On December 27, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Veterans Eligible to Transfer School Credit (VETS) Act. Read on to find out how you may be impacted.

If your educational institution closed or was disapproved:

• Students may certify in writing that they’re transferring fewer than 12 credits; then VA will restore benefits and issue a certificate of eligibility.
• If 12 or more credits are transferred, then VA will not issue a new certificate of eligibility.
• VA can rescind restored benefits, based on information provided by the new school.

If you are transferring Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a dependent:

• The VETS Act removes the requirement that an individual transferring Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to a dependent(s), specify the period for which the transfer will be effective.

VA will provide more information regarding this law, as it becomes available.

Have you set new goals for the school year? You may be on winter break right now, but with the start of the new year, this is the perfect time to plan and organize your educational goals. See how your GI Bill benefits can help you on your path to accomplishing your goals this year.

Start by logging into your VA.gov account to check your benefits status and see how much of your education benefit you have remaining. Be sure to check out these guides to your benefits which explain your Certificate of Eligibility/Award Letter, the different GI Bill benefits and your education and training options. There’s also a VA Welcome Kit covering other benefits you might need to use.

Are you looking for ways to help cover expenses this semester? Through the VA Work Study program, eligible individuals can earn money and gain valuable work experience while enrolled in a college, vocational school or professional training program. Visit the program page to find out how you can earn while you learn.

If you need to submit documents for your VA Education claims, you can submit directly to Centralized Mail Portal via QuickSubmit. It’s quick, easy and ensures the documents get into your file quickly. Access QuickSubmit via AccessVA at https://eauth.va.gov/accessva/?cspSelectFor=quicksubmit. To log into QuickSubmit, an ID.me account is required:

• Users must complete First Name, Last Name, File Number/SSN and Zip Code.
• Select Education for both “Organization” and “Benefit Claim Type.”
• “Emergent Indicator” must be left blank.      

Once the fields are completed, you may select the PDF file to attach, or drag and drop the file into the appropriate area. After documents are attached, select Submit.

It has been a year since the monthly enrollment verification requirement was rolled out to Post-9/11 GI Bill students. As you go into the new semester, please remember to verify your enrollment at the end of each month to continue receiving your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments uninterrupted.

If you have already been verifying your enrollment monthly via text or email, you will continue receiving a message on the last day of the month to verify.

If you are a new GI Bill student, you will receive a text from VA to opt into text verification. If you don’t opt into text verification, you will be opted into email verification, as long as VA Education Service has a valid email address on file for you. For more information on the process, visit the Enrollment Verification webpage.

VA will establish a Vet Center (Readjustment Counseling Service) scholarship program to assist individuals pursuing graduate degrees in psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy or mental health counseling.

VA expects to award scholarships in the summer of 2023, providing funding to cover up to two years of graduate studies for individuals pursuing these degrees.

Upon completion of their degrees, these mental health professionals will then serve full-time for a period of six years at one of VA’s 300 Vet Centers across the country. They will serve in underserved areas that need additional mental health professionals and in states with a per-capita population of more than 5% Veterans.

Learn more about Vet Centers.

VA is committed to fraud prevention and protecting Veteran benefits year-round. Your education benefits, such as the GI Bill, can help you further your education and launch an exciting new career. Unfortunately, some predatory educational institutions use deceptive practices to take advantage of Veterans, often robbing them of their benefits and leaving them on the hook for private loan costs.

You can take the following steps to help protect yourself from falling victim to predatory practices:

• Use the GI Bill Comparison Tool to help verify the authenticity and accreditation of an educational institution or program.
• Beware of suspicious activity from colleges or vocational programs, such as a rushed enrollment process.

Wellness Wednesday, a series of  programs offering free financial education seminars, continues January 18, 2023, this time focusing on the basics of everyday finance. Each, class will be offered twice, starting at noon and 3:00 p.m. EST.

Register here, or go to www.prudential.com/Veteran for more information. Wellness Wednesday seminars are offered free of charge to transitioning Service members, Veterans, spouses, families and caregivers. The seminars are sponsored by VA in partnership with Prudential Financial Services.

As of August 1, 2022, GI Bill students enrolled in a program of education while on active duty for at least 30 consecutive days will now receive a Basic Housing Allowance (BAH) from the Department of Defense instead of a Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) from VA.

If you are called to active duty, for more than 30 consecutive days while attending school or training, please contact your School Certifying Official to have them submit a change of status to avoid overpayment. We encourage GI Bill students who have been on active duty for at least 30 days to calculate your housing allowance using the BAH calculator. GI Bill students who are not on active duty can calculate their MHA using the GI Bill Comparison Tool.

Still confused about how to calculate your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA)? Check out this Facebook post which helps break it down for you!

Education Service kicked off its GI Bill Roadshow events in December 2022 with stops at George Mason University (GMU) and University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). As a part of the roadshow, students were invited to attend the GI Bill Town Hall to learn about Digital GI Bill (DGIB) modernization efforts, including Enrollment Verification, and to ask questions regarding specific beneficiary needs. Later that day, School Certifying Officials (SCOs) attended an Enrollment Manager Workshop to learn about the system that will replace VA-ONCE in 2023.

Overall, events at both universities were successful with over 40 people attending the sessions at GMU and 32 attending the sessions at UMBC. One GMU attendee shared, “I’m really impressed with what I saw today, especially with IT modernization. We know IT can be challenging, but Education Service is doing it right. This is incredibly exciting and needed – the expedited processing and timing makes a huge difference. We applaud you.”

The Roadshow continued this month with a stop at Student Veterans of America® (SVA) National Conference where attendees learned about GI Bill enhancements including the simplified Post-9/11 GI Bill application experience, updates to the GI Bill Comparison Tool and the future release of online enrollment verification. VA looks forward to connecting with more students in person throughout the new year.

Many of you may have utilized the GI Bill Comparison Tool to find the school and/or program you are currently attending. Since then, the tool has gone through updates based on your feedback, allowing for a more personalized search experience.

In this blog we highlight the new side-by-side comparison and map features and share one Veteran’s story on how she used the tool to find a program that aligned with her career goals. Head over to VA News to read more about the modernization updates and her story!

Once you have found the right program for you, but not sure your program is approved, you can visit the WEAMS site to verify that your program of choice is GI Bill approved. You can search by institution and program type or location.

Do you have a question or concern about your benefits? Contact us safely and securely with Ask VA!