Already earned
This is the most unclaimed benefit you hold.
A 10% service-connected rating qualifies you. Ten percent. Most veterans carrying a 10% or 20% rating never look at VR&E because they do not picture themselves as disabled. The rating is the test. Not how you feel about the word.
Discharged on or after 1 January 2013? There is no deadline. None at all. The twelve-year clock everyone remembers only applies to discharges before that date.
So if you separated in the last decade with any rating, you are probably still eligible. Book the appointment with a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor this month.
The Long-Term Services track pays for the training. A full career change, funded.
Four other tracks exist. Reemployment. Rapid Access to Employment. Self-Employment. Independent Living. The Self-Employment track funds a business startup if you would rather contract than take a salary.
Start at VA's VR&E page.
You did the work for this already. You hold it. The only question left is whether you claim it before it lapses.
Where veterans already stand
| Measure | Veterans | Non-veterans |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 | 3.5% | 4.2% |
| Share of the civilian labour force, 2025 | 4.9% | — |
| Share of the civilian labour force, 2000 | 10.5% | — |
| Federal IT management workforce | 41% | 59% |
| Living in rural areas | 24.1% | 19.3% |
Unemployment and labour force: BLS Employment Situation of Veterans, 2025 annual averages — BLS notes the 2025 figures are 11-month averages excluding October and are not strictly comparable with other years. Federal IT: OPM FedScope, September 2024, via Pew Research Center. Rural: Census Bureau, Veterans in Rural America, 2011–2015 American Community Survey, against the 2010 Census rural share of the total population.
What you have already earned
- Post-9/11 GI Bill — 36 months, up to 48. Covers certification exams, apprenticeships and non-degree technical training, not only college. va.gov.
- VR&E, Chapter 31 — a 10% service-connected rating qualifies, and there is no time limit if you were discharged on or after 1 January 2013. va.gov.
- VET TEC 2.0 — technology training, 4,000 seats a year, no prior VA education benefit required. va.gov.
- SkillBridge — your last 180 days of service, with commander approval. skillbridge.osd.mil.
- WIOA priority of service — veterans and eligible spouses go first, by law, in every county. CareerOneStop.
- Veterans' preference and special appointing authorities in federal hiring. USAJOBS.
Rates, seat counts and eligibility rules change. These are the doors; verify current terms with VA or DoD before counting on a number.
Photographs on this campaign are licensed stock used as illustration — not portraits of the people inside the federal counts. Full credits: CREDITS.md.