of higher learning with a Yellow Ribbon agreement, has not reached the number of students its agreement covers for the year, and has certified your enrollment with Yellow Ribbon information. Spots go first come, first served, at any rate of attendance, including part time.
Tuition and mandatory fees above what VA paysThe program covers charges left after the Post-9/11 payment: tuition above the yearly cap at a private or foreign school, or out-of-state charges at a public school. The school first subtracts aid meant only for tuition and fees. Only mandatory fees count; room and board, study abroad outside the degree plan, and penalty fees do not.

Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: Post-9/11 GI Bill rates (opens in new tab); VA.gov: find a Yellow Ribbon school (opens in new tab); VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program FAQs (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9506 (opens in new tab)

Which situation is yours?

Veteran or service member at the 100 percent level
The program fills the gap between what the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays and the tuition and mandatory fees a school charges. The school contributes, VA matches, and the school decides who gets a spot.
Source: 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program (opens in new tab)
Spouse, child, or Fry Scholar
The same program, reached through transferred months or the Fry Scholarship.
1. Transferred months from a member at the 100 percent level, or a Fry ScholarshipA dependent child using months a veteran or member transferred, a spouse using months from an active-duty member with 36 months served, or a Fry Scholar. The school and unmet-charges rules are the same.
Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab)

What to gather, and what it shows VA

Documents for this benefit: what each is, what it shows VA, and how VA gets it
Document	What it shows	How VA gets it	Have it?
VA's decision letter (the COE) The letter VA sends after approving the Post-9/11 application. The school uses it to apply you to its Yellow Ribbon Program.	That VA approved Post-9/11 benefits, and at what level	VA mails it after the Post-9/11 application. A veteran who applied online can download it on VA.gov.	Yes
The school's own Yellow Ribbon request Whatever the school uses to take Yellow Ribbon applications, filed with the certifying official or the financial aid, military liaison, or similar office.	Your place in the school's first come, first served count	Ask the certifying official how the school takes applications and file it with your COE.
Enrollment certification with Yellow Ribbon information The certification the school sends VA for the term, including the amount the school will contribute under its agreement.	That the school enrolled you in the program and what it will contribute	The certifying official sends it to VA; you do not file it.
Financial aid designated for tuition Scholarships, grants, waivers, and employer aid that go to the school only for tuition and fees. The school subtracts them before working out the unmet amount.	The unmet charges the match can cover	You and the school already have these; the school applies them.	Yes

Your school decides on its Yellow Ribbon spots and reports them to VA. 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)
Apply for the Post-9/11 GI Bill first
Yellow Ribbon rides on the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Apply with VA Form 22-1990 (or VA Form 22-1990e for transferred months) and wait for the COE letter.
Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program (opens in new tab); VA Form 22-1990 (opens in new tab); VA Form 22-1990e (opens in new tab)
Find a participating school
Use the VA.gov Yellow Ribbon school finder or the GI Bill Comparison Tool. The finder carries each school's agreement terms.
Source: VA.gov: find a Yellow Ribbon school (opens in new tab); VA.gov: GI Bill Comparison Tool (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab)
Turn in your COE and ask the school
Bring the COE to the certifying official or the financial aid or military liaison office and ask to apply for the school's Yellow Ribbon Program.
Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program (opens in new tab)
The school decides
The school decides whether it has a spot left for the period and how much it will contribute: tuition and mandatory fees, minus other aid and the Post-9/11 payment, up to its agreement. It sends you a notice of acceptance and the amount.
Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab)
Keep it next year
Stay enrolled without a break, keep acceptable progress, and keep months left, and the school must continue the same amount while it stays in the program.
Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program FAQs (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab)

Good to know

How the match works

The school picks an amount from funds under its own control; VA matches it dollar for dollar. Together they cannot exceed the unmet tuition and fees. The school can set different amounts by degree level (undergraduate, graduate, doctoral) or by college within the school, and the agreement can limit which degrees it covers.

Source: 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program FAQs (opens in new tab)

It continues next year

A school that stays in the program must keep offering it to you the next year, at the same amount, if you make acceptable progress by the school's standard, stay enrolled without a break under the school's policy, and have months left. The school must tell you if it plans to stop.

Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program FAQs (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 21.9700 (opens in new tab)

Changing schools starts over

A new school must offer Yellow Ribbon and accept your application. The first school's decision does not carry.

Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program FAQs (opens in new tab)

Fewer courses, smaller payments

Taking fewer courses lowers what VA pays toward tuition and fees, and the school lowers its share to match. Refunds follow the school's policy, and you repay VA for any overpayment the school does not refund. Summer terms depend on whether the school offers the program in summer.

Source: VA.gov: Yellow Ribbon Program FAQs (opens in new tab)

Months are charged as usual

A term with a Yellow Ribbon payment charges your months at your rate of pursuit, the same as a term paid by the Post-9/11 GI Bill alone.

Source: 38 CFR 21.9561 (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