The Veteran Readiness and Employment Services Program
What You Need to Know About VR&E to Help Veteran Students
Veterans with service-connected disabilities have several options for financing their higher education. The Post-9/11 GI Bill® is the most widely used, but the Veteran Readiness and Employment Services program can also be used to cover some programs.
As this program is not as well known, veterans and educators alike may have questions. Here’s what you need to know about the VR&E benefit.
What is VR&E?
The Veteran Readiness and Employment Services program helps veterans with service-connected disabilities find their place in the workforce. It was designed specifically to help those veterans whose disabilities impact their ability to work. And it’s managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to help make the transition easier.
There are several employment-related tracks: reemployment, rapid access to employment, self-employment, employment through long-term services and independent living. The long-term services track is where veterans requiring higher levels of education or vocational training to maintain suitable employment can find help. This assistance can include money toward certifications or college classes and some benefits comparable to Post-9/11 payouts.
In 2020, the VA changed from referring to this program as Voc Rehab and now uses VR&E to better explain the services offered. It is also sometimes referred to as Chapter 31, which indicates the chapter of U.S. code it comes from.
Who is eligible for VR&E?
To qualify for VR&E, the veteran must have a disability rating of at least 20% with an employment handicap OR a 10% rating with a serious employment handicap. Of course, the veteran can only receive benefits if they were not discharged under dishonorable conditions. If you know a veteran whose service-connected disability makes it hard for them to work, they should look into this program.
If the veteran is still on active duty but expects a disability rating of 20% or more, they can also apply. Service members can get a proposed Disability Evaluation System (DES) rating of 20% or more from VA or a referral to a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) -- a process used by the Defense Department and VA to determine service members’ fitness for duty and proposed VA disability rating if they are medically unfit to continue serving.
What recent changes do you need to know about?
Besides the name, the VA also recently made another big change to VR&E that went into effect in April of 2021. Veterans will be contacted by the VA if they are affected by this update.
Before this change, veterans couldn’t use VR&E benefits in conjunction with your GI Bill, but now they can. Using VR&E benefits for the full 48 months won’t prevent veterans from being able to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which pays for 36 months of college -- essentially the standard length of a four-year degree.
However, this doesn’t work the other way around. To use the full amount of both benefits, you have to use VR&E first, then the GI Bill.
How much do Veterans receive with the benefit?
Similar to the basic allowance for housing -- which is what Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients get, the monthly subsistence allowance that comes with the VR&E is based on how many classes and whether or not the veteran has dependents.
For example, a full-time student with no dependents gets $653.96 per month for the 2020-21 school year, while a full-time student with two dependents gets $955.92 and another $69.66 for each additional dependent.
For half-time enrollment, the payout is $328.78 a month with no dependents, $407.36 with one dependent and $478.83 with two. And if also eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the monthly housing allowance may be on par with BAH rates for active-duty service members in the area.
These rates change yearly. Check out the full breakdown on the VA’s website for more details.
