Use Your GI Bill® Benefits at Apex Technical School in New York City

Apex Technical School is approved to accept GI Bill® education benefits

Apex Technical School is a trade school in New York City approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to accept GI Bill® education benefits. Veterans, active-duty service members, members of the National Guard and Reserve, and eligible spouses and dependents can use VA education benefits to pay for hands-on training at Apex. The school has trained New Yorkers for the skilled trades since 1961, is licensed by the New York State Education Department, and is nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), which named Apex a 2024–2025 School of Excellence.

Veterans have used the GI Bill® at Apex’s main campus in Long Island City, Queens for years to train as electricians, plumbers, welders, and HVAC technicians. In October 2026 the Culinary Arts program at Apex’s branch campus in Midtown East, Manhattan was also approved to accept GI Bill® benefits. Apex has a School Certifying Official who reports your enrollment to VA, and a financial aid team that meets with veterans one-on-one to walk through exactly what the benefit covers. Call 212-645-3300 and ask for the certifying official, or use the form at the bottom of this page.

Which Apex programs can I use the GI Bill® for?

Apex offers eight programs across two New York City campuses: Electrical & Advanced Electrical, Plumbing & Pipefitting, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration (HVAC), Combination Welding Technology, Automotive Service & Repair, Construction & Building Skills, Custodial Training – SVT, and Culinary Arts. The trades programs train at the main campus at 11-05 44th Drive, Long Island City, NY 11101. Culinary Arts trains at the branch campus at 210 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017, a short walk from Grand Central Terminal. VA approves programs individually through the New York State Bureau of Veterans Education, so confirm your specific program and schedule with Apex’s School Certifying Official, or look up Apex Technical School in the VA GI Bill® Comparison Tool at va.gov, before you enroll.

Who is eligible to use GI Bill® benefits at Apex?

Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33): veterans and service members with at least 90 days of active-duty service after September 10, 2001, or at least 30 continuous days if discharged for a service-connected disability, with a discharge other than dishonorable. Purple Heart recipients qualify at the 100% tier regardless of length of service. Anyone whose service ended on or after January 1, 2013 has no deadline to use these benefits. Transferred benefits: spouses and children can use Post-9/11 months a service member transferred to them while on active duty. Fry Scholarship: children and spouses of service members who died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001. Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35): spouses and children of veterans who are permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, or who died from one. Montgomery GI Bill® Active Duty (Chapter 30): veterans who paid into the program while serving, generally usable for 10 years after separation. Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31): veterans with a service-connected disability rating of at least 10% whose VR&E counselor approves training at Apex as part of a rehabilitation plan. If you hold one of these benefits and are not sure it applies to your program, Apex’s certifying official can check it with VA before you commit to anything.

How to use your GI Bill® at Apex, step by step

1. Apply for VA education benefits at va.gov/education. Use VA Form 22-1990 for your own benefits, VA Form 22-1990E for benefits transferred to you by a service member, or VA Form 22-5490 for Chapter 35 and the Fry Scholarship. VA generally responds within about 30 days with a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) that lists your benefit, your tier, and the months you have left.
2. Contact Apex admissions by calling 212-645-3300 or submitting the form on this page, and pick a program and a day or evening schedule.
3. Meet Apex’s enrollment requirements. Students must be at least 17 (with parental consent under 18) and hold a high school diploma or equivalency; applicants without one can qualify by passing a standardized exam. You’ll meet with an admissions representative to confirm the program fits.
4. Give Apex a copy of your COE. Apex’s School Certifying Official certifies your enrollment to VA once your class starts, and that certification is what triggers payment.
5. Verify your enrollment every month. Post-9/11 students confirm each month, by text message or through VA.gov, that they are still attending, and VA holds the housing allowance until they do.
6. Keep going to class. VA pays tuition to Apex after certification and pays the housing allowance to you at the beginning of each month for the month before. If you reduce your hours or withdraw, VA may reduce or recover payments, so talk to the certifying official before you change anything.

Processing time is the most common reason a veteran misses a start date. If you want to begin on a specific date, submit your VA application the same week you contact Apex.

How long are Apex programs, and how much entitlement do they use?

Apex’s skilled trades programs are 900 clock hours split between the classroom and the training shop. On the day schedule a program can be completed in as little as seven months; the evening schedule spreads the same 900 hours over a longer calendar so students can keep working. The Culinary Arts program is 600 clock hours over 24 weeks, including a 200-hour externship in a working kitchen during the final two months. VA charges entitlement by calendar time, roughly one month of entitlement for each month of full-time training. Post-9/11 GI Bill® entitlement is generally 36 months, so one Apex program uses well under half of it. Many Apex graduates have enough left for a second Apex program, an apprenticeship, or a degree. You can check your remaining months at any time by signing in at va.gov.

New York State benefits that can be used alongside the GI Bill®

New York State’s Veterans Tuition Award (VTA), run by the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC), pays up to the cost of SUNY undergraduate tuition toward an approved vocational training program of at least 320 clock hours. Awards are paid in full for 900-hour programs approved by the state’s Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision and prorated for shorter programs, for up to two years of full-time vocational study. Since July 1, 2025, VTA covers New York residents who served at least four years on active duty or who served in a combat theater, and who were discharged under honorable conditions. VTA can be received in the same year as GI Bill® benefits. Apply at hesc.ny.gov/vta or call HESC at 1-888-697-4372, and ask Apex’s financial aid team to confirm your program’s eligibility. Veterans should also file the FAFSA. GI Bill® payments are not counted as income on the FAFSA, and a Federal Pell Grant can be awarded on top of VA benefits. Apex participates in the Pell Grant, FSEOG, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Direct Loan programs.

Why veterans train at Apex

Apex is a shop school. Trades students split their 900 hours between the classroom and training shops set up like job sites, and culinary students cook in a commercial kitchen every day. The structure will feel familiar to anyone who went through military technical training: a fixed schedule, instructors who spent their careers in the field, and grades based on what you can wire, weld, pipe, or plate. Veterans tend to move through the material quickly. They already know how to follow a procedure, take care of their tools, and work in a crew.

Apex’s Career Services team works with students and graduates on resumes, interview preparation, and introductions to employers across the New York metropolitan area, where electricians, plumbers, welders, and HVAC technicians are in short supply. Apex is part of The Fedcap Group, a New York City nonprofit focused on workforce development, and more than 55,000 students have graduated from the school. Both campuses are easy to reach by subway: Long Island City on the E, F, M, G, and 7 lines, and Midtown East on the 4, 5, 6, 7, and S lines at Grand Central.