Veterans Affairs (VA) GI Bill®

Once classes are certified and the tuition and fee amounts are reported by Liberty University to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, any changes in enrollment will result in Liberty University going into Debt Management with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. As a result, students may be placed into debt with the university.

A Debt Management Letter details any amount that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has overpaid. Most typically, Debt Management Letters are issued due to a change of enrollment, switching your GI Bill®, or a processing error. If you have specific questions as to why you were sent into overpayment, including specific amounts, please contact the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at (888) 442-4551.

On January 5th, 2021, the VA Overpayments and Debt policy was officially updated due to changes in federal law from the passing of Isakson & Roe: Public Law 116-315-Section 1019. Any changes to certifications of tuition and fees or Yellow Ribbon that would result in a debt will now be owed by the school. You will no longer be put into debt by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for any changes in tuition and fees or Yellow Ribbon; however, you will now be placed into debt with your school. If there are qualifying mitigating circumstances, the Office of Military Affairs will report any changes in tuition and fees or Yellow Ribbon to the VA referencing those circumstances.  This may lessen the debt issued to Liberty University, which would reduce the debt that you owe to the school. Be aware that you will still be placed into debt with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for any Monthly Housing Allowance or Book Stipend that may be owed. If you have any questions about what the debt will be, or if you would like to submit mitigating circumstances after the fact, you will need to contact the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at (888) 442-4551.

An FN is an unofficial withdrawal due to non-attendance. In order to receive an FN, the student must have logged into the class and not attended for 21 consecutive days. An online student attends by logging into their class on Canvas and submitting assignments.

When a student receives a grade of FN, it must be reported to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a punitive grade. A punitive grade is a grade assigned for pursuit of a course which is used in determining the student’s overall progress toward completion of the school’s requirements for graduation. Since drops and withdrawals do not contribute towards the GPA, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will not, under most circumstances, pay for a course in which a grade of FN is received. The withdrawal date will be reported to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as the last date of documented attendance in the course. For more information about payments for grades of FN, please contact the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as it is ultimately their policy on how they pay.

Intensive (J Term) courses can span the full length of a subterm or the entire semester, but will contain a residential portion in either a one week or weekend format. The official start and end dates of J term courses are determined by the Office of the Registrar and will typically include additional time outside of the residential portion of the class. The official dates that are set by the Registrar will be reported to the Department of Veterans Affairs for enrollment certification. Months of entitlement will be used from the entire time reported, not just the time spent in the residential portion of the intensive.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will issue your payments based on which Chapter of benefits you are using and your enrollment/course load, or Training Time. Please review our VA Pay Rates & Training Times web page for more information.

Per the VA Certifying Official Handbook, page 48, remedial and deficiency courses offered as independent study (online) cannot be approved and cannot be certified to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  These are courses designed to correct deficiencies in basic mathematics, English, and reading at the elementary or secondary level. These courses can be certified as part of an approved program, but only for students for whom a verifiable need has been established AND are taking the course residentially.

No remedial courses taken online can be paid for by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. For Liberty University, this includes the following courses: ENGL 100; MATH 100; MATH 110; and all courses with the course prefix CLST. The only remedial courses that will be paid are those taken residentially. If a student takes one of these courses at Liberty University residentially we can certify that class.

Additionally, courses GRST 500 and GRST 501 are not paid by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. These courses are fee based courses, not charged to every student. These courses may be required for a student to complete due to a student’s GPA. The only exception to this policy is residential students taking GRST 500. In this case, the Department of Veterans Affairs may pay the fee for GRST 500 if it is taken in conjunction with another course that can be certified for GI Bill® benefits.

Veterans Affairs Education Benefits is not affected by Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) until the student is placed on Academic Suspension or Dismissal. Per U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy, Academic Suspension must be reported to the VA. Students who go on Academic Suspension must complete an Academic Contract per University policy in order to continue registering for courses and having courses certified for VA Benefits. Students who are on Academic Dismissal are unable to register for courses and are therefore unable to utilize their Education Benefits. Otherwise, a student’s GPA has no effect on their Veterans Benefits. For more information on SAP,  please visit the Financial Aid Policies web page.

Students receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Ch. 33) benefits must verify their enrollment status each month to continue to receive their monthly housing allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments. If a beneficiary fails to verify for two consecutive months, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will withhold any additional MHA payments until verified by the student. The requirement for the student to verify their enrollment status means VA cannot accept statements from the school to verify the enrollment, as the current process for monthly certification for other education benefits allows.

If a student is receiving the Montgomery GI Bill (Ch. 30 or 1606), they will use Web Automated Verification of Enrollment (WAVE) or call the toll free Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone line at (877) VA-ECERT (877-823-2378) to verify their attendance on a monthly basis. This is required for the VA to issue payment to the student. If the student is receiving Survivors’ and Dependents’ Education Assistance (Ch. 35) or Veteran Readiness and Employment (Ch. 31) benefits, they do not need to verify their attendance.

NOTE: The WAVE and IVR systems do not update account information instantly. Instead, verifications and other submissions are stored and processed manually. If WAVE does not reflect the student’s current enrollment status, it is most likely because the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has not processed the current enrollment certification (VA Form 22-1999). The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may experience busy times during high enrollment periods, in which case it may take up to 3-4 weeks to process everyone’s changes.

To have a course certified for VA benefits at another school, Liberty University must issue a Parent Letter to your secondary school’s VA certifying official. Before a letter can be issued, the course must first be approved by the Registrar’s Office. Please follow the instructions below to submit this request.

• Retrieve the appropriate Future Course Request form on the Forms and Downloads page.
• Fill out the form and check the box indicating that you are using GI Bill® benefits.
• Submit the form for approval.
• A copy of the Future Course Request form will be forwarded on to the Office of Military Affairs for review.
• The Office of Military Affairs will inform the other institution’s School Certifying Official that these courses can be processed under the GI Bill® benefit.
• The other institution’s School Certifying Official will process out the GI Bill® accordingly.

According to the VA, after a GI Bill® payment has been released to either the student or the school for the certified period of enrollment, the GI Bill® cannot be terminated in order to conserve entitlement. Tuition and fee payments of the Post-9/11 GI Bill are typically made within 1-2 weeks after your tuition and fees are reported to the VA, which occurs after the add/drop deadline for each given sub-term. Monthly Housing Allowance payments for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and standard payments for students using Chapters 30, 35, and 1606, are released directly to the student the first week of the month following a previous month’s certified period of enrollment. Please note these timeframes are not guaranteed and are beyond the control of Liberty University.

If you do not wish to use your GI Bill in a given semester after it has already been processed, you must email VAFinance@liberty.edu, clearly stating your desire to have your GI Bill® certification terminated for a specific enrollment. After it is confirmed that payment has not been released by the VA, a certifying official will proceed with terminating your certifications. In circumstances where payment has already been released, please note there are exceptions that may allow us to terminate your certifications, outlined below:

• The student drops course(s) in the term.
• The student withdraws from or receives an FN in course(s) in the term (please see the withdrawal policy below for the full ramifications of withdrawing while using veterans benefits).
• The student receives Federal Tuition Assistance for the same course(s).

Students using Chapter 31 VA Veteran Readiness and Employment who wish to have their certifications terminated will need to have their VA Counselor contact Liberty University directly.

Per the 2014 Department of Defense Memorandum of Understanding, Federal Tuition Assistance and Veterans Affairs benefits cannot be used to pay for the same course(s). There are currently 3 exceptions to this policy. Students using Post-9/11 GI Bill® are able to use their Veterans Education Benefits to cover the remaining balance for courses not completely covered by Federal Tuition Assistance. As of May 5, 2021, students using the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve Education Benefit (MGIB-SR or Chapter 1606) may also use their benefit concurrently with Federal Tuition Assistance when they are enrolled in a program of education that is half-time or greater. Concurrent use is not authorized under Chapter 1606 when students are enrolled less than half-time. The final exception to this policy is for the Montgomery GI Bill: Active Duty (MGIB or Chapter 30) under the use of Top-Up. The Top-Up benefit may only be used with Chapter 30 to receive from the VA those tuition costs that exceed, or are not authorized in, the amount of TA provided to the service member by his/her military branch.

Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients may be certified for $0 if Tuition Assistance is covering the full cost of their course(s). This $0 certification will generate a Housing stipend for the duration of the course (for those enrolled greater than half-time), as well as a Book Stipend payment. Students should keep in mind that Active Duty students and their spouses are not eligible to receive a Monthly Housing Allowance from their GI Bill benefits. For more information about Chapter 33, please see the Post-9/11 GI Bill webpage.

Students eligible for Veterans Education Benefits will have their enrollment certified with the VA. If Federal Tuition Assistance is later applied toward a course that has been certified, the certification for Veterans Benefits will be either amended (Chapters 33 and 1606) to account for the Tuition Assistance or terminated (all other GI Bill chapters) in accordance with the 2014 Department of Defense Memorandum of Understanding.

When you hear the term VA Form 22-1999, this is referring to your electronic enrollment certification that the Office of Military Affairs submits to the Department of Veterans Affairs. This certification reports your hours and term of enrollment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and will then determine the amounts that can be paid for your course(s) through your benefit. You will always be notified by email to your Liberty email account when an enrollment certification is submitted or adjusted.

Since withdrawals do not contribute toward your GPA, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will not, under most circumstances, continue to pay for a withdrawn course. If you are unable to continue in the course due to Mitigating Circumstances, you may qualify to have your course covered by your benefits up to the withdrawal date. The withdrawal date, in accordance with federal guidelines, is recognized as the date the student notifies Liberty University of the intent to withdraw, either in writing or orally. To learn more about Liberty University’s Withdrawal Policy, please visit the Financial Aid Policies page.

When a student withdraws from a course, Liberty University must submit an adjustment of enrollment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Because the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will not continue to pay for the course, debt may be created on the school by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Liberty University will pay back any required debts with the VA, which may result in you owing a debt to Liberty University.
Typically, the only documentation that Liberty University may require for withdrawals is for Military Withdrawal requests. If the Office of Military Affairs is notified that a student has been approved for one of these withdrawals, a School Certifying Official will make an update to your certification indicating the Mitigating Circumstances that led to the withdrawal. All other requests or documentation for Mitigating Circumstances, including for medical reasons, should be submitted directly to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has an F.A.Q. that may provide further clarification.