by our College Data Analytics TeamWill you go to AU for free thanks to the G.I. Bill®? The answer depends on the school — benefits are capped and the details vary, so it pays to do your research.
Here is how the Post-9/11 GI Bill® tuition benefit stacks up against the published cost of attending AU. Housing and book benefits are covered separately below.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Veteran tuition & fees | $38,550 |
| Guaranteed Post-9/11 tuition benefit | $20,235 |
| Tuition out of pocket | $18,315 |
The Post-9/11 GI Bill® limits the annual tuition benefit to roughly $20,235, so tuition beyond that is out of pocket (or covered by Yellow Ribbon) at AU.
AU is not listed as a Yellow Ribbon participant in current federal reporting. Contact the veteran services office to confirm whether any programs offer Yellow Ribbon matching.
Active-duty service members using DoD Tuition Assistance are capped at $250 per credit hour. The chart below shows whether the per-credit charge at AU falls under that cap.
| Residency | Per-credit charge | Below $250 cap? |
|---|---|---|
| In-state | $0 |  |
| Out-of-state | $0 | |
The Post-9/11 GI Bill® also covers housing through a Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA). The table compares the housing benefit to estimated living expenses at AU.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Estimated living expenses (room & board, academic year) | $10,592 |
| Post-9/11 monthly housing allowance (MHA) | $2,457/mo |
| Housing benefit (academic year, ~8 months) | $19,656 |
| Estimated surplus in your pocket | $9,064 |
At this school the academic-year housing benefit exceeds typical living costs, so most full-time students come out ahead. The MHA is based on the school’s ZIP code and is paid at the full-time rate for resident students.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill® pays a books-and-supplies stipend of up to $1,000 per year. Estimated book and supply costs at AU run about $1,000, so the stipend covers them in full.
These figures show the GI Bill® and DoD Tuition Assistance dollars veterans and service members actually used at AU.
In the latest reporting year, about 1 Post-9/11 recipients used tuition benefits worth $715.
| Benefit | Recipients | Total disbursed | Average / recipient |
|---|---|---|---|
| GI Bill® (all students) | 90 | $1,641,271 | $18,236 |
| GI Bill® — undergraduate | 82 | $1,626,853 | — |
| GI Bill® — graduate | 8 | $14,418 | — |
| DoD Tuition Assistance (all) | 5 | $5,250 | $1,050 |
| DoD TA — undergraduate | 5 | $5,250 | — |
| DoD TA — graduate | 0 | $0 | — |
These are federal education benefits — the Post-9/11 GI Bill® for veterans and DoD Tuition Assistance for active-duty members.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at benefits.va.gov/gibill.