By Terry Howell

Note: The point of the folllowing article is not to imply veterans are cheating the system or don't deserve the benefits - the point is that vets need to make sure they are ready and focused before they head to school.

Thousands of veterans have headed to school this year. Many had never considered college before the advent of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. On balance this is a great thing – if they are going to school for the right reasons.

Over the last few months there has been a somewhat alarming trend - veterans going to school lured by the promise of great benefits and cash in their pockets – not for the promise of an education. Who can blame them, some veterans are being offered as much as $2,800 a month for attending traditional classroom studies.

The concern is that vets, motivated to go to school for the stipends, may find pursuing a college degree more demanding than they expect and realize they’ve gotten in over their heads. Fact is, some schools have already seen a number of veteran students drop classes to reduce their. The downside of this is that when they drop classes, or worse drop out entirely, they will likely find themselves in debt to the VA and/or their schools.

Note: Dropping after the “drop/add” date will result in veterans having to pay out of pocket.

Clearly, vets should take advantage of the Post-911 GI Bill, or any GI Bill program for that matter, but they need to check their motives. Going to school for the living stipend may lead to choosing a school that doesn’t fit their needs. For example, to get the living stipend vets must take traditional college courses, unlike online or distance learning, traditional classroom courses don’t offer the flexibility some veterans need. If veterans select a school based on their needs instead of the cash incentive, many could see a greater chance of success, and after all, isn’t that what they should expect from their college education?

Veterans who want to improve their employment opportunities, open new doors, or simply improve their lives through education, need to select the degree, school, and program that best fits their needs. Vets that do this may not find the school or program that “maximizes” their cash benefit, but maximizes their chances at success.

My advice – don’t use the GI Bill for the immediate cash benefit, use it to pay for the college degree that fits your goals and ambitions. You have earned this benefit, do yourselves a favor, use it wisely.

By Terry Howell

As many of you have heard the VA has started contacting veterans to give them follow up information on the advance GI Bill payment recoupment. Many of have been told to expect a call from the VA through the JD Power company. So far I have not been called, however I was sent a form letter via e-mail. The following is the letter I received - which by the way was automatically filtered into my "Junk Mail" folder. So keep a look out for it, it's legit.

ACTUAL VA LETTER SENT VIA E-MAIL

Dear Terry Howell,

This e-mail has been sent on behalf of J.D. Power and Associates for the Department of Veteran's Affairs. The Department of Veteran's Affairs is conducting an important outreach effort of Veterans and active duty service members who have applied for educational benefits under the post 9/11 GI Bill, also called chapter 33.

NOTE: I actually didn't apply for Chapter 33, but I did request the advance payment based on my MGIB enrollment.

Our records show that you took advantage of the opportunity VA provided, and received an advanced payment of your VA education benefits. The purpose of this e-mail is to touch base with you so it is clear what that payment represents, and how you and VA will settle any overpayment of your education benefits.

The payment issued to you represents an advance on your future VA education benefit payments. This payment was made by VA in an effort to get funds into your hands as quickly as possible while VA brings up its system of automated claims processing. Simply put: VA didn't want you to wait.

Right now, VA is working through the accounts to make sure that what you have received so far matches your entitlement. Since you took the advance payment there's a good chance you received more than what you are owed. That's fine, and VA did that deliberately so you could get the money you needed to stay in school. VA will simply subtract the “extra” payment from the checks you'll receive automatically in the future. By the end of the academic year, you will have received exactly your full entitlement.

Assuming you have been enrolled in school full time continuously, you should actually be due an amount close to the advanced payment, so you and VA will be easily settled. For example, if you qualified for 100% of the GI Bill benefit and have been enrolled full-time through September and October in a location that has a $1500 a month housing allowance, and VA processes your enrollment certification in November, the back payment for your housing allowance for September and October will be $3000. This is exactly the same amount as the $3000 advanced payment. If the monthly allowance for your location is $1400, then you should get $2800 for September and October. If you received a $3000 advance payment check then VA will deduct the $200 difference from the payments you are due over the next several months. We won't take it out of your checks all at once.

You can help VA with your claim by ensuring your school has submitted your enrollment certification.

If you received the advanced payment but you have not enrolled in school, or do not have sufficient remaining entitlement to VA education benefits, you will need to return the advanced payment. In that case, but only in that case, it becomes an ordinary debt to the government; it will be very important for you return it if you are not enrolled or were not entitled.

If you have any questions once you have received your education benefit award letter from VA, please contact 1-888-442-4551 (GIBILL-1).

Please click on the link below to acknowledge reading this e-mail. If you do not click on this link, we may telephone you to confirm that you were informed of this information.

LINK OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT  (links disabled)

If you would like to be removed from any future e-mails, please click HERE. (links disabled)

J.D. Power and Associates
2625 Townsgate Road Suite 100
Westlake Village, CA 91361

Yes, you read the headline correctly, in an unprecedented and refreshing admission of guilt, members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee yesterday admitted that in a rush to pass and implement "a complex and difficult benefit" they contributed to the GI Bill payment delays.

Okay, they didn't come right out and say they accepted all the blame, just a share of it. But this is a huge step for the legislative branch and shouldn't slip by unnoticed.

Read Tom Philpott's latest Military Update to get the full story.

Don't Stop There
Although the Post-9/11 GI Bill is a great concept, the complex details and execution plans were ill conceived from the very beginning. With details that make it difficult for even the most seasoned VA representative to explain and/or administrate it is a miracle the VA has done as well as it has.

What congress failed to acknowledge in yesterday's hearing is that in addition to the issues which are causing payment delays, the GI Bill falls well short of many veteran's expectations and the intent of the original 1944 GI Bill concept by excluding distance learning students from getting a housing stipend and excluding vocational and on-the-job training programs. 

It is time to persuade congress to go back and fix the Post-9/11 GI Bill now while tensions are high and before we veterans slip back into pattern of complacency. 

Remember two things when writing to your representatives:
1. Be respectful, harsh language and tirades are easily ignored.
2. Use all means possible, phone, e-mail and snail mail. It is harder to ignore phone calls and snail mail than it is to delete e-mail.

Contact your elected officials today.

So far the biggest glitch in the VA GI Bill Emergency Payment process is that several veterans are finding it hard to cash their GI Bill advance payment checks. In some cases it was a matter of bank policy to hold funds until the check clears. This is further complicated because the checks are handwritten US Bank checks which may have seemed odd to the banks.

At any rate the VA is asking banks to help. In addition the VA is offering a toll-free number for banks to verify the authenticity of the checks. 

See the VA's official letter below:

From VA - The Department of Veterans Affairs is issuing advance educational benefit payments to Veteran-students in the form of US Bank business checks. These emergency checks are issued in amounts not to exceed $3,000 for Veteran-students who have applied for educational benefits and who have not yet received their VA payment. VA's 57 regional offices began issuing these checks to eligible Veteran-students across the country on Friday, October 2, 2009.

VA is soliciting the support of local and national banks to honor and cash these emergency checks written to our Nation's Veteran-students.

In many cases these checks are handwritten and could pose concerns of fraud from banks. Therefore, VA has established the following special customer service call-in numbers for banks to verify the validity of any US Bank check brought to them by a Veteran.

1-800-827-2166

Banks calling these numbers will be connected directly to a VA employee who can access to all necessary information to verify who the check was issued to, the check number and dollar amount of the check, and whether the check was previously cashed or not.

By Terry Howell

Updates and News from Inside the VA
The following information came from one of my sources at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs central office in D.C.

• Nearly $50 Million paid out so far - As of 5PM ET the VA had issued 8,595 checks at the Regional Offices and accepted 7.880 online payment requests.  The total amount of funds disbursed today at the RO's was $25,785,000. The total amount of funds pending for online requests is $23,640,000. Those who processed their requests online will receive payments via snail mail in approximately six business days.
• The highest trafficked ROs at this point are in Washington, D.C., Waco, TX, and Chicago, IL. 
• There have not been any major “SNAFUS.” But, some RO’s around the country are reporting slow lines. 
• The RO staff in D.C. provided pizza for those standing in line at lunch time.  Of course, this is a high-profile RO, so don’t count on a free lunch at your local RO.

Additional Information
The following additional details were added to the VA’s GI Bill Website today:

1. Only one payment is authorized per veteran, up to $3,000. Depending on which GI Bill program in which you are enrolled.
Here is how it breaks down:

• Post-9/11 GI Bill $3,000
• Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty $3,000
• Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve $1,000
• Reserve Education Assistance Program $2,000
• Post Vietnam Era Educational Assistance Programs $1,000

2. You can apply on-line at advancepay.gibill.va.gov or you can go to your nearest VA regional office to receive an advance pay. A list of VA regional offices is available at the Veterans Benefits Administration Website.

Advance payments through the on-line application process will be issued by the U. S. Treasury within 3 workdays (Monday through Friday) following submission of your request. Payments will be in the form of a check sent through the U.S. mail. You should therefore anticipate an additional 3 days (excluding Sundays) for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver your checks.

3. Starting on October 2, regional offices will be open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays for advance payments. Regional offices will also be open on Saturday, October 3, from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. 

Read all the FAQs.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has authorized advance payments up to $3,000 for Veterans who applied for VA educational benefits and who have not yet received their monthly education payments.

If you are a Veteran who has applied for one of VA’s education programs and have not yet received your monthly benefit payment for the Fall 2009 term. Starting Friday October 2^nd, you can request advance payment through this website, advancepay.gibill.va.gov.

Advance payments will be issued by the U. S. Treasury within 3 workdays (Monday through Friday) following submission of this request. Payments will be in the form of a check sent through the U.S. mail. You should therefore anticipate an additional 3 days (excluding Sundays) for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver your check.

You can also visit one of VA’s 57 regional offices across the country to immediately receive an advance payment. You will need to bring a government-issued photo ID and your course schedule when you visit the regional office. A list of VA’s regional offices is available at www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/offices.asp.

Starting on October 2, regional offices will be open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays for advance payments.  Regional offices will also be open on Saturday, October 3, from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. 

The advance payments will be reconciled with future education payments owed to you.

By Terry Howell

In an unprecedented response to the hardships caused by delayed Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments, the VA decided to make emergency payments of up to $3,000 to veterans who are still waiting for their benefits to kick in.

Based on the timing of the VA announcement, it appears the emergency payments are a direct response to an issue surfaced during the VA’s first ‘Bloggers Roundtable’ last week. During the meeting, Assistant VA Secretary Tammy Duckworth and Deputy Director of Education Services, Lynn Nelson were asked what the VA is going to do about the financial hardships veterans are experiencing due to not receiving their benefits. You could have heard a pin drop as neither was able to provide an answer.

But within 24 hours of the blogger event, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs announced the emergency benefit payment plan. The VA was obviously compelled by the blogger’s questions and personalized examples of hardship.

According to the VA press release, eligible students will be able go to one of VA’s 57 regional benefit offices with a photo ID and a course schedule to request advance payment of their housing and book allowance starting Oct. 2, 2009.

Since many students are not located near VA Regional Offices, VA is planning to send representatives to schools with large Veteran-student populations and work with Veteran Service Organizations to help students with transportation needs.

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

As with anything the Federal Government attempts, the emergency payment process will be far from simple. Here are a couple of things to be aware of as the VA works out the payment details:

The VA's willingness to cut emergency payments (advances on benefits) is very encouraging and shows a new direction for VA's relationship with the veteran community.

Check out the Emergency Advance Payment FAQs to learn more.

See what veterans are saying about the effects of the GI Bill benefit delays.

Read the official VA Press Release posted on Military.com.

To help rectify this inequity, Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa) introduced the National Guard Education Equality Act, a bipartisan bill that will help over 30,000 members of the National Guard receive their full education benefits.

“The benefits under the landmark Post 9/11 GI Bill are a reflection of our gratitude to those who have served our country since the 9/11 attacks and will help make this generation of veterans part of our nation’s economic recovery.” said Congressman Loebsack. “Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, over 30,000 members of the National Guard are not receiving the benefits that they have earned. This bill recognizes the service of the Soldiers and Airmen of the National Guard by including all of their active duty service in the calculation of their GI Bill benefits.

Read the full article on Military.com.

Visit the Military.com Legislative Center to contact your elected officials about this important bill.

This Week's Latest GI Bill News

MGIB Rates Increased - The VA released the Montgomery GI Bill payment rates for the 2009-2010 academic year. The rates will be increased by less than 4 percent - growing from $1321 a month for a full time student to $1368 - on October 1, 2009. Not a huge increase, but it is more than it would have been in the past since the increases are now based on the actual tuition and fee increases rather than inflation, which is zero so far in 2009. Students should see the increase in their November MGIB payment.

Updated Post-9/11 Tuition Rates - VA has updated the Tuition and Fee rates. Students attending school in Massachusetts will now get up to $330 per credit hour. This has been increased from $71.

VA Workload Backlog - The VA's backlog of GI Bill "work items," which includes 67,000 unprocessed Post-9/11 GI Bill claims, grew to over 276,000.  Some vets are reporting they have been told to expect up to 20 week delays.

A recent Associated Press article reports that many veterans are beginning to receive their housing stipend checks. (Read the full article) The article also tells of continuing delays. Many personal examples of delays, errors, and successful claims processing can be found in the comments posted on this blog in the last week. Some veterans are now reporting delays in their Montgomery GI Bill claims due to the VA's back log.

Get more than $49,000 a year for school. Request info about GI Bill approved programs from military and veteran-friendly schools and start earning your degree today.

GI Bill Resources:

• VA GI Bill Website (Official VA Resources)
• Military.com Guide to Using Your GI Bill Benefits
• Guide to Choosing the Right GI Bill
• Military.com GI Bill Calculator

Last week's Blog covered news reports warning that a huge backlog of GI Bill "work items," which includes applications and payment claims, is causing a delay in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits of up to 10 weeks. This week the backlog grew nearly 11 percent to over 234,000. To their credit, the VA has processed over 140,000 "work items" overall. In addition, it appears that at least 13,000 veterans will soon begin receiving benefits, if they have not already.

Note: It takes approximately 1.5 hours for VA to process each Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill application.

In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, Post-9/11 GI Bill Applicants Wait for Colleges to Certify Enrollment, Department of Veterans Affairs Director of Education Services, Keith Wilson, responded to the question about delays by suggesting  that school certifying officials were to blame, saying that to date the VA had received only 13,000 certifications from the schools. “We have no control over when a school official will submit that enrollment certificate to us,” added Mr. Wilson.

Needless to say this has triggered an angry response from veteran’s program administrators and school certifying officials nationwide, denying that they are the bottleneck in the process.

Many of the certifying officials interviewed, said they were shocked to read the article and felt they were being stabbed in the back. A school certifying official, who wished to remain unnamed, said “the quote that stressed me is the one where he said they had no control over when a school sent an enrollment in. We have it in writing that we were to hold certifications until July 7, 2009.”

Another certifying official pointed out that there is no logical reason for a school to purposely delay the process, “not only is it bad for the student; it is bad for the school.” He also questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Wilson’s claim of receiving only 13,000 certifications.

Teri Gravenmier, veterans program administrator for the University of Alaska Anchorage, addressed Mr. Wilson’s assertion by explaining that in addition to other duties – including providing counseling and support for veteran students – “school certifying officials must verify not only that the student is qualified and how many credits they are registered for, but also that the coursework applies to their degree plan.” By comparison, “VA processors have one task to perform - process Chapter 33 [Post-9/11 GI Bill] applications,” Gravenmier points out.

Since early August, school certifying officials have been reporting serious payment errors made by the VA, including underpayments made because the VA failed to update their own database when the rates increased in August, duplicate tuition and fees payments, payments sent to the wrong schools, and payments made without supporting data including the student names. School officials have been told by the VA that they would not make any corrections to the payment issues until “Phase 3,” slated begin sometime in October.

Many of these errors and delays are easily attributed to a newly hired, inexperienced VA workforce, an understandable learning curve, lack of technical support systems, complicated requirements, and a huge flood of claims. But, many find it unfair for the VA to blame the schools for delays while they continue to have issues that still need to be addressed at the VA level.