GI Bill Comparison Tool API: VA Schools, Tuition & Benefits

Search VA GI Bill Comparison Tool institutions by name, city, state or ZIP. Get facility codes, tuition, BAH, Yellow Ribbon, accreditation, caution flags and ratings. $2 per 1,000.

What does it do?

GI Bill Institutions wraps the official VA GI Bill Comparison Tool API (api.va.gov/v0/gi) so you can search approved schools and employers, look up facility codes, and optionally pull approved programs. You get clean, flat records with tuition, monthly housing allowance (BAH), Yellow Ribbon, accreditation, caution flags and veteran ratings when present.

• ✅ Official public VA data: no login, no cookies, no proxies
• ✅ Search by name, city, state, ZIP, type or facility code
• ✅ Optional program search (nursing, welding, etc.)
• ✅ Clean JSON / CSV / Excel output for Sheets, BI tools or AI agents
• ✅ Pay only for results: no monthly rental

Use cases

• Veteran education counseling: shortlist schools by state with tuition, BAH and Yellow Ribbon.
• Edtech & benefits platforms: enrich institution records with official VA facility codes and flags.
• Research & journalism: pull caution flags, accreditation and outcome fields at scale.
• Employer / OJT discovery: find approved apprenticeships and on-the-job training programs.

How to use it

1. Click Try for free. The input is prefilled with a working Colorado example.
2. Edit the input and click Start.
3. Download results as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, or pull them via API.

Input examples

Schools named "University of Colorado" in Denver, CO

{
  "name": "University of Colorado",
  "city": "Denver",
  "state": "CO",
  "maxResults": 5,
  "enrichProfiles": true
}

Look up facility codes

{
  "facilityCodes": ["11802506", "11903106"]
}

Approved nursing programs in Colorado

{
  "programName": "nursing",
  "state": "CO",
  "maxResults": 20
}

Output

Sample fields:

name	facilityCode	institutionType	city	state	tuitionInState	bah	yellowRibbon	accredited	cautionFlag
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER	11802506	PUBLIC	DENVER	CO	10017	2967	true	true	false

Sample JSON record (long fields shortened):

{
  "query": "name=University of Colorado city=Denver state=CO",
  "found": true,
  "name": "UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER",
  "facilityCode": "11802506",
  "institutionType": "PUBLIC",
  "city": "DENVER",
  "state": "CO",
  "zip": "80217",
  "tuitionInState": 10017,
  "tuitionOutOfState": 28209,
  "bah": 2967.0,
  "dodBah": 2841,
  "accredited": true,
  "accreditationType": "regional",
  "yellowRibbon": true,
  "yellowRibbonProgramCount": 18,
  "principlesOfExcellence": true,
  "eightKeys": true,
  "cautionFlag": false,
  "cautionFlags": [],
  "ratingAverage": null,
  "ratingCount": 0,
  "comparisonToolUrl": "https://www.va.gov/education/gi-bill-comparison-tool/institution/11802506",
  "source": "VA GI Bill Comparison Tool API (api.va.gov/v0/gi)"
}

Pricing

Pay per event: $0.002 per institution/program record ($2.00 per 1,000). No start fee, no monthly rental. Not-found and error rows are free.

Results	Cost
100 records	$0.20
1,000 records	$2.00
10,000 records	$20.00

Apify's free plan includes monthly platform credit, so you can try it at no cost.

Integrations

• Google Sheets: Apify's Google Sheets integration, or =IMPORTDATA() on the dataset CSV link.
• Zapier & Make: official Apify apps.
• Webhooks & schedules: run daily/hourly and post results anywhere.
• AI agents (MCP): available through the Apify MCP server.
• API & SDKs:

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/clearpathdata~gi-bill-institutions/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"name":"University of Colorado","state":"CO","maxResults":5}'

FAQ

Is this official VA data?

Yes. It calls the public GI Bill Comparison Tool API that powers VA.gov's Comparison Tool.

Does city / ZIP always work?

The VA search endpoint treats name as free text (school name, city or ZIP). Dedicated city/ZIP query params are unreliable, so this Actor uses name for those lookups and applies an extra client-side city/ZIP filter when you combine them with an institution name.

Rate limits?

The public API does not publish a hard quota. The Actor pages results (10 per request) with a short polite delay between calls.

Something not working?

Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab.

More details

Output fields

name, facilityCode, alias, institutionType, city/state/zip/country, address, physical address, highestDegree, localeType, studentCount, tuitionInState/OutOfState, books, bah, dodBah, accredited, accreditationType/Status, yellowRibbon + yellowRibbonPrograms[], principlesOfExcellence, eightKeys, studentVeteran, stemOffered, independentStudy, priorityEnrollment, onlineOnly, distanceLearning, vetTecProvider, preferredProvider, campusType, parentFacilityCode, schoolClosing, cautionFlag(s), ratingAverage/Count, minority-serving flags, ownershipName, OPE IDs, programTypes, selected outcome fields, complaints summary, VetSuccess contact, website, College Scorecard link, Comparison Tool URL.

Program rows add: programDescription, programType, institutionName, bah/dodBah, preferredProvider, cautionFlags.

Source and terms

Live from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs public GI Bill Comparison Tool API (api.va.gov/v0/gi, backed by the GI Bill Data Service). api.va.gov/robots.txt allows access. This is U.S. government public data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Benefit eligibility still depends on each veteran's entitlement; always confirm on VA.gov.

Pricing

Pay per event: institution. Charged per institution or program record returned. Not-found/error rows are free. Apify platform usage is included.

Example input

{
  "name": "University of Colorado",
  "city": "Denver",
  "state": "CO",
  "facilityCodes": ["11802506"],
  "maxResults": 5,
  "enrichProfiles": true
}

Built by clearpathdata, a maker of official-government-data Actors. Questions and feature requests are welcome in the Issues tab.