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 VETERANS
INFORMATION
How
to Apply 
All veteran students
who wish to receive educational benefits under the GI Bill program
should call or email Charlene Lance, Certifying Official, at 330-684-8755
or 1-800-221-8308 extension 8755 or clance@uakron.edu,
and complete the following:
You can also apply
on-line at http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/about_vonapp.asp.
If applying on-line, please be sure to print a copy of the application
and bring into the certifying official, Charlene Lance, to complete
the process.
Award Letter from Veterans Administration 
All applicants will
receive an award letter from the Veterans Administration giving you
valuable information such as your remaining entitlement, the current
school year dates, and your monthly rate of disbursement. Please read
it carefully to make sure the dates and amounts are correct. You must
contact the Veterans Administration immediately if you feel the information
is wrong. Please save this letter for future reference.
Certification Process
The Veterans
Administration requires us to certify veteran students’ enrollment
each term for courses in their approved major. Certification
can be done for fall and spring at one time if you are planning to
take the same number of credit hours both semesters. If you are registered
for short-term courses, deficiency courses, are less than half-time,
are on probation, or you are not planning to return in the spring,
certification is done on a semester-by-semester basis. You will be
required to contact our office upon registration. You must contact
this office you are planning to attend summer semester. It is the
student’s responsibility to notify this office any changes
in enrollment.
Check Disbursement 
Checks are normally
sent to the student at the beginning of each month for the previous
month.
- Chapter 30 & Chapter 1606 or Chapter 1607 – required monthly verification of enrollment status
Click
here for rates effective October 1, 2007 (PDF)
Advance
Payment 
The Advance Payment
of educational assistance allowance is intended to help students meet
school-related and other expenses at the beginning of a semester. The
payment is your GI Bill allowance for the first two months of
school and the check is issued to the University at the beginning of
a school year.
- Available to
eligible veterans, reservists/guard members and dependents
- Must be
enrolled a minimum of half-time
- Not claiming
benefits for full calendar month before the preceding start
of the semester that you are requesting advanced payment
- Example:
Getting benefits in August for summer semester, you would
not be eligible for advance payment for fall
- Request
must be done in person with the school’s
certifying official a minimum of 30 days before classes begin.
Repeats,
Audits, and Mini Courses 
If you are planning
to repeat a course for which you already received VA educational benefits,
there is a possibility you may not get paid for it again. This means
it could not be used again in the total number of credit hours certified
for a term. Repeating just to raise your grade point average is not
an acceptable reason for receiving VA payment.
- Repeats that
may be acceptable
- If you
received an “F” in the initial course and it was
not due to non-attendance issues.
- If you
did not meet the minimum grade requirement for the course in
your approved program.
Courses taken on
an “Audit” basis will not be paid by the VA. Change to
audit during a semester will be treated by the Veterans Administration
as a course drop with a request from the Veterans Administration for
mitigating circumstances.
Enrollment in “mini” or
short courses could affect your payments and you may not receive full
or even part time status for the semester. For example, if you are
enrolled in 11 full-term credits and a 1 credit mini course that runs
only the first eight weeks, you will be considered full time only for
the eight weeks of the mini course and drop down to ¾-time for
the rest of the semester. The Veterans Administration payments are
based on classroom time and after the eight week period you are no
longer in that class. Be sure to check with the certifying official
before you add any short courses during the semester.
Academic Progress
All students receiving
VA educational benefits are required to maintain academic progress
according to published standards established and enforced by the University.
Students who receive an academic dismissal by the University will have
their VA benefits terminated. The certifying official will discontinue
certification of enrollment and will inform the VA of their termination
date. Students have the right to appeal their academic dismissal with
the Senior Director of Student Life and Enrollment Management. Please
remember the Veterans Administration determines whether or not payment
will be terminated and the conditions for reinstatement.
Things to Remember 
-
Except for advance
payments, all benefits will be issued directly to the student.
It is the students’ responsibility that payment of fees has
been made by the due dates to avoid any late payment charges or
enrollment cancellation of classes.
-
Allow 6-10 weeks
from the date of application for the eligibility process to be
complete. It is to your advantage to apply early. Certifications
for following academic terms should be done as soon as registration
is complete in order to avoid any delay in payments.
-
Financial aid
may be available for veterans. Even if you are not eligible for
federal or state grants, low interest loans are available. We urge
you to take the time and fill out a free application for federal
student aid. If you need assistance in this process, please contact
our financial office at 330-684-8942.
-
Verification
of approved courses must be completed each semester.
-
Any changes
made to your schedule after initial certification must be reported
immediately to the certifying official at Wayne College and to
the Veterans Administration.
-
Chapter 30 and
Chapter 1606 veterans must verify their monthly enrollment status
before checks are disbursed.
 If
you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment with
the certifying official at Wayne College, please call Charlene Lance
at
1-800-221-8308, extension 8755, or 330-684-8755.
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