September 25, 2009

Secretary Shinseki Orders Emergency Checks to Students Awaiting Education Benefits

Thousands of Checks to Alleviate Student Financial Burden

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has authorized checks for up to $3,000 to be given to students who have applied for educational benefits and who have not yet received their government payment.  The checks will be distributed to eligible students at VA regional benefits offices across the country starting Oct. 2, 2009.

“Students should be focusing on their studies, not worrying about financial difficulties,” Secretary Shinseki said.  “Education creates life-expanding opportunities for our Veterans.”

Starting Friday, Oct. 2, 2009, students can go to one of VA’s 57 regional benefit offices with a photo ID and a course schedule to request advance payment of their education benefits.  Because not all these offices are located near students, VA expects to send representatives to schools with large Veteran-student bodies and work with Veteran Service Organizations to help students with transportation needs.

A list of those VA regional offices is available at www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/offices.asp.

“I’m asking our people to get out their road maps and determine how we can reach the largest number of college students who can’t reach us,” VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits Patrick Dunne said. “Not everyone has a car.  Not everyone can walk to a VA benefits office.”

Although VA does not know how many students will request emergency funds, it has approximately 25,000 claims pending that may result in payments to students.

The funds VA will give to students now are advance payments of the earned benefits for education.  This money will be deducted from future education payments.

VA officials said students should know that after this special payment, they can expect to receive education payments on the normal schedule — the beginning of the month following the period for which they are reimbursed.

“This is an extraordinary action we’re taking,” said Shinseki. “But it’s necessary because we recognize the hardships some of our Veterans face.”

More than 27,500 students have already received benefits for housing or books under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, or their schools received their tuition payments.

Post 9/11 GI Bill

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Here you go, from the VA’s GI BILL Website:

Starting May 1, 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs will begin accepting applications for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The application form is available online.

The form requires that individuals currently eligible for another education benefit make an irrevocable election from their existing program to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Typically individuals who are eligible for more than one benefit may use a combined total of 48 months of entitlement. Therefore, for those individuals eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) program, please be advised that if you have entitlement remaining under the MGIB, the number of months of Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement you will be eligible for will be equal to the number of months remaining under MGIB. However, if you exhaust all of your MGIB entitlement, then you may be entitled to a maximum of 12 additional months of entitlement under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Starting May 1, 2009 VA will begin processing applications for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and you will receive a letter explaining VA’s decision regarding your eligibility for the program. Payments for the Post-9/11 GI Bill will not be processed until August 1, 2009.

Click here to access the application form which includes instructions for submitting completed applications.

Now of course in full Governmental function, The link provided does not work.. FEHH!!!! MAJOR FAIL! Keep checking back as I am sure it will soon.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

Below is the release from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) on the GI Bill, they were a major force in helping us get this legislation passed:

IAVA is pleased to see that the VA adopted many of our recommended changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill regulations. The recently published final regulations addressed over half of IAVA’s top concerns. These changes are worth thousands of dollars to veterans who will be using this new benefit, and specifically include:

• Ensuring that school health insurance programs are covered by the new GI Bill.
• Encouraging private universities and colleges to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program by increasing flexibility:
  • Allowing separate schools within a college to participate
  • Removing restrictive requirements on how schools fund the program
• Allowing spouses/dependents to benefit from a servicemember’s enlistment kickers.
• Clearly defining when a servicemember with readjustment issues can leave school and not be billed for courses not completed.

We were also grateful to see the VA include GI Bill eligibility for officers of the Public Health Service (PHS) and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and clarify that other forms of financial aid will not affect GI Bill benefits.

While a majority of these regulatory changes were pro-veteran, IAVA still has some concerns with the regulations that should be addressed immediately. For example:

• Unfair prohibition on transferring benefits to children between the ages of 18-26
• Denying enlistment kickers to part-time students and distance learners
• Denying the Montgomery GI Bill buy-in refunds to part-time students and distance learners

To learn more about the Post-9/11 GI Bill, click here.

Please use these resources to better help you negotiate these waters.