Veterans' Affairs

Guidelines for Certification of Veterans' Educational Benefits

Wilmington University programs have been approved for the awarding of benefits to eligible veterans.

The Veterans’ Affairs Office has been established by the University to coordinate veterans’ programs and services. The office provides assistance in applying for educational benefits.

Note: For those utilizing VA education benefits, the VA will only cover classes that are REQUIRED for your degree program. Before registering for courses, please review your degree program requirements in Degree Works to ensure you are taking courses required for your academic program. Taking courses outside your program of study are not eligible for benefits. It is the student's responsibility to confirm that the classes taken are applicable to their degree.

A veteran must be matriculated at Wilmington University prior to certification for educational benefits. A matriculated student is one who:

  • Has filed an official University application.
  • Has declared the intent to pursue a specific program.
  • Has been fully accepted by the University.
  • Is registered for a specific course/courses.

Upon verification of a veteran student’s enrollment and his/her satisfactory progress, (prescribed by University guidelines), a Certification of Enrollment will be forwarded to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

How to Apply for VA Educational Benefits

  1. Access GI Bill Website at www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/
  2. Complete the online application by clicking on the VONAPP link
  3. Print Signature Page after completing the online application
  4. Send completed Signature Page to Buffalo Region VA Office (address found on website)
  5. Submit copy of completed Signature Page to Wilmington University
  6. Be sure to notify Wilmington University any time you register or change your registration

Veteran's Enrollment

As mandated by the Veterans Affairs Administration, the student must be enrolled at least 51% per block to be eligible for his/her BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) and at least one course per block must be in a face-to-face classroom setting.

VA payments cannot be made for courses from which a student withdraws unless such a change was warranted by circumstances beyond the student’s control. Students will be required to submit supporting evidence to substantiate the change in enrollment status. Examples of such evidence are:

  1. A doctor’s certification to verify an illness or,
  2. A statement from an employer to confirm a required change in work schedule, etc. or,
  3. A change in service activation status.

Student - Debt

What causes debt with VA Education Programs?

If you decrease your training time (i.e. drop classes, leave school, etc.) and we have already processed a payment for tuition and fees, an overpayment will occur. When the School Certifying Official (SCO) notifies us of a change, a debt is created against your account. The school will issue any refunds in accordance with their internal policy, which may not fully cover the debt with the VA. If the amount refunded by the school does not satisfy the debt, you are responsible for the remainder.

If the school refunds money directly to the VA, we will credit your account any amount the school refunds. If they refund money directly to you, you must clear the debt with us.
A decrease in your credit hours could also result in changes to your housing allowance and books & supplies stipend. If VA has already issued you a payment for the term a debt will be created on your account.

You are responsible for keeping track of your tuition and fee account balance and payments. Visit your schools' financial office regularly to review your account, ensure the charges are correct and that payments and refunds are processed correctly, contact your SCO to ensure the certification information they send to us matches your schedule.

Please contact the Debt Management Center if you receive a debt notification from the VA. The Debt Management Center is the authoritative source of debt collection information. You can reach them at (800) 827-0648 or e-mail them atdmc.ops@va.gov.

For additional information and resources, please see How your reason for withdrawing from a class affects your VA debt.

If evidence is not provided to substantiate that the change was due to unanticipated circumstances beyond the student’s control, the education award may be reduced effective the first day of the semester in which the change took place.