Financing › VET TEC 2.0
Veterans and separating service members
VET TEC 2.0
Veteran Employment Through Technology Education Courses
VA pays a high-tech training provider directly, and pays you a housing allowance while you train. Back since 2026 after the original pilot expired.
What it pays
The numbers people get wrong most often.
- Tuition
- Paid directly to the school. At private schools, up to $30,908.34 under the rates effective 1 August 2026.
- Housing
- A monthly allowance based on the E-5-with-dependents BAH rate where you train. Online-only training pays up to $1,261 a month.
- Books
- Up to $1,000 per academic year.
- Entitlement
- Charged one month per month of full-time training — but it does not count against your 48-month maximum, and you can use VET TEC 2.0 even with no entitlement left.
Who qualifies
The official portal makes the final call. This is the shape of it.
You are likely eligible if
- A veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, or an active-duty member within 180 days of separating.
- At least 36 months of active duty served.
- Under 62 years old when VA approves your application.
- You do not need to have qualified for any VA education benefit before.
You are not eligible if
- There is a hard ceiling of 4,000 people funded per fiscal year, October to September. It is first come, first served — VA publishes the remaining count on its program page.
- No housing allowance if you are on active duty, on a break in training, or training at 50% rate of pursuit or less.
How to apply
Apply as early as you reasonably can. The fiscal-year headcount cap is the binding constraint, not processing time.
Check you meet all three tests
Discharge status, 36 months of active duty, under 62 at approval.
Pick an approved provider and program
The approved list lives on the VA program page. The GI Bill Comparison Tool does not display VET TEC 2.0 correctly, so use the VA list.
Apply with VA Form 22-10297
Online. Straightforward applications can return a Certificate of Eligibility immediately; ones needing an education specialist take around a month.
Enroll
Your provider certifies the enrollment to VA.
Verify enrollment every month
Miss it and your housing allowance stops.
Where this actually happens
Funding requests go through VA Form 22-10297, filed online. Look the credential up first on VA VET TEC 2.0 program page. Both are official sites — we do not sit between you and either of them.
What catches people out
Worth reading before you submit anything.
Programs have to fit a narrow box
Six to 28 weeks, non-degree, in computer programming, software, data processing, information sciences or media application, delivered entirely by the provider with nothing subcontracted, and running for at least a year already.
Old approvals did not carry over
A provider approved for the 2019–2024 pilot is not automatically approved now. Anyone advertising "VET TEC approved" on the strength of the old program is telling you nothing.
Entitlement is charged now
The original pilot did not touch your GI Bill months. This one does — one for one — though not against the 48-month ceiling.
It is funded through 30 September 2027
Beyond that, the program needs renewed authority.
Governing policy: Authorized by the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, signed 2 January 2025, under chapter 36 of title 38. The original VET TEC pilot ended 1 April 2024.
Checked against official sources in August 2026.
Next steps
Pick the credential, and we will put the quote together in whatever format your portal wants.
thinQtank® Learning is a training provider. We are not the U.S. Army, ArmyIgnitED, Army COOL, the Department of the Air Force, AFVEC, AF COOL, the Department of Defense, Military OneSource, or the Department of Veterans Affairs, and we are not endorsed by any of them. Eligibility, credential approval, funding availability and payment authorisation are decided by those organizations inside their own systems, under their own policies, which change. This page was checked against official sources in August 2026 and is a starting point, not advice about your particular situation. Confirm your own eligibility and current limits in your official portal before you commit to anything.