Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018

Pursuant to the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018, section 3679 of title 38, United States Code, effective August 1, 2019, IU East will not impose any penalty, including the assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities, or the requirement that a covered individual borrow additional funds, on any covered individual because of the individual’s inability to meet his or her financial obligations to the institution, when the delay is due to the delayed disbursement funding from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under Post 9/11 G.I. Bill® (Ch. 33) or Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Ch. 31).

The University will not:

• Prevent their enrollment;
• Assess a late penalty fee to;
• Require they secure alternative or additional funding;
• Deny their access to any resources (access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities) available to other students who have satisfied their tuition and fee bills to the institution.

Covered Individuals MUST submit the following information to the OVMP in a timely manner:

• Their Certificate of Eligibility OR Statement of Benefits (obtained from the eBenefits website),
• The GI Bill Enrollment Certification, and
• Any other information necessary to their GI Bill certification.

NOTE: A Covered Individual is any individual who is entitled to educational assistance under chapter 31, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, or chapter 33, Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

Use Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits

Before we can use your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, we need to certify that you're eligible for them. To initiate the certification process, a student should submit the following documentation to the VA Certifying Official in the Office of Financial Aid:

• A copy of the official “Certificate of Eligibility” (COE) to establish the student’s unique level of eligibility and the start date of benefits. This document is kept as part of your student record.
• A completed “Veteran Request for Enrollment Certification” form is required to formally signify a student’s intent to use Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for a specified academic term. Students must file a new form for every term in which Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits should be used.

Once the VA Certifying Official has processed your request for enrollment certification, they will provide your information to the Office of the Bursar, who will place an “Estimated Post-9/11 GI Bill Credit” on your account. This credit serves as a placeholder for the payment the Veterans Administration (VA) will eventually disburse to the university.

The Office of the Bursar uses the estimated credit to ensure that you’re not penalized for outstanding balances that will likely be satisfied by your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. The estimated credit process also ensures that any refundable items such as Pell Grants or student loans are disbursed to you in a timely manner.

In most cases, the estimated credit on your account will mirror the payment received from the VA. However, if the estimated credit doesn’t match the payment exactly, the adjustment may create a new balance on your account. In the event that an adjustment is made, the university will contact you via email.

Situations that can cause discrepancies between estimated credit and actual payment

The most common issues that require a credit adjustment are:

• The VA frequently prorates Post-9/11 GI Bill payments due to schedule adjustments after the start of a term. If you add or withdraw from a course after the term starts, it may affect your eligibility.
• Some state-based aid (such as the Frank O’Bannon Grant and the 21st Century Scholars Program) and other military-based financial aid directly affect your Post-9/11 GI Bill payment. Changes to any of these items can lead to Post-9/11 GI Bill payment adjustments
• You may receive prorated payments due to the exhaustion of entitlements.
• Entitlement eligibility errors can cause issues with the benefit estimation process.

Learn more about the Post-9/11 GI Bill

Return of Unearned TA Funds

Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded. To comply with the Department of Defense policy, Indiana University will return any unearned TA funds on a proportional basis through the 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based upon when a student stops attending. The return of TA funds may result in a past due balance to the university, which will restrict service such as access to official transcripts and future registration. If a service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, Indiana University will work with the affected service member to identify solutions that will not result in a student debt for the returned portion.