Full Answer
If you finished the class, you won't have to pay back the GI Bill benefits you used for that class. This is because we count a failing grade (or “punitive grade”) as progress toward graduation requirements even though you don't get any credit for it.
You can fail a class and the VA will not create a debt against you and will pay for you to retake the class as long as you attended the course through the end of the semester (EU grades are NOT the same as E grades and are considered unofficial withdraws).
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.
In most cases, you will lose your Montgomery GI Bill benefits if you don't use them within 10 years of separating from the military. The Post-9/11 GI Bill expires 15 years after you separate – just one of many reasons why you should make the switch if you are eligible!
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.
0Depending on your college's GPA scale, that can mean anything below a 1.0 or 0.7 GPA counts as a failed class. If you fail a class, you'll get a 0 on your transcript — and that can bring down your GPA. Failed classes count toward your GPA, though some colleges do not count pass/fail classes in your GPA calculation.
If you have an incomplete grade, you have one year to complete the course or you may owe a portion of your benefits back to the VA. If you receive Chapter 35 benefits, a grade of F or an incomplete may affect your benefits and result in owing a portion of your award back to the VA.
You may be put on academic probation. Typically a GPA lower than 2.0 will result in academic probation, but every college varies. Being on probation essentially means that if you don't improve your grades, you may be dismissed from your college or university.
If you have an incomplete grade, you have one year to complete the course or you may owe a portion of your benefits back to the VA. If you receive Chapter 35 benefits, a grade of F or an incomplete may affect your benefits and result in owing a portion of your award back to the VA.
0Depending on your college's GPA scale, that can mean anything below a 1.0 or 0.7 GPA counts as a failed class. If you fail a class, you'll get a 0 on your transcript — and that can bring down your GPA. Failed classes count toward your GPA, though some colleges do not count pass/fail classes in your GPA calculation.
Students receiving any of the Federal VA Education Benefits listed below are required to maintain satisfactory academic progress by earning a minimum 2.0 semester grade-point average (GPA) and complete at least 67% of the courses attempted within the semester: Post 9/11 GI Bill ®* (Chapter 33)
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you don't attend, you don't get any money. If you stop attending class, the VA will stop your GI Bill payments retroactive to the beginning date of the term. You will most likely end up owing a lot of money to both the VA and the school.
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.
If you withdraw during the school's drop/add period (generally the first 30 days of a term), and dropping a class changes your training time, the VA will reduce your training time and any make the pay adjustment effective on the date of your withdrawal. This may or may not result in an overpayment.
So, if you have to drop a class because of a valid reason, the VA will possibly pay you through your drop date. Remember, the VA keeps all your information on file and they are stewards of public funds. If you try to make a false claim it could come back and bite you.
Just remember, you will usually need proof of some kind to back up your story. So, if you have to drop a class because of a valid reason, the VA will possibly pay you through your drop date.
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 VA realizes that sometimes stuff happens that is beyond your control and causes you to miss classes or drop them totally. The VA calls these things "mitigating circumstances", in fact they list several on their website:
Three months into the term you drop 2 classes. This will change your training time from full-time to 1/2 time.
If you end up having to pay for a class, you have incurred a debt to the VA. If you fail the class, contact the VA as soon as you know, as not doing so could hold up using your GI Bill benefits in the future. Once you have either paid back the debt or set up a payment plan, then the VA will continue your GI Bill benefits.
You would not have to pay them back for the 3 classes you passed. If it was due to something beyond your control, such as a car accident that left you in the hospital or temporarily disabled and not able to attend class, then no you most likely would not have to pay.
Once you have either paid back the debt or set up a payment plan, then the VA will continue your GI Bill benefits. If the VA finds that you were not responsible for failing the class, then your benefits will continue on. The key is contacting them immediately and being pro-active about the situation. Stumble!
The GI Bill you use is the one you apply for with the veterans’ office at your college. It will be clear which on the paperwork you choose to submit.
This means that the grade you receive counts in your overall degree progress, albeit negatively.
I’ll try to come back and edit this to provide some references, but the gist is: if you use 36mo of Post 9/11 you’re done. If you use 36mo of Montgomery (that you payed for) and you also qualify for Post 9/11, you have 12mo of Post 9/11.
New responsibilities include things such as getting up on time, getting to class on time, getting homework done, getti
Post 9/11 is a completely different policy. Under post 9/11 books are paid for (up to $1,000 per year), tuition is paid, and there is a housing allowance equivalent to the E-5 rate with dependents (regardless of actual rank) based on your zip code of residence at the time you are enrolled in school.
If you feel that you are not quite ready for college, you might want to consider taking a semester off. Find a year off. find a job working 40 hours a week and consider your options for the next academic year. Sometimes taking some time away, working and seeing what that life without a college education looks like can bring new clarity.
Some students struggle with general education courses they are required to take because they only want to study in their field of interest. The value of the general education program is often something that is only discovered after you graduate.
Stay in school, and keep going to the class. Even if you fail the class, you won't have to pay anything back. If you stop going, you have to repay the cost of the class, and possibly some of the MHA. This question has been answered repeatedly just within the past week.
Law was changed several years ago - you only pay back VA for a F grade IF the professor reports that you stopped attending that class - so VA treats this as a withdraw from that class. If you attend the class and "earn" the F grade, the school doesn't report the F grade to VA, so VA doesn't know what your grade was - passing grades are not reported to VA either.
They recently kicked out everyone who was staying there under an Elective Services Grant. Literally put them on the street. A number of staff have quit in protest, and they're hiding behind their reputation of 35 years.
But if you withdraw, you will more than likely have to pay some money back - but put in a mitigating circumstances statement telling VA why you withdraw - working full time and not being able to complete the class is a legitimate reason to withdraw.
School only report grades for withdrawal (W or U grade) or F grades reported as non-attendance. If you try but earn an F grade, VA will never even know as the school won't report anything - we also don't report if you get an A or B or C or D.
Example 3. If a student chooses to repeat a course that was successfully completed, just to improve their GPA, that course cannot be certified to VA.
Example 1, if a Nursing program requires a “B” or better in Biology, then that class may be repeated if a “B” or better was not earned. That requirement must be in the school catalog.
The VA will pay for failed classed provided the failure isn't due to attendance.
Also you need to be thinking about your GPA - a F grade really pulls your GPA down.
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.
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 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.