Some Veterans have been out of the service for a while, or you may be a Servicemember with 20+ years or more of Service who is approaching retirement. You may qualify for a program that involves educational matching funds. The Veterans Education Assistance Program, or VEAP for short is a situation where the government in some situations will match your contributions for educational purposes 2 to 1. It is a program that can give you many educational education benefits. If you are a veteran, and no longer on active duty you have up to ten years to access the VEAP program benefits that you may still qualify for. It is a program that is designed to bring direct benefits to Servicemembers under the VEAP Program. If you entered the military service for the first time between 1977 and 1985, if you contributed at least $25 dollars but not more than $2,700 dollars to your VEAP fund, if you opened a VEAP matching fund account before 1987, if you are scheduled to be discharged (or are already discharged) under honorable conditions and if you have completed at least your first enlistment period of service then you are qualified under the VEAP program. This is not a program that is open to everyone, you have to have served at least 20 years and have completed the previous qualifying factors. For every dollar that you contribute the government will give $2 dollars. This can be a great advantage if you are preparing to leave the military and want to go back to school. You can be entitled from one month up to a maximum of 36 months worth of benefits under the VEAP program. It is a program that gives you flexibility and options that many Servicemembers that join the Service today will not have, unless Congress chooses to restart or extend the program at some future date. In some cases if you need refresher training, deficiency or remedial training then you may also qualify to use the benefits for those purposes as well. The benefits can be used to pay for vocational schooling, vocational apprenticeship on the job training, correspondence courses, certificate and degree programs, as well as typical university and college degree courses. The VEAP program is lucrative but it doesn?t apply to every Veteran, there are the above some qualifying factors in order to be eligible for this program. Do You Have Prior Service? Get Cash Bonuses For Your Past Military Service. Click here for more information. If you appear to be eligible then you first should find a program that appears to qualify under the guidelines, and then make application using VA Form 22-1990. Send it to the regional VA office that has jurisdiction, and then wait. That should be all it takes to get you started.