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Education and Training

Enrollment Manager Webinar June FY2024

 Enrollment Manager Webinar Agenda:

Enrollment Manager (EM) Updates and Frequently Asked Questions

Training and Webinars: School Certifying Officials can view the June 2024 - Enrollment Manager Webinar at the following link: Enrollment Management Updates - June 2024 (youtube.com)

For more information on presentations and other training material, please go to the following link: National Training Team-Schools (NTT-S) Webinars and Training Playlist

 The following are questions and answers (Q&A) from the June 2024 EM Updates/ FAQs session.

Question 1: Are foreign schools meant to use the upload form too for ELRs?

Answer: Foreign schools can use the upload portal, but as a specific team of Education Liaison Representatives (ELRs) handle all foreign schools, it is more efficient to send documents directly to the Federal Approvals Team at: federal.approvals@va.gov 

Question 2: Where do Read only School Certifying Officials (SCOs) go for information to get started?

Answer: Please review the EM User Guide found of the Resources for Schools webpage for more information.

SCOs can also refer to the EM FAQs page: https://benefits.va.gov/gibill/enrollment-manager/enrollment-manager-frequently-asked-questions.asp 

Question 3: As an Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) with Non-College Degree (NCD) programs, if a student has graduated a NCD program, should we select “Graduation” or “End of Term or Course”?

Answer: The status reflected in EM will remain at “Under VA Review” even AFTER the claim has been processed for the following enrollment types:

      ● For Flight and On-the-Job Training/Apprenticeships (OJT/APP) (all chapters)

      ● Chapters 1606, 35, 31 Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) & Veteran Rapid Re-training Assistance Program (VRRAP) claims

      ● All non-automated CH 30 claims

 The modernization of all the different systems that administer the GI Bill® is still in progress. The listed benefit types/chapters are processed in systems that are not yet integrated with EM. Veterans Affairs (VA) will communicate with SCOs when system updates are made that impact how statuses appear within EM. 

Question 4: Do we use the new online EM remark for Credit hours as well as Clock hours?

 

Answer: The new Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Remark is for non-college degree program scenarios when all clock hours are taken online​.

Question 5: Can someone give me an example on how to report a student on Leave of Absence (LOA), please? I have looked everywhere, and I can 't seem to see it and every time we report a student on LOA it creates a debt letter for student and us? 

Answer: Please navigate to the January 24, 2024 Non-College Degree (NCD) Webinar on Changes in Enrollment where you can view the webinar on YouTube and access the webinar FAQs.

Question 6: Will the specific exhaust date of benefits ever show in EM?

Answer: VA does have an enhancement request entered for EM to display the actual date that entitlement exhausts. We do not have a time frame for when that enhancement will be completed at this time. 

Question 7: If we have a student enrolled under Chapter 33, but we have not received any funding for the student. Who do I need to contact?

Answer: After you have verified that the enrollment certification has been properly submitted to VA through Enrollment Manager (not accidently left in draft status), please call the SCO Hotline. 

Question 8: Annual training certifications are due soon. I am confused with the total hours needed. Also is it having to be submitted anywhere?

Answer: As required by Section 305 of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, only School Certifying Officials (SCOs) at Covered Educational Institutions must complete annual training administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Please review the following page for additional information about training requirements.   

Question 9: Is it possible to edit an enrollment name?

 

Answer: No, it is not possible to edit an enrollment name.

Question 10: Is there a best practice for updating a $0.00 certification after the add/drop period. Should we update the tuition/credits separately?

 

Answer: If an SCO initially certified with $0.00 Tuition and Fees (T&F) and the student changed their enrollment, you must first submit an amended cert providing the T&F based on the original number of credits certified. If you do not first submit the original T&F the school will not be paid correctly.

Wait at least 10 minutes and then submit a second amended cert to report the changed number of credits along with the T&Fs that would have been submitted if the student had initially enrolled in the new number of hours. 

Question 11: Student decided not to use benefits but attended the classes. So, I terminate and use what VBA Remark?

Answer: If a student does not wish to use their VA benefits after they have been certified, you will terminate the certification in EM. You can select “preregistered but never attended” or “Withdrew before the beginning of the term” for the termination reason, as both will have the same outcome. No remark is needed, though you may wish to add a note to the certification for compliance purposes.

Note: SCO should ensure documentation of the student’s request for decertification is in their VA file for compliance purposes.

A debt will be created on the school and/or student (depending on the chapter used) for all funds paid by VA for the term. 

Question 12: How do I end an enrollment after the last request for payment is submitted?

Answer: If this is a question relating to OJT/Apprenticeship certification, program enrollment should be ended on the final monthly certification.

If the program was not terminated on the final monthly certification, please see “Notice of Change in Trainee Status” section of the Employer’s Certification Handbook.

Question 13: When a student has multiple enrollments during a term, do tuition and fees have to be split among the enrollments, or can all the tuition and fees be put on one enrollment?

 

Answer: Yes, tuition and fees for the credits certified must be reported on the certification for those credits.

If your school charges flat-rate tuition and fees (where one set of T&F covers several modular terms), please see the “Flat- Rate Tuition Schools (Chapter 33)” section of the SCO Handbook for certification instructions.  

Question 14: Will there be an update that allows reports to be run for a larger range of dates?

Answer: Currently the report’s date range will remain a week, but VA is assessing this concern and will provide an update in the future.

Question 15: In EM, what functions will be available on the “Benefits Manager” tile and when will it be available?

Answer: There is no need for guidance on Benefits Manager (BM) as SCOs will not use or have access to BM.

Question 16: When processing more than one amendment for Chapter 33 students; do you have to wait 10 minutes in between each change?

Answer: Enrollment Manager can process more than one amendment on a single certification in a 15-minute period for Chapter 33 students. For non-Chapter 33 students, continue submitting successive amendments on separate days.

Question 17: How does a school certify a continuing education class which is offered through our economic development program?

Answer: VA does not pay for individual classes that are not part of a program of education. Additionally, most continuing education programs are not approvable as they do not meet the requirements for academic, admissions, and other policies written in the law. Please reach out to your State Approving Agency if you have additional questions. 

Question 18: Please clarify for Chapter 35, instead of putting in a first and last name of the Veteran, we now have to use Source, One and Source, Two (as applicable). What if we don’t know if a student has multiple benefits?

 

Answer: If you know the Veteran’s name, enter that information. If you don’t know the Veteran’s name, it is suggested: If there is only one source of entitlement, you may input “Source” in the first name field and “One” in the last name field of a qualifying Veteran.

If switching to a second source of entitlement, you may input “Source” into the first name field and “Two” in the last name field.

These fields were designed solely to assist SCOs in managing accounts for students who have more than one source of entitlement. The information is not transmitted and is solely for your use.

Question 19: How do we certify enrollments for a student who is in a certificate program as well as an Associate of Science (AS) or Bachelor of Science (BS) program at the same time? EM only lets us select one program at a time for a student.

If both the degree and the certificate/diploma programs are approved and listed in 22-1998 Web Enabled Approvals Management System (WEAMS), SCOs can certify the dual objective. SCOs should certify under the degree program in EM, select the "Dual Degree Program" remark and add a custom remark such as "Student concurrently pursuing a dual objective program, NCD program is Light-Duty Diesel Diploma.”

Note: Effective January 1, 2026, all programs involving dual objectives at institutions of higher learning (IHLs) must be specifically approved as a combined program by the State Approving Agency (SAA) and entered in WEAMS as a combined program before the dual objective can be certified.

Students certified in unofficial dual objective programs prior to January 1, 2026, will be permitted to finish out their program without the combined program being specifically approved by the SAA.

Question 20: Do we still have to wait 24 hours to certify different campuses?

 

Answer: No, SCOs do not have to wait 24 hours to submit enrollments for different campuses for chapter 33 students, including extension campuses. 

Question 21: If we have a Chapter 33 that started in May 2024, but he did not hand in his Certificate of Eligibility (COE) until June 20, 2024 can we do an initial certification today and then do the second certification tomorrow June 21, 2024 for tuition and fees, because we are already in the term or do we have to wait the 30 days to put in the tuition and fees?

Answer: Yes, if you are retroactively certifying a Chapter 33 student when it is already past the drop/add period, you can certify them today and submit the 2nd (verification) cert required under Section 10 the following day.

Certifying with $0.00 T&F is not required when certifying timely or retroactively. It is optional. If you include the T&F on the initial certification, you can submit an unchanged amended certification to satisfy the 2nd (verification) cert under 1010.

Note: Please see the “Two Certification Requirement Effective August 1, 2021” section in the SCO Handbook for more information. SCOs should not withhold certification for a COE unless your school has a published policy requiring a COE prior to certification. If your school has such a policy, you must retain documentation showing the student was informed of this requirement and failed to provide it timely. VA will not review for COEs during a compliance survey, but will look for justification for late reporting.

Question 22: I understand that when certifying credit hours for Chapter 33, two certifications must be submitted. Do I have to do two separate cards and submit tuition and fees in only one card, or do I work in only one card? 

Answer: Correct, these forms are no longer needed when a student changes programs or schools, and it is one of the items that has been annotated for update in the SCO Handbook.

Question 23: We have been certifying online credits within the distance learning field, without the use of a remark. Will it now be necessary to add the new "Online Hours" VBA remark when submitting online-only certifications, even if the credits are entered into the distance learning field?

Answer: The new online only remark is for online clock hours only. SCOs should continue to report online credit hours in the distance field in Enrollment Manager.

Visit the Resources for Schools page for more details. The following materials can be referenced for more information:

ID.Me and Login.gov Resources

Certifying Official Resource Guide 

School Certifying Officials, please contact the designated party if you are having issues on the following topics:

Contacting the Education Liaison Representative (ELR):

Contact the School Certifying Official (SCO) Hotline:

  • Enrollment Manager technical guidance
  • Explanation of school overpayments or other payment issues
  • Individual student benefit information and hardship cases 

Contacting the State Approving Agency (SAA):

Contact your State Approving Agency (SAA): 

  • Updated catalogs and programs. New/suspended/cancelled programs.
  • School address updates – including branch/extension​
  • Changes in accreditation status, ownership or change of address

Contact Ask VA (AVA): 

  • Technical assistance with reporting enrollments
  • Explanation of school overpayments or other payment issues
  • Request list of all overpayments by facility code or troubleshoot debt repayment issues
  • Individual student benefit information and hardship cases

Contact Veterans Readiness and Employment (VR&E): 

  • Chapter 31 Questions and Concerns
  • Chapter 31 e-Authorization and Invoicing

Certifying Official Resource Links:

Certifying Official Annual Training Resources

National Training Mailbox:  edutraining.vbaco@va.gov

  • Certifying Official training portal access and use
  • Certifying Official approved training credit and progress tracking
  • Adobe Connect registration and access

Office Hours Question and Answer: VBA Education Office Hours - Q&A Webpage​

  • Review previous Office Hours' questions and answers
  • Respond to questions posed during monthly Office Hours sessions
  • Link to Annual Training requirements and step-by-step directions self -certifying training

SCO Portal Technical Support:  support@VBATraining.org

  • Certifying Official training portal technical assistance
  • Report Training Portal issues and outages

All webinars and training sessions are announced via the GovDelivery; SCOs be sure to register and update your information as needed please use the following link: GovDelivery  

Additional Resources

Stay up to date on the Veterans Benefits Administrations (VBA) social platforms:

Facebook: @GIBillEducation

Twitter: @VAVetBenefits

Instagram: @VABenefits

SCO Annual Training Requirements

For questions about the SCO Annual Training requirements, please review these resources:

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