FAQ's for Veterans

If this is the first time you have used your Veterans’ education assistance, you will need to establish your eligibility with the Veterans Administration. You can apply online at www.gibill.va.gov. Once the VA has processed your application, they will send you a Certificate of Eligibility. This is your official notification that you are eligible to use your benefits.

In order to receive payment on your benefits, you must enroll in classes in an approved program of study and submit a completed New Student Data Sheet for Veterans Educational Assistance to the Allen Veterans Office. The Allen Veteran Services Office will then review your schedule and certify your enrollment to the VA. When the VA completes the processing of this certification, they will send you an Award Letter.

If you have used your education benefits at another institution, you will need to complete the appropriate VA application for a Change of Place of Training or Program and submit it to the VA along with the New Student Data Sheet for Veterans Educational Assistance. Change of Place of Training or Program application forms are available at www.gibill.va.gov.

In order to continue to receive your benefits, you must submit a Veterans Recertification Worksheet to the Allen Veterans Office for each semester that you want to use your education benefits at Allen

You will need to request that the Veteran Certifying Official from your parent school provide a "Parent School Letter" to the Allen Veteran Services Office that approves your classes at Allen for certification to the VA. Additionally, you will need to complete and submit a Veterans Recertification Worksheet to the Allen Veteran Services Office. Once both of these documents have been received and you are enrolled in the approved classes at Allen, your enrollment will be certified to the VA.

The VA will determine your payment rate based on the type of benefit you are eligible for and how many hours you are enrolled in. You can check the VA website to find out the basic payment rates. These are basic rates of pay for MGIB, REAP and Dependents Education Assistance and do not include kickers, buy-up or any other additional programs.

Under the Post 9/11 GI Bill you may receive: A tuition & fees payment (paid directly to the school) not to exceed the tuition & fees at the most expensive state Institution of Higher Learning (IHL).  For a listing of the maximum tuition & fees for each state click here.   A monthly housing allowance based on the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) for an E-5 with dependents. This amount is based on the ZIP code of the location of the school you are attending (our main campus in Iola). To determine the BAH for your ZIP code click here (link goes to a non-VA website).  An annual book stipend of $1,000 paid proportionately based on enrollment. 

It can take the VA several weeks to process your initial application and anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks to process enrollment certifications. Generally, VA education benefit payments are made at the end of each month you attend school; for example, if classes start in August and your claim has been completely processed by the VA, the payment for that month will normally be received in the first ten days of September.

Students using Chapters 30, 1606 and 1607 must verify their attendance to the VA on the last day of each month. Your payment for that month will not be released until you have verified your attendance. Attendance can be verified online or by phone 1-877-823- 2378 Students using Dependents Education Assistance (Chapter 35) or Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) are NOT required to verify monthly attendance.

The only benefit that pays tuition directly to the school is the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

Reserve Service members can apply online  and Guard members can apply online. This program is not administrated by the VA or the Allen Veteran Services Office.

If you have questions regarding your eligibility for Tuition Assistance, you will need to contact either your Unit’s Education Services Officer or Commanding Officer.

Once you have received your TA approval you will need to submit it to the Allen Business Office.

Yes. While you are a degree/certificate-seeking student at Allen, the VA will only allow certification for classes that apply toward your Allen degree/certificate requirements.

It's possible that the class is not in the program plan for the degree or certificate you are seeking at Allen or you may be enrolled in a non-approved program. Please contact the Allen Veteran Services Office for more information.

Allen will grant 1-2 credit hours for Basic Training in the Health/Physical Education area. All other credits will be evaluated on an individual basis.

You can search for approved programs on the VA website by clicking on here.

Payments you receive for education, training, or subsistence under any law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are tax free. Do not include these payments as income on your federal tax return. This information is from the IRS website. You will need to check with your tax advisor regarding your individual state income tax requirements.

Yes, generally, enrollment in distance learning classes can be certified to the VA. However, the VA does not allow certification for enrollment in distance learning for remedial classes. Additionally, enrollment in distance learning classes can affect eligibility for BAH under the Post 9/11 GI Bill.