FAQ11: How does dropping a class affect my GI Bill benefits? Generally, dropping a course during the first week of a term entitles you to a full refund of tuition for the dropped course. The DVA considers this first week of the term to be the "drop period."
If you drop to part-time student status, you might have to pay your GI Bill benefits back. This scenario is especially true if your GI Bill is Post-9/11. However, remember, dropping a class might still be the best decision to maintain your GPA or avoid academic probation, even if you have to pay back some funds.
If you have the GI Bill benefits, you work with your school to verify your benefits. Colleges have a School Certifying Official (SCO) that represents the school and has the training to certify enrollment with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
You must fill out a “Request for Change of Place of Training” (VA Form 22-1995) which can be found through the GI Bill website and selecting the “eBenefits” link to access the VONAPP interface. How do I apply for graduation as a veteran?
Your GI Bill payments and Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) are based on your training time. This is how the VA determines training time at a traditional college (operated on a semester or quarter basis): If your withdrawal moves you from one group to another you may have an overpayment with the VA that you must repay.
If you withdraw from (or “drop”) a class, you may need to pay us back for the cost of any housing or books and supplies that we gave you money for. Your school may need to pay us back for tuition, fees, and Yellow Ribbon benefits paid on your behalf.
Normally if you drop a class you will have to pay back any GI Bill money you received for that class to the VA. This includes your tuition & fee payment (even though it was paid to the school - not you), your Monthly Housing Allowance, your book stipend, and any kicker or college fund money you received.
If you just stop going to class because you are failing you will most likely have to pay back any money you received for it. Attending classes is one of the requirements for receiving GI Bill benefits. If you don't attend, you don't get any money.
You can take the class as many times as necessary and get paid each time. However, if you drop or withdraw from a class, the grade will not count towards your degree and in the eyes of the VA you aren't due any money for it.
In most cases, the answer is no, you cannot get a refund for your GI Bill. But some veterans may be eligible to receive a Montgomery GI Bill refund once they have used their entire Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit.
If you drop to part-time student status, you might have to pay your GI Bill benefits back. This scenario is especially true if your GI Bill is Post-9/11. However, remember, dropping a class might still be the best decision to maintain your GPA or avoid academic probation, even if you have to pay back some funds.
If I fail a class, will the GI Bill® still pay? May I retake a class to improve my grade? If you fail a class, credits to repeat the class can be re-certified. You can use your benefits to improve a grade only if the grade you received is not acceptable under your program.
What happens if I fail or drop a course? Failing a course will not affect your GI Bill benefits; however, withdrawing or receiving an incomplete grade for a course may affect your benefits. As long as you receive a grade (pass or fail), the VA will not ask for money back.
If you withdraw during the school's drop/add period (generally the first 30 days of a term) the VA will reduce your training time (and any payment as described above) on the date of your withdrawal. This may or may not result in an overpayment.
The VA realizes that sometimes you need to drop a class and for this reason they have something called "the six credit hour exclusion". Basically, your first withdrawal (up to six credit hours) is excused. The VA will adjust your training time on the date of withdrawal, not all the way back to the start of the term. This can only be used once, and you can't combine two 3 hour withdrawals to game the system. If you drop 3 hours and get the exclusion it is gone forever.
If you withdraw after the school's drop/add period the VA will reduce your training time on the beginning date of the term. This will usually result in an overpayment which can be quite large.
The GI Bill looks to the university’s standards for passing to make this judgment call.
What does is it mean to become certified for my GI Bill? If you have the GI Bill benefits, you work with your school to verify your benefits. Colleges have a School Certifying Official (SCO) that represents the school and has the training to certify enrollment with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
You might decide to retake the class to better your overall GPA. If your academic standing is in rough shape, you want to talk to your academic advisor to avoid academic probation.
One of the many benefits afforded to service members is access to the GI Bill to help pay for tuition costs. However, many student veterans wonder what happens with the GI Bill if failing a class. Grades are a common worry because life has a way of getting in the way of academic progress.
To qualify for tutorial assistance, you need only to take a course you need for your educational program, and the course must be difficult.
No, you do not have to pay back the GI Bill if you fail a class as long as you stay in and attend the class through the end of the semester.
GI Bill Fail Class: Dropping a Class. Another option you have is dropping your class as long as you are within the drop/add phase of the academic semester. If you drop your class early enough, you can focus your efforts on your other courses and maintain your GPA.
Generally, dropping a course during the first week of a term entitles you to a full refund of tuition for the dropped course. The DVA considers this first week of the term to be the "drop period.". From that point until approximately five weeks into the term, a dropped class will receive a "W" grade.
Classes dropped after the drop period but on or before the "last day to drop with a 'W'" date in the catalog will receive a "W" grade which the DVA considers to be a "punitive grade" meaning the drop affects your academic progress and/or GPA.
Classes dropped during the "drop period" (based on the catalog deadline dates) do not count toward the "training time" requirements of the DVA - whether or not a refund of tuition was given. This can affect your benefits.
If you are on Academic Probation and continue to fail classes the school can kick you out and the VA will stop any future GI Bill payments at ANY school until you prove to them that you can successfully complete your classes.
So the best advice if you find yourself almost failing a class is to talk to your professor, guidance counselor, and VA certifying official. There are many programs available to you that can help you get back on track. Many schools have free tutoring programs available, in fact the VA will pay for a tutor if you need one.
This means that the grade you receive counts in your overall degree progress, albeit negatively.
A " non-punitive grade " is a grade that doesn't earn credit towards your degree. For example, if you drop a class and get no credit for it, you are getting what is known as a "non-punitive grade. So, since you get no credit, the VA will come after you to get any GI Bill payment you received for that class back from you.
The VA doesn't care if you fail a class, nope they won't come after you for the money you got. In fact they will let you retake that class as many times as you need to until you get a passing grade, and they will pay you each time. Sounds pretty unlike the VA doesn't it?
Since non-punitive grades don't count towards your degree you may be required to repay any GI Bill money you received for such classes.
Since this grade counts towards your graduation progress you are not required to repay any GI Bill money you received for that class. And, according to the VA, you may take the class again in an attempt to receive credit towards graduation or raise your grade for it and you may receive GI Bill payment for the retaking of the class.
The GI Bill Comparison Tool and Veterans Service Organizations can help you explore options and find out what benefits you can get. Find a Veterans service organization.
GI Bill benefits help you pay for college, graduate school, and training programs. Since 1944, the GI Bill has helped qualifying Veterans and their family members get money to cover all or some of the costs for school or training. Learn more about GI Bill benefits below—and how to apply for them.
If you applied for and were awarded Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits, your GI Bill Statement of Benefits will show you how much of your benefits you’ve used and how much you have left to use. View your GI Bill Statement of Benefits.
VA will excuse you from debts for the 1st time you withdraw from classes while using the GI Bill for up to 6 credit hours. You don’t get this if you withdrew from a 3 or more credit hour class before. It’s not cumulative.
VA is supposed to forgive everything, Book Stipend, Monthly Housing Allowance and Tuition/Fees paid to the school. But I sometimes see VA still creating a student debt for tuition/fees paid to the school. I always recommend my students appeal this debt and submit Mitigating Circumstances statement explaining why you withdrew from the class/classes.
GI Bill ® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government website at www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
If you are eligible for educational benefits, the Veterans Administration (VA) will mail a check to you after the semester has begun .
Students not making Satisfactory Academic Progress will be placed on probation for the next semester. Benefits will be processed for that semester to give the student an opportunity to regain satisfactory progress as determined by Thomas Edison State University policy.
Students currently receiving an entitlement under the older Montgomery GI Bill or the Selected-Reserve component are required to certify their enrollment every 30 days, either through the VA’s automated verification line at 877-823-2378 or via the Web Automated Verification of Enrollment site (WAVE).
To be eligible for benefits, the student must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 (C) to meet the minimum standard for satisfactory academic performance. In addition, the student must complete 66 percent of all courses attempted.
Verifying attendance via text message should be as simple as providing the VA with your cell phone number and then responding to an automated VA inquiry which is automatically sent to the student at the appropriate time. It is critical to note that if a student fails to verify attendance for two consecutive months, the VA will withhold MHA and require that a manual verification be made by contacting the ECC.
If you exceed the maximum number of credits attempted in a degree program, you will not be eligible for further benefits. This limit includes credits you have transferred in toward your degree program. Students not making Satisfactory Academic Progress will be placed on probation for the next semester.
Your monthly GI Bill payment may be less than your monthly rate for one of these reasons: You attended classes for only part of the month. Classes often begin and end somewhere in the middle of a month, instead of on the first and last day of a month.
If you signed up for direct deposit when you applied for education benefits, we’ll deposit your payment into your bank account 7 to 10 business days after you verify your school enrollment. This is the fastest way to receive your payment.
If you stopped taking some of your classes—or reduced your training time—after you received your award letter, we’ll need to adjust the benefit payment amount.
If you get your payment by check and it’s been at least 3 weeks since we issued the check, you can request a replacement. It could take up to 6 weeks to get a replacement.
If you asked for a waiver so you could receive your payments by check, you should receive your first check by mail about 14 days after you verify your school enrollment.