by justin
(illinois)
Hello,
I’m planning on going to school for my graduate degree and am really close to finishing off my Bachelor’s. I am also planning on going into the reserves from active duty and am trying to get the maximum amount of money possible while attending school so I can focus ALL my effort on doing extremely well.
I am currently active duty…
I am wondering what state would be best for me to claim as UCX from while attending school…both for maximum amount of money, longest available unemployment and most lenient for school-goers.
Unfortunately the new gi bill does not cover housing allowance for online school (apparently I am considered to live INSIDE my computer), which is where I am going to have to finish this, so I am trying to figure out my best way of scraping by without taking out loans (or at the very elast minimizing them).
Thanks…and sorry if I sound like I’m mooching, but I truly believe getting shot at and knowing I am going into a field that is going to help our gov, but doesn’t pay much makes my motive deserve as much extra as I can get. I would much rather set myself up for success by being informed…rather than not ask and try to find out while someone else steals the benefits and does nothing with them… 🙂
Hi Justin,
Well, I’m going to start with some personal thoughts.
The first thing that was troubling to me about your “plan” is that it “sounds” like you plan on using the unemployment benefits as a housing subsidy while attending school .. full-time?
Whether regular civilian unemployment benefits or UCX benefits, the benefits are meant to be a temporary financial stabilizer while you look for full-time work, which is your job while collecting benefits.
Twenty-six weeks of benefits used to be the norm and after watching the evening news last night .. I not so sure it won’t be the norm again very soon .. despite the recession.
The Best State For Unemployment If Attending School
I provide the link to the USDOL chartbook which has a table entitled “Treatment of Students” on the page about going to school.
Most state unemployment and employment offices have at least one somebody that is trained to address any uniqueness of UCX benefits. This includes unemployment.
To tell you the truth, I was a little taken aback by this statement ..
“I would much rather set myself up for success by being informed…rather than not ask and try to find out while someone else steals the benefits and does nothing with them”
Unemployment benefits are not intended to do this. They are intended to tide one over (survive) until they find a new job, not to get the schooling or training to find a new job at some distant point in the future.
Unless, possibly, you play along with the various state specific programs in place that do in fact turn unemployment benefits into a subsidy while attending school by relieving the requirement to search for or accept an offered job.
If you read some of those stories (the link above) on the page about unemployment and school, you’ll notice that a lot of people who are taking the initiative to get the training and degrees they need for a “new job” are finding out that the personal choices they make for themselves while collecting unemployment comes back to bite them if they don’t use those programs or are denied entry into a program.
So I also find it odd that you mention the GI bill doesn’t allow a housing subsidy if you attend college online because many college students must have at least a part-time job to pay for rent and many people are actually concurrently working full-time jobs and attending college full-time and part-time and only wish they had enlisted and could make use of GI bill.
Online schools or training programs are often the only solution for unemployed people to remain “ABLE AND AVAILABLE FOR SUITABLE WORK” and that is dependent upon the leniency of a state.
So, I tell you now, that to collect unemployment benefits and devote ALL your efforts to your schooling for your future success is impossible .. unless you’re willing to lie or restrict your ambitions to the confines of state offered programs.
To answer your specific question as to what state might be best to settle in, all you need do is compare the maximum weekly benefit amounts ( I have links to “Monetary” USDOL chartbook all over the place) to the “treatment of students” as a starting point.
Then, move on to Careeronestop to explore the offered programs of different states.
You can finance the completion of your Bachelor with grants obtained through the state employment office, but grad school is another matter.
And always be aware or at least venture a guess of how unemployment fraud detection works.
It is not just not confined to the information that an unemployment department takes in, but through access to a lot of different databases .. such as the Department of Education and the IRS.
All it takes is for an unemployment claim to be flagged for investigation to suspend benefits until a question is resolved.
It would be awful to have to choose between school and a roof over your head, or paying tuition or repaying and overpayment of benefits.
Chris