Post-9/11 GI Bill Rates for 2026-27: The $30,908 Private-School Cap, the $1,261 Online Housing Rate, and What the Housing Allowance Is Worth by Campus

The Department of Veterans Affairs publishes new Post-9/11 GI Bill rates every August 1, and the 2026-27 academic year figures are on va.gov. Three of them move money: the annual cap for a private or foreign school rises to $30,908.34 (it was $29,920.95 for 2025-26, a 3.3% increase), the housing allowance for a student taking only online classes rises to $1,261.00 a month (from $1,169.00), and the flight-training cap rises to $17,661.89 (from $17,097.67). The books and supplies stipend stays at $1,000 an academic year. These are settled figures, in effect for enrollment periods from August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027.

What VA does not print on that page is the number most students care about: the monthly housing allowance for their particular school. It is not a national rate. It is the Basic Allowance for Housing an E-5 with dependents would draw for the ZIP code where the campus sits, and this site carries that table for every Military Housing Area, so the second half of this article prices it campus by campus.

What changed on August 1, 2026

The tuition caps are indexed to the national average undergraduate tuition, which is why they move every August. The online-only housing rate is fixed by statute at half the national average of the E-5 with-dependents BAH, which is why it moved with the January 2026 BAH table. Neither is negotiable at the school; VA pays the school directly for tuition and pays you directly for housing and books.

How the monthly housing allowance is set

Under 38 U.S.C. 3313, a student attending in person receives a monthly housing allowance equal to the BAH for an E-5 with dependents for the ZIP code of the campus where the student attends the majority of classes. It is paid for the months you are enrolled, prorated when you are enrolled less than full time, and requires a rate of pursuit above half time. It changes on August 1 to the BAH table then in effect, so the 2026-27 figures below come from the January 1, 2026 DTMO table. Students who take every class online receive the flat half-average rate instead, {usd(online27)} for 2026-27.

Two consequences follow. A campus in a high-rent housing area pays a materially larger allowance than one in a low-rent area for the same degree, and the allowance is tied to the school's location, not to where you live. Both are worth knowing before you pick between two acceptance letters.

What the housing allowance is worth near nine installations

The rows below are the E-5 with-dependents BAH from the 2026 DTMO table for the Military Housing Area each installation sits in. A school in the same housing area (VA looks up the campus ZIP, so confirm your school's ZIP falls inside the MHA on the linked page) pays this monthly allowance to a 100%-eligible, full-time, in-person student. The nine-month column is an illustration of a fall-plus-spring academic year; VA pays by enrollment period and prorates partial months.

The spread is the story: $3,975.00 a month in the San Diego housing area against $1,806.00 at Fort Bragg is $2,169.00 a month for the same benefit. Look up any other campus with the BAH comparison tool or the BAH rates by installation index; the E-5 with-dependents row is the one VA uses.

What to do with this

• Check your eligibility percentage first. The tuition cap, the housing allowance and the books stipend all scale with it (40% to 100%, from length of qualifying service). A 60% student at a private school is capped at 60% of the annual figure.
• Compare schools on the housing line, not just tuition. Public in-state tuition is uncapped, so for two public schools the allowance difference is often the largest dollar difference between them.
• Online students: the $1,261 is the ceiling. Adding one in-person class at a campus switches you to that campus's full rate for the term; the difference can exceed $1,000 a month in high-cost areas.
• Still serving? The GI Bill guide covers transfer-of-entitlement rules and the active-duty housing exclusion; the SkillBridge guide and salary translator sit next to it for the transition plan.

The bottom line

For 2026-27 the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays up to $30,908.34 a year at a private or foreign school, all in-state tuition and fees at a public school, $1,000 for books, and a monthly housing allowance that is the 2026 E-5 with-dependents BAH for your campus ZIP, or $1,261.00 if you study entirely online. The housing allowance is where campuses differ by thousands of dollars a year; check it before you enroll. Rates shown are for the 2026-27 academic year and the 2026 BAH table; verify your award in your VA Certificate of Eligibility and with the school certifying official.