President Franklin D. Roosevelt was determined to do better for veterans returning from World War II. He also wanted to expand the middle class and help prevent economic turmoil. Congress tossed around various ideas, but they limited benefits to veterans who met specific criteria such as income. Colmery, who proposed extending benefits to all World War II veterans, male or female. His proposal became the first draft of the GI Bill. The bill went to Congress in January as the war still raged along the European and Pacific fronts.
It was hotly debated in both Congressional houses but finally approved in mid-June. As a result, almost 49 percent of college admissions in were veterans. The GI Bill opened the door of higher education to the working class in a way never done before.
Job counseling was also available. The government guaranteed loans for veterans who borrowed money to purchase a home, business or farm. Medical care for veterans was also provided in the GI Bill. Additional hospitals were established for veterans and the Veterans Administration took over all veteran-related concerns. By , almost 10 million veterans had received GI Bill benefits. Although the GI Bill extended benefits to all veterans regardless of gender or race, it was easier for some people to collect than others.
In many cases, benefits were administered by an all-white Veterans Administration at the state and local level. Searches are limited to 50 characters. Please do not share any personally identifiable information PII , including, but not limited to: your name, address, phone number, email address, Social Security number, account information, or any other information of a sensitive nature.
Skip to main content. Student loans. How much GI Bill benefit you qualify for? If you qualify, apply for VA education and training benefits online, in person, or request an application over the phone.
Ask VA - Get an answer in four to five working days. This contact method is available worldwide 24 hours a day, seven days a week. See our webinar page for more information and to register. See our letter dated July 1, , explaining the direct deposit requirement for foreign institutions to maintain program approval or participate in VA GI Bill.
There are two options that are outlined in the letter. Once you have completed one of the options, you will then be required to provide account information to VA.
Questions can be directed to federal. From now to July 31, , we are accepting new Yellow Ribbon Program agreements from foreign institutions for academic year VA will begin receiving applications for the academic year, during the next open application period, in May Institutions interested in participating in the program may apply at that time.
Supervisory visits allow the SAA to ensure facilities and their programs of education are in compliance with law, regulations, guidance, and policy advisories through a review of the approval requirements and student records.
The visits may include interviews with faculty and students; a review of GI Bill participant files for attendance, transfer credit, student transcripts, and enrollment status; a review of correspondence with the VA and SAA to ensure currency; a review of state licensure or accreditation for currency; a review of advertising materials; a review of distance learning policies and programs; a review of instructor qualifications and evaluations; and a review of the adequacy of facility resources.
Some SAAs have indicated that supervisory visits serve the valuable purpose of "fulfill[ing] the SAA's historic role of providing training and supervision to facilities on broader education issues. Compliance surveys are designed to ensure that each facility and its approved programs are in compliance with all applicable statutory, regulatory, and policy provisions and that the facility understands the provisions.
Prior to and enactment of P. Statutory provisions establish the nature and targeting of compliance surveys. The Secretary may waive the requirement based on an institution's demonstrated record of compliance. Some evidence suggests that the VA, with the assistance of SAAs, has insufficient resources to complete the requisite surveys. On-site compliance surveys are preferable; however, some may be conducted remotely. VA policy indicates that the two primary purposes of compliance survey visits are.
The policy of the VA is to establish annual priorities in order to conduct compliance surveys of higher risk programs, institutions, and establishments.
Besides selecting the facilities, the VA also determines the number of student files that will be reviewed at each facility during the compliance survey based on the GI Bill participant population.
The SAAs review the VA database to select the requisite number of students and may select a representative sample that is not duplicative of prior year surveys. The recent certification history of each selected student's enrollment, entrance, reentrance, change in hours of credit or attendance, pursuit, and interruption and termination of attendance as recorded in the database are noted. During the on-site visit, the SAA will compare the facility's student files to the students' VA enrollment and certification history to verify that GI Bill payments have been made properly and that the institution is following the approval standards and published policies.
The facility's student files include, as appropriate, transcripts, prior credit evaluations, financial accounts of charges and refunds, courses taken, attendance records, circumstances for withdrawal, relevant VA forms, student aid received, academic progress, and other pertinent records.
In addition to reviewing student records, compliance surveys also include student interviews as applicable , various verifications, and a review of additional documents and areas outlined on the compliance survey checklist. The review may also include a classroom visit, if appropriate. Some statutory standards such as those related to curriculum quality and faculty qualifications are not reflected on the compliance checklist. Initial survey results, including discrepancies, are shared with the facility prior to the end of the visit, and any discrepancies that may be addressed easily are resolved immediately.
Following the compliance survey, the compliance survey report and any referrals are shared with the facility, SAA, and ELR. Referrals are discrepancies discovered during the review of student files that may create a student or school GI Bill debt or payment.
Follow-up and corrective action will be initiated by the SAA if required. Although compliance surveys are more focused on proper administration and controls of federal funds than supervisory visits, there are concerns with their implementation.
One concern suggested by the VA is that its capabilities in uncovering educational and financial noncompliance may not be strong. The two approaches may also require different skill sets and training that are not currently optimized. For example as of December 30, , seventy-nine risk-based program reviews had been conducted based on complaints submitted through its GI Bill Feedback System.
CCI filed with the U. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC indicating fiscal instability and an intention to sell or close some of its institutions and to "teach out" students currently enrolled in their programs, the VA requested that all SAAs review CCI facilities in their state.
Statutory provisions authorize the VA or SAAs to immediately disapprove any program of education that does not meet the approval criteria. In practice, the SAAs fulfill the initial responsibility of suspending or disapproving a program of education.
SAAs, or the VA acting in capacity of an SAA, may determine that the facility or program is not in compliance with the law or regulations during a compliance survey, supervisory visit, or other interaction. SAAs indicate that interactions other than compliance surveys are more likely to uncover compliance issues. Additionally, the SAA may suspend a program of education from new enrollments of GI Bill recipients for up to 60 days if it fails to meet any of the approval requirements.
Any suspension or disapproval by the SAA will be communicated through a registered or certified letter with return receipt to the facility and through written notice to the ELR. The VA has indicated, however, that it does not have the legal authority to override an SAA decision on approval, suspension, or withdrawal.
Facilities that disagree with an SAA suspension or disapproval decision have some recourse. Although statutory provisions do not require that the SAA permit an appeal, some SAAs allow facilities to appeal to their parent agency e. ITT in After disapproval, the facility may apply for initial program approval after a reasonable time period. If the VA finds that a facility has willfully submitted a false or misleading claim, or that an individual, with the complicity of a facility, has submitted such a claim, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate SAA and, as appropriate, the Attorney General of the United States.
Executive Order , Establishing Principles of Excellence for Educational Institutions Serving Service Members, Veterans, Spouses, and Other Family Members, signed April 27, , was intended to help veterans and servicemembers and their families pursue a high-quality education and make more informed decisions about their VA and Department of Defense DOD educational assistance benefits.
The Executive Order provides a designation for educational institutions to distinguish themselves as an informative, supportive, and protective environment for veterans and servicemembers and their families and requires the VA to strengthen enforcement and compliance.
These roles are described below. The Executive Order encourages educational institutions receiving veterans and military educational benefits, to the extent permitted by law, to abide by the Principles of Excellence. Schools that agree to abide by the principles may be perceived by veterans and servicemembers and their families as providing a more supportive environment compared to other institutions and thus may experience higher enrollments.
The principles encourage educational institutions to. As of FY for those institutions that voluntarily agree to abide by the principles, the SAA will review their voluntary compliance during any initial approval, compliance visit, or other visit. The VA also reviews institutions' voluntary compliance during compliance surveys that it conducts and takes action, as required.
Among the efforts to strengthen compliance mechanisms, the Executive Order required the VA to use the SAAs to improve information sharing among educational stakeholders that oversee institutional and program quality. Specifically the VA was required to institute uniform procedures for receiving and processing complaints across SAAs; provide a coordinated mechanism across SAAs to alert the VA to any complaints that have been registered at the state level; and create procedures for sharing information about complaints with the appropriate state officials, accrediting agency representatives, and the Secretary of Education.
The VA was also tasked with establishing procedures for targeted risk-based program reviews of institutions to ensure compliance with the Principles. SAA personnel must meet the qualification standards established in the contract with the VA.
However, there are several opportunities for new and continuing SAA employees to receive training on their responsibilities. The SAAs indicate that new employees benefit from mentoring and job shadowing.
Contractually, the only training required of SAA employees is the annual privacy and information security awareness training required of federal employees. Ongoing professional development is offered to SAA employees through several options. The VA also holds regional conferences throughout the year. They provide refresher and update training to experienced and new SCOs. SCOs at smaller schools and schools with few GI Bill participants are less likely to attend formal training and thus often require additional in-person training.
The GAO report indicated that facilities value the training provided by SAAs because it ensures proper administration of GI Bill benefits and, by extension, timely payments. Outreach is an "activity designed to promote increased participation and utilization by eligible [individuals] of VA or [DOD] educational assistance programs" and includes any activity, which encourages facilities to obtain approval of programs for GI Bill purposes.
SAAs are generally tasked, in conjunction with the VA and also independently, to conduct outreach programs and provide outreach services to eligible persons and veterans about federal and state veterans' education and training benefits. For example, the SAA may brief transitioning servicemembers about GI Bill benefits during DOD sponsored events, attend events sponsored by educational institutions, and participate in community or employment fairs. SAAs are in a unique position to counsel veterans and their families on the use of GI Bill benefits in area facilities.
The VA and SAAs are required, in accordance with statutory provisions, to actively promote the development and use of apprenticeship and on-the-job training programs. Such efforts utilize the services of disabled veterans' outreach program DVOP personnel.
DVOP is part of the Department of Labor's DOL's Jobs for Veterans State Grants JVSG program, which provides formula grants to states to hire staff to provide a range of intensive services to veterans with service-connected disabilities as well as other veterans with multiple barriers to employment.
SAAs are required to meet biennially with the Local Veterans Employment Representatives LVERs or the equivalent to ensure that students who have graduated are aware of employment resources and opportunities. LVERs are state employees located in state employment offices who conduct outreach to employers on behalf of veterans and facilitate employment, training, and placement services through the state workforce system.
The VA holds SAAs accountable for fulfilling their contractual obligations through regular reporting, annual evaluation, contract monitoring, and the reimbursement of expenses. The contract specifies that SAAs must. The contract terms are the same for each SAA except that the types of programs for which an SAA is responsible, the funding allocation, business plan, and the number of required compliance surveys may differ.
The number of required compliance visits is proportional to the number of full-time equivalent professional SAA staff. The state determines the number of personnel required to fulfill the contract obligations. The contract includes a business plan and performance measures with targets for each activity and subactivity. The business plan comprises the SAA's goals, which are based on the performance standards.
The performance measures and targets focus on the percentage of required activities completed within specified time periods and are consistent across SAAs. SAAs are required to submit monthly or quarterly reports to the VA on their activities, including services performed and decisions made regarding programs of education. The evaluation is based on the contract terms. The evaluation begins with a self-evaluation allowing the SAA to describe actual personnel utilization, activities completed, outstanding activities, effective practices, resources used, and the degree to which it achieved its performance standards and business plan.
Although SAAs are state agencies or organizations and the employees are state employees, the VA pays the "reasonable and necessary expenses" required for the SAA to fulfill its contractual obligations and as specified in the contractual agreement.
NASAA has requested additional funds to offset increased SAA responsibilities of approval, outreach and marketing, and technical assistance.
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