New tool helps vets sort through GI Bill educational benefits

The Department of Veterans Affairs this week launched an online tool to help service members, veterans and eligible family members calculate and learn about Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits.

The new GI Bill Comparison Tool collects a range of information from about 17 online sources and three federal agencies, including information on the number of students receiving VA benefits at each educational institution.

The tool is part of a series of resources VA is launching in response to an executive order, signed in April 2012, that directs agencies to provide beneficiaries with cost and quality information on schools, prevent deceptive recruiting practices and improve academic and student support services.

As part of the effort, VA also recently launched a GI Bill online complaint system to collect feedback on any problems beneficiaries are having with educational institutions that get funding from federal military and veterans educational benefits programs.