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
UTSA’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 UTSA 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 UTSA 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 UTSA 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 UTSA 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 UTSA.
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 UTSA 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.
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 UTSA 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 UTSA 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 UTSA 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!
