Education and Training

Question 1: What is the timeline for getting approved as a Work Study Site? 

Answer: On average, worksite approval can take up to 7-10 days from the application submission date.  

Question 2: I'm a new School Certifying Official (SCO). How can I find out if we are a Work Study site? 

Answer: If you are unsure if you have Work Study Worksite approval, you may check with your facility's leadership. You may also submit an Ask a Question inquiry on this matter. Please choose Category Education and Topic Work Study when submitting to ensure the inquiry goes to the correct place. Please provide your educational facility information with your question. 

Question 3: How do we ensure that these emails are being sent to the correct person? I submitted a timecard, and I am the site supervisor, but we have several site supervisors, and the email came to another site supervisor who isn't supervising this particular work study. 

Answer: We have been working with our staff to ensure that contracts and time records are sent to the Site Supervisor that submitted the application or extension request.  

Question 4: Can we get an email when responses are added on the inquiry? Can we get a list of worksites? Can the Veterans Affairs (VA) Student get additional hours if worked 30 days prior to enrollment? 

Answer: Currently, the system generates an email notification alerting to responses provided by VA. You may request a list of active approved Work Study worksites within your area through Ask VA. 

 Contract hours are awarded based on the student’s qualifying enrollment period. By law, the student receives 25 hours times the number of weeks in the qualifying enrollment period (prorated for partial weeks) for their contract approval. The student may be permitted to work up to 30 days before their qualifying enrollment begins; however, no additional contract hours may be awarded for the 30 days prior to enrollment.  

Question 5: Does a supervisor need to be an SCO or just a staff member? 

Answer: Site Supervisors must be a full-time employee of the worksite.  

Question 6: Can a Veteran work at two separate Veterans Work Study site? 

Answer: A Veteran would not be able to work at two separate Work Study worksites. A contract would be approved for one work site and a student may not be approved for multiple Work Study contracts at any given time.

Question 7: Is there a limit of work study students allowed? I was told only one was allowed. 

Answer: Worksite approvals include approval hours for the work site. The worksite may utilize their approved number of hours for the worksite as needed. There is not a set limit for number of students.  

Question 8: If my facility has two supervisors, can either supervisor see the submitted work study logs or can only the submitting supervisor see what they submitted only? 

Answer: Only the submitter would have access to review the Ask VA inquiry and the responses from VA. VA suggests that you keep a shared spreadsheet or shared log with student Ask VA inquiries and what was requested. If you are out of the office, another approved site supervisor could contact our Work Study hotline with the Ask VA reference number to obtain any necessary information.  

Question 9: How can we get the policy changed to allow Veterans to perform academic tutoring as a Veteran work study?

Answer: Currently, the law does not permit academic tutoring as an approved Work Study task or duty. Congress would have to update the law to include this duty.  

Question 10: If VA already paid the incorrect tuition and fees based on our certification error, would we still increase with the original tuition and fees and then reduce accordingly? 

Answer: Yes, If the student’s enrollment has changed, the School Certifying Official must submit an amended certification providing the tuition and fees based on the original certified number of credits before submitting the amended certification for the change in credit hours. 

Question 11: If a student forgets to request the use of their benefits and we process their certification after the 30-day deadline, will the VA not payout tuition and fees (T&Fs)? Our college does not submit enrollment to the VA without the student’s permission.  

Answer: VA is mandated by law to pay tuition and fees for Chapter 33-Post 9/11 certifications. If your school has deadlines students must meet for their certifications, please maintain documentation of communication with the student showing why VA reporting timeliness was not met.  

Question 12: We have always submitted enrollment reductions or terminations made prior to or within the drop period as “prior to the start of the term.” Based on this training any reductions or terminations made during the drop period must be submitted as “during drop period” and have tuition and fees attached? 

Answer: Changes in enrollment must be accurately submitted based on the student’s actions.  

If a reduction or termination is made prior to the start of the term it should be submitted as such. However, reductions or terminations occurring within the drop-add period must be reported as during the drop period and the effective date of the enrollment change provided, as VA pays tuition and fees for the pursuit of a course.  

Note: Before submitting a reduction during the drop-add period, you must first amend the certification and provide the Tuition & Fees based on the original enrollment if dual certification was used.  

Question 13: For a student who drops a course within the 100% drop period and there is no tuition charged for a student, but then according to the law VA needs to pay for those days of tuition in which the student was enrolled. Chapter 33 is not refundable to a student so where are these funds supposed to be allocated? 

Answer: School Certifying Officials (SCO) must submit the tuition and fees associated with the initial enrollment certified. If the student reduces their credit load during the drop/add period, the SCO must still report the original tuition and fees, before amending the students credit load and submitting the associated tuition and fees for the amended enrollment.  

If these amended certifications result in an overage on the student’s account, the school must follow its refund policy to refund the student.  

Question 14: In the instructor’s presentation, it was mentioned that no deductions should be made to tuition and fees for non-Chapter 33 students. Does that include last-dollar scholarships? 

Answer: We’re not familiar with the term ‘last-dollar scholarship. That said, the amount of tuition and fees charged to similarly circumstanced non-VA students should be certified. In other words, report the tuition and mandatory fees regularly charged to all students.   

The ‘last payer’ requirement of Digital GI Bill (DGIB) does not apply to other VA education benefits.  

Question 15: For the initial certification, we should include tuition if it is known regardless of if it is before the add/drop date? 

Answer: It is up to the SCO if they wish to submit the tuition and fees (T&Fs) on the initial certification, or utilize dual certification and submit the initial certification with zero T&F.    

If T&F are submitted on the original certification, the SCO must remember to submit an amended unchanged certification after the add-drop period to satisfy the required second 1010 verification certification.  

Question 16: Our school requires students using VA benefits to submit a Request for Certification of VA Benefits each semester to authorize us to certify their benefits. Sometimes students don't submit this form until later in the semester and we do not certify them unless the student informs us to do so by submitting the form. Are we ok with doing this?  

Answer: Yes, if this is a published requirement at your school. You must ensure that you keep documentation, such as emails and other communications with the student, to substantiate why the certification was submitted more than 30 days after the start of the term. 

Question 17: There is a Veterans Affairs (VA) remark that states "2nd certification submission only." Is this still required to be selected? Or just submit without it. 

Answer: Please submit without this remark, it isn’t necessary for processing. 

Answer: Dual certification is the act of submitting $0 tuition and fees (T&F) on an initial certification and then amending the certification to report T&F after the drop/add period. Dual certification is optional. Submitting a second 1010 (verification) certification is not optional.  

Entitlement is calculated differently at Non-College Degree (NCD) schools than at institutions of higher learning (IHL). If an NCD school submits an initial certification with $0 T&F, entitlement is calculated based on the student’s Rate of Pursuit (i.e., a student enrolled for 4 months at full-time is charged 4 months entitlement). When the T&F are then submitted on an amended certification, entitlement is recalculated based on the T&F paid vs the academic year cap (i.e. Cap/360 days = 1 day of entitlement). 

So, while standalone NCD schools can initially certify with $0 T&F, they should make students aware that they will not know their correct entitlement charge until the SCO submits the T&F and entitlement is properly calculated based on the T&F paid. 

Question 19: If there are no changes to Chapter 33 enrollment information for resident physicians, who are employees not students and just receive housing allowance, do we still have to submit an amendment?  

Answer: There is no waiver for submitting a 2^nd 1010 submission. The SCO in this scenario will still need to amend the enrollment and submit within the appropriate time frames to meet this reporting requirement.  

Question 20: Our school just changed the last day of the term from December 12th to the 11th. Will I need to amend all the students I certified? 

Answer:  Yes. 

Question 21: Is there a way to submit the decreases in units with tuition and fees without doing three amendments?

Answer: If three decreases occurred on the same day, they may be submitted as one. Otherwise, VA calculates monthly housing using the dates the student was in pursuit. Therefore, three amendments must be reported with the school’s documented enrollment change dates.   

If you are referring to initially certifying with $0 Tuition and Fees (T&Fs), amending to submit the T&F based on the initial hours and then submitting a subsequent amended certification to report a decrease, then three actions are required. Only two actions are required if you submit the initial certification with T&F.  

Question 22: Often students are transitioning from benefits, for example from Chapter 33 to Veterans Readiness and Employment (VRE), and they choose to wait, or they advise the SCO to wait to certify to avoid issues. Is this a compliance issue related to "timeliness" of certifications? 

Answer: If a student has requested that you not certify, or delay certification, you must ensure that you keep documentation, such as emails and other communications with the student, to substantiate why the certification was submitted more than 30 days after the start of the term. 

Question 23: This is a statement. If we are required to complete two certifications per student per term, then Veterans Affairs (VA) must not put back on SCOs to "trick" the system when putting in $0 for first enrollment and having student change credits (w/o changing tuition/fees). This is a VA fix that must be changed and stop putting busy work back on the SCOs. 

Answer: Dual certification (submitting the initial with $0.00) is optional. However, the law requires that you submit a 2nd 1010 (verification) amendment. 

Question 24: Will the videos be added to the YouTube playlist? 

Answer: Yes, they will be added to the National Training Team-Schools playlist. 

Question 25: Making sure I heard correctly, programs that are in clock hours don't have to do dual certification? We are an accredited Non-College Degree (NCD) that uses clock hours and I've been doing dual certifications for years. 

Answer:  Dual certification is the act of submitting $0 tuition and fee (T&F) on an initial certification and then amending the cert to report T&F after the drop/add period. Dual certification is optional. Submitting a second 1010 (verification) certification is not optional.     

Keep in mind however, entitlement is calculated differently at NCD schools than at institutions of higher learning (IHLs). If an NCD school submits an initial certification with $0 T&F, entitlement is calculated based on the student’s Rate of Pursuit (i.e., a student enrolled for 4 months at full-time is charged 4 months entitlement). When the T&F are then submitted on an amended certification, entitlement is recalculated based on the T&F paid vs the academic year cap (i.e. Cap/360 days = 1 day of entitlement).     

So, while standalone NCD schools can initially certify with $0 T&F, they should make students aware that they will not know their correct entitlement charge until the SCO submits the T&F and entitlement is properly calculated based on the T&F paid. 

Question 26: What is the work-around for students, particularly Chapter 35 students, who always forget to submit the request to certify and come back after the term? I have Chapter 35 students now asking for certifications for 22 and 23. 

Answer: School Certifying Officials (SCOs) should document their communication with the student when certifying deadlines are not met. However, you should always retroactively certify a student if they request, and VA will determine what is payable.    

Chapter 35 students in particular, may have only recently been determined to be retroactively eligible for the benefit, based on award actions on the Veteran’s disability claim.  

Question 27: Due to changes in School Certifying Officials, we had an eligible new hire overlooked for the On-the-job Training (OJT) Program. Now I have them asking if they can apply over a year after they would have graduated the program. Would they still be eligible to apply and I back date it for the entire time? 

Answer: Generally, Veterans Affairs (VA) can only retroactively pay benefits one year from the date we receive the VA beneficiary’s application. You should certify the trainee’s full program and VA will determine if benefits are payable. However, you may wish to wait to submit monthly hours worked until VA determines whether or not benefits can be paid. 

Question 28: During the summer of COVID, our school was paid tuition for a student who couldn't stay any longer, so he left before the term started. I've tried every which way to give Veterans Affairs (VA) that money back with no success. I also read we are not to refund students. Can I send the student that money then? 

Answer:  Please reach out to the national training team and provide additional information, including identifying information for the student so we can look into your issue. Please use the following email address to contact the National Training Team-Schools: EDUTRAINING.VBACO@va.gov   

Question 29: If we require the student to submit a “semester form” to request benefits, does that allow for having it submitted within 30 days from receipt of the form even if the student submits their semester form beyond 30 days of the start of the term?

Answer: Enrollment Manager (EM) allows certifications up to 180 days before the term begins for Post 9/11 students. Schools should submit certifications as early as possible to ensure students receive their benefit payments in a timely manner, but certifications must be submitted no later than 30 days after the beginning of the term. If a school requires proof of eligibility, the 30-day requirement applies once the student’s Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is received. 

Question 30: Do you now need to wait until the next day to submit the amendment for 2nd certification, or is it more than 10 minutes? 

Answer: Timelines for submitting the 2^nd certification are based on the school’s drop/add period and/or 100% tuition and fees (T&Fs) refund period (whichever comes first).    

When certifying Chapter 33 students an SCO should wait at least 10 minutes after the initial enrollment is submitted before submitting the amendment for the second 1010 (verification) certification. 

Question 31: What should be the steps when amending the start date (just for 1 day) in order to be in compliance with 2nd certification? 

Answer: If any amended certification is submitted within the time frames required for the second 1010 (verification) certification, the 2^nd certification requirement will be satisfied.  

If your published term dates have changed, you do not need to first submit T&F before amending the start date, as the credit hours have not changed.  

If your published term dates have not changed, please verify if this start date change is required by calendar week reporting. Please see the What Beginning Date Must a School Report section of the School Certifying Officials (SCO) Handbook for additional information.   

Question 32: What is the law that states schools that require proof of eligibility have 30 days from the date it was received to certify? 

Answer: 38 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 21.4203 requires timely reporting. VA allowing 30 days from the date of receipt of a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) or request for certification when a school has published policy requiring those items, is not in the regulation and is offered as a courtesy to the school. 

Question 33: A large number of our continuing students do not request their benefits until well after the first 30 days. Are they no longer allowed to file for benefits after 30 days in? Is the school penalized on audits if we process the late request? We have heard stories that audits are penalizing schools for these late filings. 

Answer: If a school’s published policy requires proof of eligibility or requires request for certification each term, the 30-day requirement applies once the student’s Certificate of Eligibility (COE) or certification request is received.  

For compliance purposes, keep documentation, such as emails and other communications with the student, to substantiate why the certification was submitted more than 30 days after the start of the term to ensure you are not cited for a late report. 

Question 34: Veterans Affairs (VA) asks that we submit the cost of the less than full time credits for Chapter 33 when we reduce credits for a dropped class, but that does not take into account that they are billed the full amount after drop add (typically zero) nor does it take into account at 8 credits they would not be eligible for aid they have on the account now, this creates debt to the school for the student! 

Answer: Correct. As required by law, when a reduction in credits is submitted to VA, you must provide the tuition and fee (T&F) that would have been charged had the student initially enrolled at the lesser number of credits. Any T&F debt created must be repaid to VA. It is at the school’s discretion to then require the student to pay the amount not funded by VA to the school. 

Question 35: Is there a section in the School Certifying Official Handbook that addresses students who wish to decline their entire certification, but have not stopped attending? 

Answer: Please review the ‘Conservation of Entitlement’ section of the School Certifying Officials (SCO) Handbook.  

Question 36: Does Veterans Affairs (VA) wait to pay Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) until tuition and fees are reported? 

Answer: No, Veterans Affairs (VA) requests Chapter 33 certifications be submitted as early as possible so students will receive their book stipend and monthly housing allowance on time.  

Question 37: Regarding timely reporting of enrollment changes: our school, like several that we’ve heard of, observes a “black-out period” at the end of each month. During this time, we do not make any amendments in Enrollment Manager (unless a student has completely withdrawn from school). Our black-out is from the 20th through the 31st due to the Veterans Affairs (VA) regional processing center telling us that any amendments made to enrollments during this time may trigger the payment system to stop payment on students’ upcoming payment (therefore, causing a delay). Essentially, this means we have about one-third less time to report enrollment changes each month. Large schools like us may need longer time to process all of the enrollment changes due to the shortcomings of the VA’s payment system and should be an accommodation considered during audits.  

Answer: Amended certifications reporting changes to a student’s enrollment should not be held. The reason VA systems pause the release of Chapter 33 housing payments when an amended certification is received is because a reduction or termination generally affects the amount of housing due a student. 

Delaying the amended certification to report a reduction and allowing the housing payment to be released will often cause an overpayment to the student.   

Amendments not related to the student’s enrollment status, such as submitting tuition and fee (T&F) when zero T&F were initially reported, should not be submitted during the final week of a month however, in order to allow the housing payment to be released. 

Question 38: Just to clarify, if I have an increase before doing the second certification. I input the increased hours and go ahead and do the fees and tuition as well? 

Answer: Yes, as the effective date of the increase is the first day of the term. 

Question 39: When a student has been using out of pocket and starts using Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits in the middle of a rating do we use the start date of the start of the rating or the start date of the use of benefits? 

Answer: Assuming this is in reference to a vocational flight rating, School Certifying Officials must report the published date of enrollment in the training program as the start date of the training. It’s irrelevant if the student has been paying out of pocket.     

Question 40: For the new note that says for non-Chapter 33 certifications not to deduct for any aid does this mean that we no longer deduct for Tuition Assistance or institutional discounts? 

Answer: The amount of tuition and fees charged to similarly circumstanced non-VA students should be certified. Therefore, institutional discounts would be deducted.  

However, deductions of aid designated for the sole purpose of defraying Tuition and Fees as is required for Post-9/11 GI Bill® students, is not required for the other benefit chapters.  

Please see the Tuition Assistance section in the School Certifying Officials (SCO) Handbook for certification rules for non-Chapter 33 students in receipt of Tuition Assistance (TA), as it varies based on the benefit chapter being used. 

Question 41: What about 2nd certifications for chapters other than Chapter 33 and they are less than full time? Would we have to report the initial tuition and fees then wait 24-hours then change hours and tuition and fees? 

Answer: Only Chapter 33 has the 2^nd 1010 (verification) certification requirement. 

Yes. If you certify a non-Chapter 33 student with zero tuition and fee (T&F) initially and T&F are required (i.e., less than ½ time and/or active duty) and the student reduces their hours, the T&F based on the original certification must be submitted prior to reporting the reduction. 

You should wait 24-hours between submitting the T&F based on the original enrollment and the amended certification reporting the reduction. 

Note: When T&F are required for a non-Chapter 33 student and you certify zero T&F, the student receives no payment at all until the T&F are submitted.  

Question 42: We are a school that requires proof of eligibility but are still waiting for the State Approving Agency (SAA) to approve new programs that are needed in Enrollment Manager (EM) in order to certify students under correct programs for the current fall term. How do we resolve this issue? 

Answer: I would recommend that you talk to the SAA regarding approval of new programs. The SAA and Education Liaison Representative (ELR) will need to be involved for this to be approved or even expedited. 

Question 43: If I have a Chapter 33 student enrolled in two different campuses, who drops a class at one of the campuses, do I need to do the 1 initial and 4 amendments process for both campuses or just the campus where the class was dropped?  

Answer: You may only amend an enrollment period for the facility code where the enrollment period is certified.  

Question 44: Our school typically certifies tuition after the drop add. We charge per credit hour. Is that not allowed now?  

Answer: Nothing has changed. If you initially certify with zero tuition and fee (T&F) and you amend the certification after the add-drop period to report the T&F, you have satisfied the Section 1010 2^nd (verification) certification requirement.   

Additionally, if you initially certify with zero T&F and the student changes their hours, you must first provide the T&F based on the initial number of hours before amending the certification to report the change in hours.  

Question 45: I have a Chapter 33 student who dropped a course after the add/drop period after VA paid. The student is still enrolled. Does the same scenario apply where the student is entitled to a refund based on the college policy since he was in pursuit of the course? My concern is after the amendment we will receive a Debt Letter. 

Answer: When a student drops a course after the drop/add period, submit the amendment with the Remark: Reduction After Drop Period. Processing will take appropriate action and generally a debt will be created for tuition and fees.  

Question 46: So, when a student drops a class during our drop period, they are refunded 100% of tuition and fees. Based on this presentation, the VA will still pay for those days a student attended, meaning they would also be refunded the prorated tuition/fee payment that the VA sends to our school? Is this correct? This doesn’t seem correct. 

Answer: Yes, this is correct. The law provides that Veterans Affairs (VA) will pay based on the number of days the student attended before withdrawing from a class. The school should follow it’s published refund procedures with the student if this results in an overage on the student’s account. 

Question 47: I am an institution of higher learning (IHL) with Non-College Degree (NCD). What dual certification process should I use? Some of my programs run a full term and some have two term 8-week sessions within the full semester.  

Answer: The entitlement calculation for NCD programs at IHLs is not affected like it is for NCD programs at stand-alone NCD schools. Utilizing dual certification at your school will be the same for IHL and NCD programs. Each enrollment period certified has its own 1010 2^nd (verification) certification requirement. 

Question 48: We have a student that went to our Cosmetology program in 2014 and used Chapter 33 benefits. The student successfully completed most of the program but withdrew before completing the full program. With the nature of a Cosmetology program even though they successfully passed the student will most likely be required to start the program over. 

Can the student use benefits for the full program in this case if the school is unable to give credit or can we only use the benefits for any hours that were not certified previously? 

Answer: If your published policy does not allow credit to be granted due to the time that has lapsed since the student completed the training, the student can be certified for the full training again. Please note, if this student had successfully completed the program and graduated, you would not be able to recertify the training, as the student would be deemed already qualified. 

Question 49: Is it possible to add more information on the debt list provided from Ask VA (AVA)? The term dates that the debt is from would be very helpful. 

Answer: I can take this suggestion back to leadership. This requires development, not something we can do in a short turnaround. 

Question 50: Congruent payment recoupment. Will we see this if we decrease tuition and fees then increase for the same term dates? 

Answer: If what you certify creates a debt and the debt is still outstanding when a payment for a term that overlaps by one day is issued, it should offset. 

Question 51: We are often not receiving a first notice after an original debt notification and only receiving a second notice. Can you assist?

Answer: If you can email Debt Management Center (DMC) examples, we can check into it. Usually when we look into these, we are finding that letters are going out and it is a mail mystery, but always worth double checking there isn't something weird going on if you are seeing a pattern. 

Question 52: Can you send debts back without a stub? If so, how? I have outstanding debts that need to be paid. 

Answer: We can send you a copy of the Debt Management Center (DMC) letter through Ask VA (AVA) so you would get the stub. If for some reason you cannot send the stub, then we would need you to send us a letter with the following information: student name, last four digits of their Social Security number, facility code, deduct code and payee number. Payees and deduct codes should now be included when we send out a debt list through Ask VA (AVA). 

Question 53: We have seen deductions from future sessions to account for previous sessions debts. There is no overlap. Has this been fixed? 

Answer: We would need to see the specific example to address this. Please use the following email address to contact the National Training Team-Schools: EDUTRAINING.VBACO@va.gov 

Question 54: I have asked for an outstanding debt list and all of the students had 75 as the deduction code. I questioned it and was sent an updated list. Is it possible to add term dates to the report? 

Answer:  It is possible that you may get a list where all the deduct codes are 75, there are others being used but 75 is still the most common. We cannot pull a report of term dates at this time. This has been noted for future development.  

Question 55: Are the folks who answer the School Certifying Official (SCO) Hotline trained on Debt Management Center (DMC) and Enrollment Manager (EM) updates? 

Answer: The SCO hotline can answer questions about what was processed and why, they would not be able to answer specific questions about the DMC collection process. Reaching out to the SCO Hotline will not stop collection from continuing with DMC if review and research is needed on the account. For this reason, we recommend that when a debt exists SCOs send questions to DMC and then we can have the Regional Processing Office (RPO) review when needed and ensure collection pauses if the debt is not already with Treasury Offset Program (TOP). 

Question 56: When terminating a certification for a student who drops how long does it usually take to receive a debt letter? 

Answer: It depends on the Regional Processing Office’s (RPO) processing times. Most of the time, RPO processing times have been less than two weeks. From there the debt should flow into DMC’s system fairly quickly. So, unless processing is delayed, school certifying officials should see the letter within three to four weeks.  

Question 57: Debt Management Center (DMC) letters are coming with the Veteran’s last four of their Social Security Number (SSN) and not the student’s last four of their SSN as the Buffalo letter has and then there are issues being able to pay this debt in pay.va.gov due to us needing a full SSN for the veteran.   

Also, DMC agents are advising us that they can't see the same DMC letters that we received. Is there any plan to update the system so that the debt at the DMC is actually for the student's SSN and not the veteran? 

Answer: A fix was input to correct this issue moving forward but it did not totally resolve the issue with making payments online for existing accounts. If you have debts that you still cannot pay online, please call DMC using the school official debt line of 833-720-2574 for assistance with www.pay.va.gov.

Question 58: Will the Debt Management Center (DMC) debt letters get updated to remove the multiple term dates that are listed on each debt letter? There are terms listed for other deduction codes and also terms that have already been refunded months ago. 

Answer: Please share an example of this. The term dates on a letter should only be for that debt. Please use the following email address to contact the National Training Team-Schools: EDUTRAINING.VBACO@va.gov 

Question 59: Can the online payment system be changed from requiring sponsor’s social security number (SSN) for dependents using transferred Post 9/11 benefits? Schools do not collect sponsor’s SSN. We are a school that pays online. 

Answer: A fix was input to correct this issue moving forward but it did not totally resolve the issue with making payment online for existing accounts.  If you have debts that you still cannot pay online, please call DMC using the school official debt line of 833-720-2574 for assistance with www.pay.va.gov.

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Question 60: We are now getting debts on the debt list with discovery dates of 2019 and other old dates. Is this an issue that you are aware of?  

Answer: This is not a known issue. We would need to see an example. Please use the following email address to contact the National Training Team-Schools: EDUTRAINING.VBACO@va.gov 

Question 61: I have several students that Debt Management Center (DMC) hasn’t collected on. My institution received the debt notification from Muskogee but never received the official debt letter from St. Paul DMC or I’ve received one debt letter for one of my facilities. The whole debt isn’t being collected.  

Answer: In general, you can always ask DMC for a copy of the DMC letter through Ask VA (AVA) if for some reason it isn't coming in the mail. 

Question 62: In the congruent payment recoupment example, the school certifying official (SCO) would terminate the initial term and then submit the second term. There is then, no overlapping days, so how will this work in practice? 

Answer: If the new term the school is certifying does not overlap with the old term by at least one day, then the school will just need to send payment on the debt. 

Question 63: When paying debts online, how long does it take for a payment to reflect on a student's account? It seems this congruent payment recoupment policy adds yet another timing matter to consider. 

Answer: When you make a payment online it does take a few days to show up in Debt Management’s system. It should be within five days that it will show in our system from when you submit on www.pay.va.gov.

Question 64: Are there any efforts to clean up/streamline the Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) Scholarship debt management or bring them into the fold with Debt Management Center (DMC)? 

Answer: There is no plan at this time to change from the current structure where Buffalo, NY, Regional Processing Office (RPO) collects STEM debts.  

Question 65: We are expecting an invoice from Debt Management Center (DMC) for $10,000 but the DMC invoice was $5,000 to refund back to the Veteran’s Affairs (VA), who will receive the remaining $5,000? 

Answer:  If certifying the term correctly according to VA policy results in an overage on the student’s account, the school must follow its refund policy to refund the student. 

Question 66: For inmates we include a book rental fee in the tuition, which is noted in remarks and sent to the school. If there is a dollar amount in the book remark, do we take that amount out of tuition and fees and will the book rental fee we put in still be sent to school?

Answer: Yes, you should deduct from the tuition and fees reported and separately report the following charges in remarks for VA students incarcerated for a felony: 

-Books 
-Equipment 
-Supplies   

Please note, school certifying officials should only report amounts that are charged to all students in the course, including non-VA students, that are not covered by a local, state or federal agency. VA will add the costs of allowable books, equipment, and supplies to the tuition and fees reported when determining payment. As with VA students who are not incarcerated, only the tuition and fees are paid directly to the school.

Question 67: For the full-time modifier, when is this used? I have never heard about this or used it.  

Answer: The Full-Time Modifier field is active for graduate level programs only. For non-Chapter 33, the student’s applicable training time, as determined by the school, should be selected.   

For Chapter 33 students the minimum number of hours to be considered full-time by the school should be entered. If a school does not have a published full-time modifier for nonstandard length terms, the instructions in the School Certifying Officials (SCO) Handbook should be followed for determining the full-time modifier to report. 

Question 68: We keep hearing “let us know” about Enrollment Manager issues. Can you add an option in Ask VA (AVA) for Enrollment Manager issues/suggestions? The hotline is good for troubleshooting when they are able, but when an update that was pushed out has now removed the ability to add any student identification numbers then this is systemic and not individual. 

Answer: We’ll take this under consideration. Thank you for the suggestion. 

Question 69: What happens if a student submits his certificate of eligibility (COE) late during the semester? Can we still certify the enrollment? 

Answer: Yes, School Certifying Officials must certify the student. The 30-day certification requirement applies once the COE is received. If your school follows a policy of requiring a COE before certification, the policy must be published and readily available to students.   

Veterans Affairs (VA) will not review for COEs during a compliance survey but will look for justification of late or non-reporting. If a school’s published policy requires a COE for certification, documentation justifying delayed or noncertification must be kept on file. The documentation must show the student was informed of the requirement to provide a COE and failed to provide it or did not provide it in a timely manner. 

Question 70: If one of our programs only changed the name, nothing else, how should I get that fixed within Enrollment Manager (EM)? 

Answer: All changes to programs must be submitted to your State Approving Agency (SAA).  The SAA will submit an updated approval to Veterans Affairs. Once the update is entered into Web Enabled Approval Management System (WEAMS) it will automatically update in EM. 

Question 71: Will there ever be an opportunity to update the student's email, address in Enrollment Manager (EM) as we were able to do when EM was first launched? 

Question 72: I was trying to separate accounts for students who just graduated in May but haven't used their benefits since prior years. Enrollment Manager didn't let me add new dates in May but rather reverted to the last semester they were certified. What date should I use? 

Question 73: Will Enrollment Manager add a drop down to put the major/program for a guest student with the primary school?  

Question 74: Will there be any updates showing what a student is paid after processing a particular amendment? We're having some difficulty matching non-exact certified amounts to Enrollment Manager processed students. 

Answer: No, there are no short to mid-range plans to make that type of information available in Enrollment Manager (EM). While the Vet Rep Listing report which provided payment information has been discontinued due to the transition from Benefits Delivery Network (BDN) to Enterprise Management of Payments, Workload, and Reporting (eMPWR), schools can still obtain payment information from their financial institution.    

Answer: We apologize that you are receiving conflicting information. The SCO Handbook and ELR have provided you the correct information. Should a VR&E counselor provide inaccurate information in the future, please refer them to VR&E Circular 28-15-01 dated October 1, 2014, that states VR&E must determine if a retroactive induction can be processed. If so, it is handled internally rather than the school terminating the Chapter 33 certification.    

When processing a retroactive induction, VR&E will determine the difference between the amount payable under Chapter 31 and the amount paid under Chapter 33, then reimburses the difference. 

Question 77: How can we de-activate students who have graduated or dropped from our school in our student list? It would help to just see the current enrollments here.  

Question 78: Can we get the option added to be able to print our "notes" on the certificate of enrollment?  

Answer: No, the full-time modifier is solely for graduate level training. It enables VA to determine the proper training time or rate of pursuit (RoP) for graduate students, as less courses are generally needed to reach full-time status.  

Question 80: Do students on Leave of Absence (LOA) need to be terminated in Enrollment Manager? If yes, how should that be reported with LOA status when they return? 

Answer: With Release 6.1, facility codes and facility names will now display within the Preset Enrollments table. This will help elevate instances of possible duplication.  

Question 82: Chapter 31 students can no longer be certified in Enrollment Manager (EM)? 

Answer: On-the-Job Training and Apprenticeship programs (OJT/APP) for Chapter 31 students cannot currently be processed by Enrollment Manager (EM), as EM does not “talk” to the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) system Corporate Waco-Indianapolis-Newark-Roanoke-Seattle (CWINRS). EM edits are being placed up front, such as error messages and greyed out options, to prevent SCOs from submitting certifications that will get rejected.

To certify a Chapter 31 trainee in an apprenticeship or On-the-Job Training program, please complete VA Form 28-1905c each month providing the total hours the trainee worked that were in pursuit of the training program. To submit VA Form 28-1905c, please contact the Trainee’s VR&E counselor.

Question 83: Will the terminate all future enrollments feature capture all facility codes if there are multiple facility codes certified? 

Answer: The “Terminate all future enrollments” feature will only terminate future enrollments under that specific facility code. If a term(s) certified under another facility code needs to be terminated, the school certifying official will have to terminate it separately. 

Question 84: How can I get a Social Security Number (SSN) changed in Enrollment Manager (EM) since I cannot access them? 

Answer: If an SSN was entered incorrectly in EM, you should call the Education Call Center (ECC) and have them enter a Detailed Issue Form (DIF) ticket with the correct information, which will be sent to Enrollment Manager team for correction. The toll-free number to the Education Call Center is 1-888-442-4551.

Question 85: We have recently decided to certify our Nursing clinical classes as clock hours since it will be more advantageous to our students. According to the SCO Handbook, the instructions state to enter the credit hours and the clock hours and in EM remarks add the comment, “student taking a three-credit lecture course and a four credit, 12 clock hours per week internship.” As of October 2023, Enrollment Manager (EM) removed custom remarks.

What should I do? The processor is not going to understand that I am trying to certify both clock and credit hours. I submitted one certification today and submitted an Ask VA (AVA) inquiry as well. 

Answer: Select the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) remark “Practical Training” and add an additional remark “Enrolled in both clock and credit hour courses” in the free-text box that activates. Please note, that the claim’s examiner may reach out to you for clarification. 

 Question 86: Regarding the Dual Degree Program update coming in September. Will we be able to enter a second program one time only and then Enrollment Manager will pull that information for us every time we submit changes and/or future enrollment certifications? 

Answer: No, the update will not change the fact that you must add the remark on each enrollment certification submitted. 

Question 87: Is there a graduation button for On-the-Job Training (OJT) trainees who have completed the program? 

Answer: Program completion for On-the-Job Training (OJT) and Apprenticeship (APP) programs, they are reported on the final monthly certification. Please see the “Notice of Change in Trainee Status” section of the OJT/APP School Certifying Officials (SCO) Handbook found on the Resources for Schools webpage: https://www.va.gov/school-administrators/.

Question 88: Where can I find the instructions on how to add a begin and end date and not have to submit every single time? 

Answer: To add a preset enrollment, see instructions within the Enrollment Manager School Certifying Officials (SCO) User Guide: Enrollment Manager | Preset Enrollment (adobeconnect.com).

When you select the enrollment period you want to certify from the drop-down list, EM will enter the term name, begin date, and end date. Enrollment periods that aren’t stored in “Pre-set Enrollments” can be typed directly into a new certification. 

Question 89: We understand the automated letter, but we recommend that the letter is sent to students after the school has reported the tuition and fee amounts to Veterans Affairs.

Answer: If you are referring to the award letter sent to students at Non-College Degree (NCD) schools, the letters are automated. Therefore, a letter is released with every award action.   

Additionally, there are certifications that legitimately have zero tuition and fees (T&F). VA systems have no way of knowing there are no tuition and fees to report vs a school utilizing Zero T&F Certification, formerly known as dual certification. 

Question 90: With the new Enrollment Manager (EM) updates, will EM allow guest enrollments to be submitted during the same enrollment period as the main parent facility enrollment if the facilities are different types? Example, Institution of Higher learning (IHL) vs. Non-College Degree (NCD) enrollments at our out-of-state branch facilities are submitted as guest enrollments. Some branches are only approved for IHL per state regulations. Our main campus is approved for several undergraduate programs that are classified as NCD programs.

Will the new EM update allow us to submit the online course through the main campus for an NCD undergraduate certificate program as well as the resident hybrid course through our branch campus as guest if NCD is not an option on the branch campus program card?  

Answer: The update only effects enrollments at a main/branch campus and an extension campus (meaning, a campus with an ‘x’ as the third digit of the facility code) that is attached to that main/branch campus.   

As an extension campus’s approved programs mirror those of the campus they are attached to, it is not possible for a student to be enrolled in a different program or objective at an extension campus than at the main/branch campus they are enrolled at. Therefore, an enrollment submitted in EM for an extension campus that reflects a different program or objective from the main/branch campus where the student is enrolled is in error and EM now provides an error message to alert the school certifying official(s).    

Question 91: Will the ability to add drop dates be added to Enrollment Manager, similar to VA-ONCE? 

Answer: There are currently no updates planned to add drop dates to EM. The drop dates in VA-ONCE were solely for school certifying officials use, they were not reported on the enrollment certification or used by Veterans Affairs.  

Question 92: Apprenticeships will not be able to submit enrollments via Enrollment Manager? How will we enroll? 

Answer: Only On-the-Job Training/Apprenticeships (OJT/APP) programs for Chapter 31 students cannot be certified through Enrollment Manager at this time. 

To certify a Chapter 31 trainee please complete VAF 28-1905c (Certificate of Training Hours, Wages, and Progress) each month providing the total hours the trainee worked that were in pursuit of the training program. To submit VAF 28-1905c, please contact the student’s VR&E counselor. 

Question 93: Enrollment Manager doesn't have a remedial section under Non-College Degree (NCD). How do we report those credit hours? 

Answer: The separation of remedial/deficiency credits is only needed on certifications for chapter 35 students and is allowable for credit bearing Non-College Degree (NCD) programs at institutions of higher learning (IHLs). An update to EM to add the Remedial/deficiency field for NCD programs at IHLs has been requested.    

In the meantime, if an IHL needs to certify remedial/deficiency credits for a Chapter 35 student in a credit bearing NCD program, please enter a remark such as “student enrolled in nine total credits. three credits are Remedial/Deficiency”. 

 Question 94: I’m trying to submit a Fall 2024 enrollment with Yellow Ribbon (YR) for a graduate student. The Yellow Ribbon box is missing. Can you assist? 

 Answer: If you have been able to submit certifications with Yellow Ribbon for the Fall 2024 term for other students, please ensure that this student is eligible (meaning, a 100% eligible Veteran or eligible dependent under chapter 33) and your school’s Yellow Ribbon agreement includes the status and college or professional school of the student you are trying to certify. 

If you are unable to certify any Veterans Affairs (VA) students for Yellow Ribbon for Fall 2024, please reach out to the Yellow Ribbon team at YellowRibbon.VBACO@va.gov to verify that your school’s Yellow Ribbon agreement has been received and processed. 

Question 95: Can we get more clarification on "Conserving Entitlement" new rule that came out? 

Answer: Please see the Conservation of Entitlement Section in the School Certifying Official (SCO) Handbook for additional information.  

Question 96: All of our apprentices are Chapter 31. How do we enroll them?

Answer: On-the-Job Training/Apprenticeships (OJT/APP) programs for Chapter 31 students cannot be certified through Enrollment Manager. To certify a Chapter 31 trainee in an apprenticeship or OJT program, please complete VAF 28-1905c (Certificate of Training Hours, Wages, and Progress) each month providing the total hours the trainee worked that were in pursuit of the training program. To submit VA Form 28-1905c, please contact the trainee’s VR&E counselor.   

Question 97: We are experiencing many issues when putting in students' student numbers. When will this be fixed? 

Answer: Regarding the Student Identification (ID) issue that is a known issue, and the fix is planned to be fixed in Release 6.1 which we are testing in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) now. 

Question 98: When a student completes our apprenticeship program and become journeyman status, we have only two options to terminate their enrollment, it only gives us "completed program" or “Journey out" there is no option to select with "End of term"? 

Answer: “End of term or course” is only for Non-College Degree (NCD) schools.

For instructions on how to report program completion, please see the “Notice of Change in Trainee Status” section of the On-the-Job Training/Apprenticeship (OJT/APP) SCO Handbook found on the Resources for Schools webpage: https://www.va.gov/school-administrators/.

Question 99: VA-ONCE also had the ability to set defaults, such as making all addresses default to domestic. Are there plans to restore the defaults that the old system had?

Answer: There is currently no update planned to set defaults for addresses in Enrollment Manager. It is fairly rare, other than for Chapter 35 students, that a record needs to be created in Enrollment Manager. 

Question 100: What should we do if students don't follow through with updating their address in Enrollment Manager? My students are dragging their feet.  

Answer: As it is the student’s responsibility, there is nothing further you need to do.