VA Benefits help qualifying Veterans and their family members get money to cover all or some of the costs for school or training.
VA Benefits
Chapter 33 – Post 9-11
If you’ve served on active duty after September 10, 2001, you may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33). » More info on eligibility
The Edith Nourse Rogers Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) Scholarship allows eligible Veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill® or dependents using the Fry Scholarship to get added benefits. This scholarship provides up to 9 months (or $30,000) of benefits for training in high-demand fields. » More info on eligibility
Chapter 35 – Dependent Education Assistance (DEA)
If you’re the child or spouse of a Veteran or service member who has died, is captured or missing, or is 100% totally and permanently disabled, you may be able to get help paying for school or job training through the DEA program—also called Chapter 35. » more info on eligibility
Chapter 30 – Montgomery GI Bill®
If you served at least 2 years on active duty, find out if you qualify for benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill® Active Duty program. » more info on eligibility
Chapter 1606 – Reserve
If you’re a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, or Air National Guard, find out if you qualify for education benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill® Selected Reserve program. » more info on eligibility
Online ONLY Students
Online Degrees and Online Certificate Programs
UT San Antonio’s Online ONLY degree and certificate programs are designed to be completely online and taught in an asynchronous format. The programs will not have any courses or requirement that must be completed in person.
For more information, please see UT San Antonio Online Learning
Program Eligibility
Students are allowed to apply their VA Benefits to Online ONLY degree programs if the program is listed on WEAMS.
*Hazlewood cannot be applied to Online Only degree programs
Census Date
Keep in mind if you have not made payment arrangements (ex: being certified for CH 33 or CH 31, financial aid, tuition payments, etc.) you run the risk of being dropped from your courses on that term’s census date. If you plan to use Chapter 33 to pay for your tuition and fees, you need to submit your Certification Request Form to the CMAS Document Uploader 30 business days before the start of the term.
- See Priority Deadlines
- B5 payment deadlines are sooner than other terms
Online Pay Rates
For Online ONLY students using Chapter 33 and sometimes Chapter 31, their stipends will reflect half of the national average due to their Online ONLY status. Additionally, monthly stipends (MHA) amounts are still paid in accordance with the student’s rate of pursuit.
For more information see VA Education Benefit Pay Rates
VA Benefits Certification Process
Veterans and family members who are enrolled at UT San Antonio and would like to use GI Bill® benefits, please follow the following steps:
Apply for your Benefits with VA Office
The first step is to submit your application with the VA office. The va.gov website will guide you to the correct education benefits form but as a quick guide, the following forms is what will need to be submitted.
– VA Form 22-1990 (Service Members and Veterans)
– VA Form 22-1990E (Dependents using transferred CH33)
– VA Form 22-5490 (Dependents using CH35)After the VA receives your application, they will review it and determine your eligibility for the benefit for which you applied. The VA will then mail you a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) detailing your eligibility (usually within 6-8 weeks).
Once you have a COE you can access information regarding your remaining benefits through the VA “submit a question” site at https://ask.va.gov/.
Send Official Copy of Military Transcripts
Veterans using the GI Bill®, a copy of your military transcripts will need to be sent to UT San Antonio Admissions for evaluation. Family members can skip this step.
- Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard:
https://jst.doded.mil/official.html - Air Force:
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/
- Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard:
Register for Classes
Before students can be certified, they must be enrolled. Register for classes when registration opens through your myUTSA Account. Please note, Veterans (not including family members) who are using federal and/or state education benefits at UT San Antonio are eligible for priority registration.
Request Certification
Once steps 1-3 are complete, submit the following documents to our office through the document uploader:
- Certificate of Eligibility (COE) see step 1
- Certification request Form
Please note, if you change majors or catalogs, you must let our office know. The VA will NOT certify courses that are not listed on your degree plan. Additionally, if you make any changes to your courses after you have submitted your certification request form, our office will report the change after the census date.
Once all documents are submitted, our certifying officials will review your request and verify your courses are on your approved degree plan.
Receiving your Benefits
Our certifying officials may take 15-30 business days to complete processing your certification request, once your completed paperwork is received. Any late fees assessed for the current semester should be removed from your bill 1-2 business days after your certification has been completed by a certifying official.
We initially certify the number of credit hours you are enrolled in so that the VA can set up any allowances associated with your benefit for the semester that you have applied for.
We send the tuition and fee bill for chapter 33 students to the VA after census date (10th class day) in fall and spring, and after July 15th for all summer terms. The VA can take up to 30 days to remit payment to UT San Antonio.
Chapter 33 students will continue to see a balance on their account, but will not be dropped or charged late fees (from the time the completed certification request is received) pending payment from the VA.
Only Chapter 33 covers tuition and fees (at the approved benefit percentage level). If the VA does not remit payment to UT San Antonio for tuition and fees, or sends a lesser amount, the student will be responsible for paying the balance.
Verify Enrollment
If you are using Post 9/11 GI Bill ® or Montgomery GI Bill ® you will need to verify your enrollment with the VA while using your benefits
Submit a FAFSA
Although you might be receiving benefits, we encourage everyone to fill out a FAFSA, even if you think you are not eligible for additional aid. FAFSA information is often used to determine eligibility for scholarships and used to determine eligibility for certain types of emergency aid. Please note scholarships that are “tuition specific” will reduce the amount of tuition covered by Chapter 33 benefits.
VA Approved Courses
Enrollment Requirements
It’s important to understand that the way military education benefits count enrollment hours is slightly different than just looking at the exact number of credits you register for. It’s not a direct one-to-one relationship. Two factors can alter what your total enrollment hours are for military education benefit purposes:
- Courses you enroll in that are not part of your Program of Study
- Courses you repeated too many times
Military education benefit coverage may differ from financial aid regulations, and some courses that are eligible for coverage under specific benefits may not be eligible under other benefits or under financial aid.
Enrollment Status and Benefit Proration
To receive the max amount of military education benefit stipends, you need to be enrolled full-time in courses that are part of your program of study and are eligible for military education benefits. If you are not full-time, applicable stipend payments will be prorated for a given term.
Undergraduate Rate of Pursuit and Graduate Rate of Pursuit
Post 9/11 GI Bill students will not receive monthly housing allowance through their benefits if they are still active duty. Rate of pursuit including online modality may impact monthly housing allowance payments.
More Info:
Program of Study
A Program of Study is the list of predefined courses/credits you must successfully complete in order to earn your degree in the major/program you’ve declared. You may also see it referred to as a “course Program of Study” (CPOS) or degree plan.
How can I view my Program of Study?
You can view your Program of Study on DegreeWorks. Some tips for using DegreeWorks when registering for courses:
- Look at your DegreeWorks plan before you register to know what courses you need to register for.
- After registering for a course, check DegreeWorks to make sure it does not fall in the “Extra Course” section. If it does show up there, and if you truly need that course, you must see an academic advisor to have that course count towards your Program of Study. Academic advisors can email [email protected] to inform our office if a course is approved for your Program of Study, but is not reflecting as approved on your DegreeWorks yet.
- If our office finds that you are registered for course that are not a part of your Program of Study and cannot be covered by your benefits we will process your certification for courses that can be covered by your benefits, and notify you by email of what cannot be covered.
For military education benefits ROTC courses, honors courses, dual degrees, and minors will be considered as a part of the Program of Study and will be certified even if they do not apply as an elective course.
Exploratory Students
Exploratory students or students who choose to change their major should be mindful of the courses they register for early on because military education benefit eligibility is impacted by the Program of Study you are pursing to earn a degree in. Students utilizing VA Education benefits may only take courses as an undeclared or exploratory student for up to two semesters, and the courses must be core curriculum courses. We recommend you meet with your Academic Advisor to discuss your education and career goals to find the best fit major as early as possible to avoid impacts to their financial aid.
Pre-requisite Courses
Students who need to take a course that is a prerequisite to attend Graduate or Professional School (i.e., medical school) can take these courses as long as they have an available “free elective” slot in their Program of Study. Courses may require additional advisor approval if they are not listed in a required section of the Program of Study.
Last Semester Before Graduation
Students can “round out” a schedule with non-required (additional) courses to bring their course load up to a full-time schedule during their final term only. This allows beneficiaries to continue to receive benefits at the full-time rate in their final term of enrollment, even though fewer credits are required to complete the program. Students may only “round out” in their last term if they are taking classes included within their Program of Study. “Included within” a program of education means the program requires the beneficiary to select from other courses, which fall within their degree program, to obtain a full-time enrollment status during their last term leading up to graduation.
Repeated Coursework
You cannot receive VA benefits for taking a previously passed course. Courses may be repeated if you have not earned a passing grade previously, however third repeat enrollment charges and excessive credit hour fees will not be covered. There is no limitation on how many times a course without a passing grade can be repeated under military education benefits, but students should be aware of extra fees and academic requirements. Students may contact their academic advisor on how to apply for waivers for any charges not covered under benefits such as third repeat fees and excessive 30/45 credit limitation hour fees.
Census Date Policy
- The VMA Census Date Policy complies with the Public Law that went into effect August 1, 2021 (PL 116-315 Section 1010, Isakson and Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020). For chapter 33 beneficiaries, schools are required to submit both an original enrollment certification and a second enrollment verification to ensure the beneficiary is progressing in their training. Schools are required to submit an initial enrollment certification for each beneficiary, and a subsequent enrollment certification (verification) after the school’s drop-add period.
- Summer terms will be billed after the last UT San Antonio census date during the summer semester. Please reference the Summer Academic Calendar for the term needed for additional information.
- A hold will be placed on the student account after the initial certification. This will prevent the student from being dropped for non-payment and be exempted from any late fees across the UT San Antonio payment deadlines while awaiting the tuition and fee payment from the VA.
- Registration should still be available during the student’s registration window, as long as no outstanding debt is owed from past semesters.
- If eligible, the monthly housing allowance (MHA) from the VA should be issued as normal while awaiting payment from the VA.
- An automated email will be sent to the student’s UT San Antonio email address confirming the initial certification was submitted. A second automated email will be sent verifying tuition and fees have been requested from the VA for payment to the university.
- The Hazlewood Exemption will be reflected on the account when the payment from the VA is posted for students using partial or exhausting their Chapter 33 benefit while utilizing the Hazlewood Exemption concurrently.
- Students who receive scholarships, grants, or any type of financial aid will not receive a refund until the payment from the VA is posted to the student account, unless otherwise indicated.
For more information on the GI Bill® Certification process, visit our YouTube channel!
