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From the Director of Military and Veteran Student Success

Well we are one month into the Fall Semester and it is time to think about your academic plan!  How are you managing your classes and preparing for exams? Are you spending hours/days before your exam cramming? If so, I really recommend getting a planner and practicing time management skills.  Focus on the tough classes first and allocate time to prepare for each class and then a session afterwards to really absorb the lesson.

GO KNIGHTS!!!

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MISSION

The Office of Military and Veteran Student Success creates an enriching and inclusive environment for military students to achieve educational and career goals through academic success and community partnerships.

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VISION

To create an inclusive environment and Center of Excellence, nationally recognized as a higher education model for service to military students through best practices, policies, and culture.

If you withdraw from (or “drop”) a class or withdraw from a school entirely, you may need to pay the Department of Veteran Affairs back for certain education benefit payments you’ve received. But if situations or events beyond your control caused your withdrawal and they accept these “mitigating circumstances,” the VA won’t require you to pay back in full. Keep reading to find out what situations and events we recognize and how to report them.

If you’re using Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) benefits and you withdraw from a class or school, you may need to pay us back for any housing payments you’ve received. And your school may need to pay us back for tuition, fees, and the VA portion of any Yellow Ribbon payment paid on your behalf.

If you’re using Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB-AD), Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR), or Survivors’ and Dependents’ Education Assistance (DEA), you may need to pay us back the benefits we’ve paid directly to you. And your school will likely ask you to pay them back for any debt we charged to them.

If we determine that your reason for withdrawing from a class or school is an acceptable mitigating circumstance, you don’t need to pay us back the full amount. If you don’t submit mitigating circumstances or if we don’t accept them, you’ll owe us the full amount we paid starting from the first day of the term.

Mitigating circumstances are situations or events beyond your control that cause you to withdraw from (or “drop”) a class or withdraw from a school entirely.

Mitigating circumstances include:

• An illness or death in your immediate family
• An injury or illness you had while you were enrolled
• A change in your conditions of employment that you couldn’t avoid
• A job transfer to a new location while you were enrolled that you couldn’t avoid
• Immediate family or financial demands that you had no control over
• Active military service that you didn’t know about ahead of time
• A sudden end to (or cancellation of) the course you were taking
• A sudden end to child care coverage that you didn’t know about ahead of time

The 6-credit-hour exclusion is a 1-time exception that VA grants the first time you withdraw from a class or from your school. This exclusion lets you drop up to 6 credit hours without needing to show mitigating circumstances. You can keep the benefits you received up to the day you withdrew.

If you withdraw from a class that’s only 3 credits, we’ll grant the exclusion for those 3 credits and you will have used your 1-time exception. We don’t grant an exclusion more than once per person, even if we have granted an exclusion for fewer than 6 credits.

For more information, or to speak to a customer service representative, contact the VA Education Benefits Customer Service line at 1-888-442-4551.