Veterans Affairs (VA) Chapter 31 – VR&E
Veteran Readiness and Employment Benefit Summary
Below is a snapshot of how the Department of Veterans Affairs processes Veteran Readiness and Employment benefits and their general eligibility requirements. Our VetSuccess on Campus Counselor may be able to help you determine your eligibility for this benefit. You may also contact the Department of Veterans Affairs directly at (800) 827-1000 to determine your eligibility.
- Veterans with service-connected disabilities may be eligible. A service-connected disability rating of at least 10% or a memorandum rating of 20% or more from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is required.
- Must be used within 12 years of either the date of separation from active military service or the date in which the veteran was first notified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of a service-connected disability rating.
- Can cover up to 100% of tuition and fees. A monthly subsistence allowance may be available as well.
How to use your VR&E (Ch. 31) Benefits:
Step One: Determine Your Eligibility
You may contact the Department of Veterans Affairs by phone at (800) 827-1000 to determine your eligibility. Our VetSuccess on Campus counselor is also available to help you determine your eligibility for this benefit.
You may apply for Veteran Readiness and Employment by completing and submitting VA Form 28-1900 to the Department of Veterans Affairs directly.
Step Two: Your VA Counselor is Assigned
Once approved, you will be assigned a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor in your state.
Step Three: Authorization is Issued to Liberty University
Your U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor must issue an Authorization Form to Liberty University’s Office of Military Affairs, which allows you to register for courses and authorizes Liberty University to post aid to your student account in a given term or year. These forms may not be emailed or faxed, but must be submitted by your Counselor through the Tungsten Network.
Step Four: Payment is Posted, Complete Financial Check-In
Once we receive the Authorization Form from your Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and you have enrolled in courses, the Office of Military Affairs will certify your enrollment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and post a projected credit to your account. This process typically takes 3-5 business days and you will receive an email to your Liberty email account at that time. You will then need to complete Financial Check-In to secure your enrollment for the semester. Please see our Financial Check-In Guide for more information on this process.
Please be aware this credit will remain in a projected status until the actual payment is received through our invoicing process. The invoicing process begins the week after the D sub-term’s add/drop period each semester. Projected credit cannot be used to process a refund of financial credit, so this means students using other forms of financial aid along with their VR&E benefit may experience a delay in receiving a full refund of the financial aid credit as a result of this. Once the invoicing process is complete and the payment has been fully authorized on the account, any additional refund due on the account can then be released according to the university’s refund process.
Undergraduate Students
- Students enrolled in undergraduate programs will take advantage of Liberty University’s Inclusive Access system. Inclusive Access integrates digital books and resources into the course and comes at no additional charge to undergraduate students. (learn more about Inclusive Access here). This means that purchasing physical textbooks is not a requirement for undergraduate students. VR&E (Ch. 31) may only pay for required expenses, however VR&E counselors have flexibility to approve coverage for the cost of physical textbooks if a student has a preference for physical books or disability that can be accommodated by using physical text books. The VR&E counselor will need to communicate to Liberty University’s Military Affairs Office that they intend to pay for the cost of physical text books after acknowledging that these purchases are not required.
- Once this approval is received, students should visit the Liberty University Online Book Store to search for their textbooks and email vre@liberty.edu with the total cost of their purchase including any shipping and taxes. The Office of Military Affairs will then allocate the necessary book voucher funds to complete this purchase.
- **Please note that the Office of Military Affairs cannot guarantee the availability of any materials through the Online Book Store. Please reach out to the Online Bookstore customer support team for any inventory-related inquiries.
Graduate And Doctoral Students
- Students enrolled in any Graduate or Doctoral level program will be automatically provided with VR&E book voucher funds to be used at our Online Book Store. Book Voucher funds are automatically allocated at $250.00 per course and are applied in one to three business days after Financial Check In is completed. Students are sent an automated email from the Online Book Store containing their book voucher code and instructions to use their book voucher funds. If additional funds are needed to complete the purchase of all required books, the total amount of book voucher funds can be increased accordingly by emailing vre@liberty.edu and requesting the additional amount needed to complete the purchase.
- **As VR&E book vouchers are automatically provided upon completion of Financial Check In, students using VR&E benefits should not manually apply book voucher funds during the Financial Check In process as this may create an additional balance that may not be invoiced to your VR&E counselor
How to use your VR&E (Ch. 31) Benefits to Purchase Materials:
Students utilizing VR&E benefits may be approved by their counselors on a case-by-case basis for the purchase of school supplies or other items such as laptop computers. Additional inquiries on obtaining approval for material purchases may be directed to your VR&E counselor. If your VR&E counselor has already approved for your VR&E benefits to pay for the purchase of a laptop or other supplies, this purchase may be facilitated by using a book voucher to be used on our campus book store’s website. Please browse the materials available on the bookstore website and email vre@liberty.edu with the total cost of the purchase including any shipping and taxes. Once this information has been provided, the Office of Military Affairs will begin the process of allocating book voucher funds that you will use to complete this purchase.
**Please note that Liberty University can only facilitate the purchase of items available through our online and campus bookstores. The purchase of any books or other materials through outside vendors would need to be arranged between the student and their VR&E counselor directly.