02-24-2022, 10:38 PM
Vets Must Now Verify School Enrollment Monthly or Lose It
Starting this month, all students receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits must verify their school
enrollment each month or risk forfeiting their housing allowance. The change has been planned
for months and was already required for some students since last fall. But the new mandate also
has the potential to be a costly mistake for some individuals if they overlook the new monthly
messages from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“If you fail to verify enrollment for two consecutive months, your [housing] payments will be
placed on hold,” department officials warned in a message explaining the verification
requirement. “By regularly verifying your enrollment, you protect your GI Bill entitlement by
preventing charges for classes or training you did not attend.” As many colleges begin their spring
semesters this month, some students could be seeing the verification messages for the first time
— or potentially ignoring them as unwanted spam. VA plans to send the messages out on the last
day of each month, and give students several days to respond before deactivating the links.
Department officials have been encouraging students to sign up for text message verification
or email alerts for months, in the hopes that no one would be caught off guard by the new
requirement. Late last month, as part of that campaign, VA officials also released a new video on
how to sign up for text message alerts at https://youtu.be/MKq-reD01ZA . The housing stipend
linked to Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits is designed to help students avoid the need for an after-school
job to pay for rent and groceries cost. Since payouts are based on the location of the student and
the school, the stipend can range from a few hundred dollars to more than $2,000 a month in the
most costly cities. Losing that money could have serious financial consequences for students and
their families.
About 360,000 students are attending classes on the Post-9/11 GI Bill this year. Of that total,
about half will be affected by the new verification changes. Students with additional questions on
the new verification requirements can visit the department’s website
https://benefits.va.gov/gibill/isaksonro...llment.asp for more information.
Starting this month, all students receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits must verify their school
enrollment each month or risk forfeiting their housing allowance. The change has been planned
for months and was already required for some students since last fall. But the new mandate also
has the potential to be a costly mistake for some individuals if they overlook the new monthly
messages from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“If you fail to verify enrollment for two consecutive months, your [housing] payments will be
placed on hold,” department officials warned in a message explaining the verification
requirement. “By regularly verifying your enrollment, you protect your GI Bill entitlement by
preventing charges for classes or training you did not attend.” As many colleges begin their spring
semesters this month, some students could be seeing the verification messages for the first time
— or potentially ignoring them as unwanted spam. VA plans to send the messages out on the last
day of each month, and give students several days to respond before deactivating the links.
Department officials have been encouraging students to sign up for text message verification
or email alerts for months, in the hopes that no one would be caught off guard by the new
requirement. Late last month, as part of that campaign, VA officials also released a new video on
how to sign up for text message alerts at https://youtu.be/MKq-reD01ZA . The housing stipend
linked to Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits is designed to help students avoid the need for an after-school
job to pay for rent and groceries cost. Since payouts are based on the location of the student and
the school, the stipend can range from a few hundred dollars to more than $2,000 a month in the
most costly cities. Losing that money could have serious financial consequences for students and
their families.
About 360,000 students are attending classes on the Post-9/11 GI Bill this year. Of that total,
about half will be affected by the new verification changes. Students with additional questions on
the new verification requirements can visit the department’s website
https://benefits.va.gov/gibill/isaksonro...llment.asp for more information.