For many young soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq, the dream of a fully paid education is yet to be realized. Though well over 200,000 applications have been received for GI Bill assistance, only about 27,500 former soldiers have received financial assistance through the new GI Bill. Some American soldiers are still awaiting disbursement of educational funding, despite the fact that it is almost October. Though over 900 people are processing the claims, the average processing time is still 35 days. The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), which oversees the GI Bill funding disbursement, hopes to bring that number down to 10-25 days.
The new GI Bill, also referred to as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, is believed to have great potential as it includes new benefits and is custom tailored depending on the veteran’s school of choice. Benefits include a monthly housing allowance, the cost of school tuition and fees, a relocation fee (for certain individuals) and a yearly stipend for books and supplies, up to $1,000. The average recipient could receive $6,700 to cover full-time enrollment fees.
The updated bill went into effect on August 1, though many thousands of soldiers have not seen a cent of their undergraduate and graduate funding yet. There are various funding programs available to GIs. Once the correct program is selected, the soldier must then send in information verifying their enrollment by filling out the Wave Automated Verification of Enrollment online. Before payments are allotted, the enrollment information must be processed by the DVA. By Sept. 23, the DVA approved about 200,000 veterans as eligible to receive GI Bill benefits. Between Aug. 1 and Sept. 23, more than 61,000 payments were issued to returning soldiers to go back to school, totaling more than $50 million. Since May, the DVA has received about 277,000 applications for GI Bill benefits.
The DVA, which handles the payments, recognized that there are enrollment applications still waiting to be processed for the fall term.
The DVA Web site states that between Sept. 25 and Sept. 27, there were an additional 3,779 GI Bill applications processed. The DVA authorized emergency checks of up to $3,000 to be sent to needy GI Bill students who have yet to receive their promised funding. On September 26, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki announce, “Students should be focusing on their studies, not worrying about financial difficulties,” also pointing out that “education creates life-expanding opportunities for our veterans.”
Joe Davis, the director of public affairs for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW), directed the Mustang Daily to the VFW’s home page, which applauds the handing out of emergency aid checks. VFW National Commander Thomas Tradewell Sr. said that “We are extremely pleased with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki’s announcement that VA is moving positively in response to recent reports of veterans experiencing financial difficulty or problems enrolling for college classes since the implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.”
Steve Chandler, the primary certifying official for VA benefits in the Office of the Registrar, explained the process of Cal Poly students receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits: first, the student must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility and fill out a Veteran Benefits Request form and give both completed forms to the Cal Poly campus certifying official. Next, the certifying official must confirm on the financial end to the VA via the 22-1999 enrollment certification form. Next, the VA “processes enrollment certification submitted by [the] campus,” which can take between eight and ten weeks, and when all of that is completed, the Cal Poly student can then receive financial assistance according to their enrollment status.
Chandler wrote that “some students are experiencing a longer than usual wait for their benefits. This is due in part to the time required for Veterans Affairs to process enrollment certifications.”
The Cal Poly ROTC office could not comment on the story, as it currently does not deal with GI Bill payments.
On Friday, October 2, 57 regional VA offices will be handing out advance payments to former soldiers who have yet to receive school funding and can verify their need. In California, there will be three offices, open in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Diego.
The GI Bill benefits application can be filled out online.
There are various forms of financial assistance available to returning GIs, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Ch. 33), the Montgomery GI Bill (Ch. 30) and the Reserve Education Assistance Program (Ch. 1607).
The DVA designates approved recipients as those who have received honorable discharges and have given “at least 90 days of aggregate service on or after September 11, 2001 or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days.”