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Dear GI Bill® Student,
Every Fall and Spring, VA sees an increase in education claims due to peak enrollments. This is an expected increase and we are positioned to handle the work. We will be working with schools to make sure the increase in work is aligned with the typical timeliness of this season. We are reaching out to your schools and asking them to submit enrollment certificates as soon as possible so we can ensure payments are issued in a timely fashion.
VA works claims in the date order they are received. Without a need for schools to either hold or resubmit previous enrollments, we expect to continue working the majority of original (first time) enrollment and applications within 28 days and the majority of supplemental (re-enrollments) within 14 days during the Fall 2020 term. Unique factors may cause some students claims to fall outside of these parameters. VA is committed to working these claims as expeditiously as possible.
Tips for Success
- Plan ahead of time
- Enroll as early as you can
- Get to know and stay in contact with your School Certifying Officials
- Be sure you understand your school’s procedures regarding requests for certification to VA
- Avoid changing your schedules as much as possible once you are enrolled
- If you do drop/add hours, contact your School Certifying Official immediately to mitigate potential overpayment.
COVID-19 Reminder
In addition, we understand and are prepared for the many impacts COVID-19 can have on students, on-line schooling and institutions of higher learning. While every student’s situation is different and there are many unknowns with regards to the pandemic, VA is prepared for any increase in workload for applications and enrollments due to the financial and economic impacts of COVID-19 to our beneficiaries.
VA is committed to helping Veterans and their families through this national emergency. From the beginning of this crisis, we have been working with Congress to preserve GI Bill benefits for students impacted by COVID-19 during this difficult time. Two public laws were passed in the spring (PL 116-128 and PL 116-140 “Student Veteran Coronavirus Response Act of 2020”) to provide you with benefits stability while your training is being impacted by COVID-19.
The new laws allow VA to pay education benefits as you were training in-residence regardless of the fact that a program has been converted from resident training to online training. If you are training online in lieu of in-residence, you will continue to receive housing allowance payments at the resident training until December 21, 2020. This includes situations where your school is offering hybrid training (combining online and resident training) or where your school is offering you the option to choose online training in lieu of resident training. Additionally, VA will afford these same protections to new incoming students. There is no requirement that you have a previous history of taking resident courses. The only requirement is that you be enrolled in a “converted course” – a course which the school offered as resident training prior to COVID-19 but is now offering as online training due to COVID-19.
Additionally, the new laws allow VA to continue to pay work-study allowance at the full-rate of 25 hours per week even if you are unable to work those hours due to COVID-19. This protection is only available to you if you were already participating in a work-study program on March 1, 2020. Also, you are allowed to extend your work-study contracts and continue to participate in the work-study program through the fall semester.
As a reminder, these laws only protect your benefits until December 21, 2020. If you are enrolled solely online on December 22, 2020, VA will have to reduce your housing to the online rate effective that date (this means you will not owe back the resident rate housing received prior to December 22, but you will receive a reduced housing payment starting in January 2021 and continuing until you resume resident training). Also, if you are a work-study student whose work hours are impacted by COVID-19, you will resume only receiving work-study benefits for the hours you are able to work.
For more information, go to:
Additionally, if you have changed your bank account or moved to a new address, please contact VA Education Service to update your information either online at www.va.gov or at 1-888-442-4551. If we do not have your correct information we will not be able to issue your payment on time.
If you are experiencing financial hardship due to a delay in payment, we ask that you contact the Education Call Center at 888-442-4551 between 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday-Friday. VA will expedite any hardship request.
Respectfully,
Education Service
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