If you receive the Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB-AD) grant, you can earn up to $5,400 additional cash benefits by taking part in the $600 Buy-Up Program. This is how it works: First, you contribute $20 increments of money into an education fund before you leave active-duty service. The most you can contribute is $600.

Then, once you have transitioned back into civilian life and qualified to receive MGIB-AD, you will begin receiving your monthly grant payments with up to an additional $150 a month included. Basically, for every $20 you pay into your fund while you are on active-duty, you will have an additional $180 added to your total 36-month MGIB-AD grant scholarship. 

That is a maximum of $5,400 extra free money to spend on your education and expenses.

So, taking part in this program could be well worth your time.

And, you can only take part in the Buy-Up Program if you have qualified for the Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty Grant. 

In addition to the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post 9/11 GI Bill, there are other types of GI Bills and other forms of educational financial aid for service members, veterans and their families. 

For example, eligible children and spouses of service members and veterans may qualify for Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA), also known as Chapter 35 benefits. You may be able to get this aid of you are the spouse of a service member who has died, become disabled or was captured or missing.