Education and Training

Question 1: Since SCOs are not supposed to edit any biographical data for students, is there a plan to deactivate this capability in Enrollment Manager so that SCO's do not have that ability? 

Answer: Yes, there is a plan to remove this functionality in the future.

Question 2: Can we please get our personal email address' removed from EM? I'm having Veterans Affairs (VA) processing emailing me on my personal email about student-related issues!

Answer: Personal emails are entered in the system when requested even though Enrollment Manager instructs to use work and school email addresses. Those experiencing this issue must contact the SCO Hotline to request that a Call Center Representative create a Detailed Issue Form (DIF) indicating the exact nature of the error. Provide the representative the facility code, incorrect email address and correct email address.

Question 3: What happens when the name in VA’s Long-Term Solution (LTS) does not match the name in Enrollment Manager? I received the following from a Veterans Readiness and Employment (VRE) Manager: “Who is the best contact for schools having problems with Enrollment Manager? I have a couple of schools who are having issues entering at least one Veteran into the system.  2 of the cases have no first name, no last name) (NFN, NLN) in LTS. I'm wondering if that is why the school cannot certify. The social security numbers (SSNs) are matching up but not the name.”  

Answer: This issue requires an update in Digital GI (DGI) Claimant Service. It is a known issue that we have seen mostly due to the 1/1/1900 date of birth. Please contact the SCO Hotline to request that the Call Center Representative create a Detailed Issue Form (DIF).

Question 4: How do you remove old names out of EM?

Answer: If referring to student records, current system limitations do now allow a School Certifying Official to deactivate student records. This feature will be available in a future release.

Question 5: Has the Chapter 35 file number issue been corrected? For example, a processor just recently reached out to an SCO about the EM system populating the student’s social security number as the file number instead of the VA file number. The SCO was unable to locate a field to correct this issue.

Answer: This issue is still unresolved. Please contact the SCO Hotline to request that the Call Center Representative create a Detailed Issue Form (DIF) for records with this issue.

Question 6: Why as an On-the-Job Training (OJT) facility, do all of our certifications stay at "Under Review”?

Answer: Due to current system limitations, On-the-Job Training (OJT)/Apprenticeships (APP) certifications for all chapters will remain as “Under Review” because these certifications are manually processed.

Question 7: With the introduction of the "Correcting Previously Terminated Enrollment" remark, should we use this remark for each amendment we make in a multi-step enrollment certification? For example, when a reduction in credit hours needs to be reported prior to a final termination.

Answer:  No, this remark is only needed when a Chapter 33 certification has been terminated, but a correction needs to be made to what was certified. If a certification has been terminated, the enrollment period must be recertified in order to report the correction.

This remark should be chosen on the recertification to ensure the tuition and fees are not released again. After recertifying the enrollment period, all prior amendments (if any) as well as the correction, must be submitted before re-terminating the enrollment.

Question 8: Isn't the Veteran file number the same as their social security number at times?

Answer: Yes, for some claimants the social security number is the same number. VA used to assign an eight-digit VA File Number, but for many years has used social security numbers for the VA File Number.

Question 9: I see a lot of student records that migrated from Veterans Affairs Online Certifications (VA-ONCE) and the birthday is 1900. That requires a call to the SCO Hotline to correct, yes?

Answer: Yes, contact the SCO Hotline to request that a Call Center Representative create a Detailed Issue form (DIF).

Question 10: How can an SCO verify in EM if an Enrollment submission that was processed has been denied?

Answer: Unfortunately, Enrollment Manager does not provide this information.

Question 11: Can an SCO remove a graduated or terminated student from the list of Students associated with their institution?

Answer: No, currently SCOs cannot deactivate students. That capability will be added in a future release.

Question 12: If I have not yet recorded tuition and fees (T&F), I need to submit T&F prior to submitting a reduction? I need to wait 10 minutes between T&F and the reduction for Chapter 33 and 24 hours for Chapter 31, correct?

Answer: Yes, the SCO needs to submit tuition and fees prior to submitting an amendment and need to wait the specified time.

Question 13: Is there a way to run a list of all students certified within a term?  SCOs used to be able to do that on VA-ONCE with the search field boxes.

Answer: Yes, on the Student’s screen choose “Search my Students” and enter a date range to filter students by term.

Question 14: Where do I find the Training Time/Full-Time (TT/FT) when adding an enrollment?

Answer: This field is not available when adding a student. It is available when entering an enrollment certification for a graduate level student.

Question 15: Our facility was recently told that new Chapter 35 awards were not processed until the first day of the term, and should not be certified until then; is this true? Can SCOs not certify beforehand?

Answer: Chapter 35 enrollment certifications can be submitted up to 120 days before the start of a term. VA cannot process a Chapter 35 certification until on or after the first day of the term, however. 

Note: As monthly payments for non-Chapter 33 students are made in arrears, payment cannot be released until the end of the month of training.

Question 16: Will an option to amend incorrect monthly certifications (apprenticeship) be launched in EM? If so, when is that planned for?

Answer: This option will be available in a future release.

Question 17: Can an SCO inactivate students who are no longer attending a school? It won't allow the change.

Answer: SCOs cannot deactivate/inactivate their students record at this time. A future EM release will allow deactivation/inactivation of student records.

Question 18: If students graduate in a term that they were not certified, when/how does an SCO report them as graduated?

Answer: If a student graduates during a term that they were not certified the SCO does not report their graduation to VA.

Question 19: Most of my Chapter 35 students say "under review" even after they have been processed and paid; will this be fixed?

Answer: A status of “Processed” will only be received for Chapter 33 Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) and Non-College Degree (NCD) certifications, and for fully automated Chapter 30 IHL and NCD certifications. All other Chapters will remain at “Under VA Review” until such a time as all VA systems are integrated. This includes Flight and OJT/APP (all chapters), all Chapters 1606, 35, 31 (VR&E), Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP) claims, and all Chapter 30 claims that are not automated.

Question 20: When EM lists a student’s remaining eligibility, how is that determined? For example, does the remaining eligibility automatically update upon submissions of a certification or after it has been processed?

Answer: Remaining eligibility is calculated after processing and reflects the remaining entitlement as of the end of the last enrollment period processed.

Question 21: How is the student’s contact information in EM used by the VA? Does VA send correspondence to the student using this information? 

Answer: Yes. The contact information in EM reflects the contact information in VA systems and is used to contact the student.

Question 22: Will there be a way to update the student's VA File Number in EM?

Answer: If the student’s file number is incorrect, please encourage your student to contact the Education Call Center directly at 888-GIBILL (1-888-442-4551) to update their profile information.

Question 23: Can graduation be reported if it is after the end of the last term certified?

Answer: No, SCOs cannot report a graduation that occurs after the end of the last period certified.

Question 24: Do students receive automatic communication when graduation information is submitted?

Answer: Any certification action in Enrollment Manager generates an email to the student providing the certified information.

Question 25: Should you graduate a student if he/she remains at your institution for graduate school? 

Answer: Yes, if a student graduated from an undergraduate program, the SCO should report that graduation in Enrollment Manager before certifying them for their graduate program.

Question 26: If a student is pursuing a degree and a certificate program concurrently, what remark should be used? 

Answer: Please use the new dual degree remark to provide the name of the second program.

Question 27: Will EM ever offer the capability to print student reports that extend past 7 days? It is helpful to be able to print a report for students certified for a particular semester.

Answer: VA currently does not have an estimated time of arrival (ETA) on the implementation of reports beyond 7 days.  In the meantime, SCOs can search for all students certified during a term by using the “Date Range” filter on the “Search my Students” tab. SCOs can now export that list using the “Export All Results” button. 

Note: Currently, the Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file will list every school each student on the list has attended, but you can sort and filter by Column H to remove the extraneous information. A future release will correct this issue to only list the SCO’s school on the CSV file.

Question 28: Where/How does an SCO submit the paper enrollment certification for those exempted from EM?

Answer: The best way for a school or facility exempted from Enrollment Manager to submit a certification is through Ask VA (AVA) https://ask.va.gov/ or, if unable to use AVA, the certification should be mailed to the following appropriate Regional Processing Offices:

Buffalo VA Regional Office

PO Box 4616

Buffalo, NY 14240-4616

-or-

Muskogee VA Regional Office

PO Box 8888

Muskogee, OK 74402-8888

Question 1: Will the Web Enabled Approvals Management Systems (WEAMS) have the full program's name instead of abbreviated names to make it cleaner and transfer into EM the same way?

Answer: Currently there are character limitations within the WEAM System, which prevents the full display of a program’s name. Approval Manager, is the system that will replace WEAMS, and it should have increased character limits.

Question 2: If a School’s published full-time is 6 hours for Graduate certifications and there are multiple courses for the term, does the SCO put Training Time/Full-Time (TT/FT) as 6 no matter the number of credits for the course being entered?

Answer: If the School’s published full-time modifier for nonstandard length graduate terms is 6 hours, the SCO will enter 6 in the TT/FT field regardless of how many credits the student is enrolled in. 

Question 3: How does an SCO check whether each student has received his or her monthly benefits without having to call the 888 number?

Answer: An SCO should not need to know if a student has received their benefit payment each month, but if you would like that information, the SCO can ask the student and they can decide to share that information. The customer service unit should not be sharing information regarding the benefits sent directly to a student with an SCO.

Question 4: The hours across the top of the screen, are those hours that the SCO indicates as full-time (FT) or hours that the student is currently enrolled in.

Answer: The numbers across the top of the charts used to determine the Adjusted Full-time Modifier for a gradate nonstandard term is the school’s published full-time modifier for a standard graduate term. The numbers that run down the side of the chart is the length of the nonstandard term the SCO is certifying. The figure where those two numbers intersect on the chart is what an SCO will report in the TT/FT field in Enrollment Manager for a nonstandard graduate term that does not have a full-time modifier published by the school.

Question 5: Our business office says our bank does not provide student details for VA payments and the school must wait for the VA payment statements to arrive by mail to get the details to share with the business office/bursar. Are there plans to provide payment statements electronically in the future, so the school gets them faster and doesn’t risk getting lost in the mail? Do you have any guidance that can be shared with the bursar about electronic payments we receive?

Answer: Direct deposit payments made to the school's bank for Post-9/11 GI Bill® students include an addenda field with the student's identifying information. The addenda information includes the student's VA file number, the student's name (up to 20 characters), and the term dates for the payment. This information is an integral part of the electronic file that is sent to the bank and Chapter 33 payments cannot be made without that information.

Some financial institutions do not have a mechanism for automatically providing this information to the school. Financial institutions are required to provide this information upon request according to rules set by the National Automated Clearing House Association. However, schools may have to make arrangements with the financial institution for the addenda information to be provided on a routine basis in a readable format so that they can match payments with students. Please note, the financial institution may charge for this service.

Question 6: Are there policies & procedures other than the SCO handbook directed solely towards NCD programs?

Answer: The National Training Team-Schools is currently hosting a series of webinar training sessions solely for Non-College Degree (NCD) schools. Prior credit was covered last month (August) and this month tuition and fees and entitlement charges were covered.

SCOs can find the webinars on our YouTube channel usually one week after the training was presented. SCOs can find answers to questions posed by SCOs during the trainings here: NCD Webinar Series - Education and Training (va.gov). To view the dates for other upcoming webinars, please visit the National Training Team - Schools Training Calendar. Ensure you are signed up on GovDelivery to receive training invitations.

Question 7: Certify resident or on-line? A graduate student is enrolled in an on-line program, but the program requires a practicum, which is in-person. Do I certify that practicum course as resident or on-line?

Answer: The practicum is certified as resident training.

Question 8: If a student is receiving a scholarship, do we have to deduct that amount from the tuition and fees?

Answer: Federal funds and aid or waivers of any type that is designated solely to defray tuition and fees that is provided directly to, or by the school, must be deducted. The exceptions are Title IV financial aid and loans, which should not be deducted from the tuition and fees certified to VA. If aid or a waiver can be used for things other than tuition and fees (such as for room, board or books), it is not deducted.

Question 9: When a student withdraws during the 100% refund period why does the VA still pay for the days the student was in the class when there was not a charge?

Answer: These prorated payments are due by law.

Question 1: Is there a way to amend a monthly certification for On-the-Job Training/Apprenticeships (OJT/APP), if a mistake is made?

Answer: Please remember that monthly certifications can’t be amended using the Amend button. If an SCO makes a data entry error on a monthly certification, they must report the corrected information in a Custom Remark on a subsequent monthly certification. 

Consider the following example: An SCO is completing a monthly certification for August and noticed that the incorrect number of hours was certified for July. Instead of 120 hours, the SCO mistakenly entered 12 hours for July. To correct this mistake, the SCO should enter a Custom Remark on the August certification, such as "July hours reported as 12. Correct July hours is 120".

Question 2: With regard to the Add Custom Remarks button not being visible, what about when indicating non-punitive grades, for example incomplete, where the student should have one year before a debt is assessed. How will we notify the VA of these students?

Answer: SCOs do not need to report the incomplete when it is assigned. SCOs only need to report the incomplete if the course is not completed within the school’s timeline for completion or a non-punitive grade is received. If a punitive grade is assigned, no action is necessary.

Question 3: For the Second 1010 Certification that we have to submit for Chapter 33, what remark do we put in if there are no other changes to the cert?

Answer: School Certifying Officials do not need to have a Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) remark for this scenario. If compelled to enter a remark, the “Second 1010 Certification for Enrollment Verification” VBA remark is available.

Question 4: Without Custom Remarks, how do we indicate the student is utilizing benefits under 2 sponsors (Chapter 35)?

Answer: Custom Remarks have not been removed for CH35 enrollments.

Question 5: How can you include details of CH31 specific classes now that Custom Remarks have been removed?

Answer: Custom Remarks were not removed for Chapter 31 enrollments.

Question 6: For VBA remarks, is there a need to have one for "changing chapters" as an option for termination? That tends to be a common occurrence at our school (switch from Chapter 33 to Chapter 31 or Chapter 35), but not sure if the processing team needs to be aware of the reason for terminating a chapter.

Answer: SCOs should verify the program card is correct before certifying the enrollment. It is not appropriate to terminate any enrollment that has already been processed to certify it under another benefit. There is no need to add a remark for “changing chapters.”

Question 7: Will there be a VBA remark for student's repeating a segment of a failed Non-College Degree (NCD) program?

Answer: There is not currently a remark for this. Please use an Ask VA (AVA) inquiry to report this.

Question 8: What happens if an SCO needs to add a remark and there isn't an option for it in the VBA remark drop down?

Answer: If an SCO has verified that there is no amendment reason or a VBA remark, use an Ask VA (AVA) inquiry to report the information.

Question 9: Will the Clock hour remark required by the SCO handbook "Student taking a 3-credit lecture course and a 4 credit, 12 clock hours per week internship” be added as an option?

Answer: Please use an Ask VA (AVA) inquiry to report the information

Question 10: After October 7, 2023, when we can no longer add remarks, who does an SCO peak to if they have to make amendments to prior terms, if due to the migrating of information from VA-ONCE to Enrollment Manager we cannot make amendments to the prior term enrollment certification?

Answer: This is an error. SCOs should be able to make amendments to migrated data. Please call the School Certifying Official (SCO) Hotline to report the specifics