Base Benefit & Yellow Ribbon

VA pays tuition and fees under Chapter 33 in a front-loaded manner based on student percentage until the annual base benefit amount is fully utilized. This amount resets annually prior to Stanford’s Autumn quarter. Students who have utilized the entirety of their base benefit may still request certification in order to generate housing payments.  

2023-2024 Academic Year Base Benefit Rates

Current and previous base benefit rates for Chapter 33 can be found on VA’s website

Current housing/benefit rates can be found on the GI Bill Comparison Tool

Students at the 100% benefit level* are automatically included in Stanford’s Yellow Ribbon program, which extends additional tuition and fee coverage once the student’s base benefit is fully utilized. Stanford and VA each pledge an in-kind contribution in a dollar-per-dollar manner until the Yellow Ribbon cap amount is fully utilized. The Yellow Ribbon cap amount varies per school. Stanford does not limit the number of student participants in this program. 

*Active duty and terminal leave servicemembers, or the spouse of an active duty or terminal leave servicemember using benefits transferred to them, are not eligible for Yellow Ribbon for terms beginning prior to 8/1/2022. Nonmatriculated, visiting, and guest students are not eligible for Yellow Ribbon.

2023-2024 Academic Year Yellow Ribbon Rates

 Example Coverage Calculations

For these examples, assume VA’s annual tuition/fees base benefit is $25,000 per academic year. Tuition and fee amounts provided in the calculations below are for the sake of example and are not indicative of actual tuition and fee charges. 

A student at the 70% eligibility level would have a base benefit of $17,500.00 available to them in the academic year. VA will pay 70% of all eligible charges until the available base benefit is fully utilized. Students under 100% eligibility are not eligible to receive Yellow Ribbon funding. 

A student at the 100% eligibility level, whose department has set a Yellow Ribbon amount of $6,000, would have $37,000 in total funding available to them ($25,000 base benefit + $6,000 Stanford Yellow Ribbon + $6,000 VA Yellow Ribbon). VA will pay 100% of all eligible charges until the base benefit is fully utilized, then Stanford and VA split the cost of eligible charges until the Yellow Ribbon amount is fully utilized.