Benefits & Programs

While receiving VA Educational Benefits, students may be concurrently enrolled at more than one school during the same semester. Whichever school the student is pursuing a degree from is considered the Parent School. The other school is considered the Secondary School. Southwestern Students must fill out a “Veterans Affairs Office Parent School letter” form at Veterans Services.  If you are attending another institution and wish to receive benefits as a Guest Student for a course at Southwestern College, an authorization form/letter from Veterans Services at your Parent School is required. This form/letter states that the courses taken at the Secondary School will be credited toward the current major the student is pursuing. All “Guest Students” are responsible for contacting the Secondary School's Veterans Office to file required forms, the Parent School Course Approval Letter is usually mailed or faxed between colleges. The Secondary School will complete the certification for Guest Student benefits.

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The SWC Summer and January sessions are composed of terms that are considered "non-standard" by the DVA. This means that none of them are the traditional length of a semester (16 weeks). Any term which is not the 16-week traditional semester length like Summer terms, Fast-Track, or special program terms, will have the value of its credits adjusted by the DVA when they determine the training time/rate of pursuit for benefit purposes. Generally, courses shorter than a semester are "worth" more toward training time than a full-term course, but how they are counted up can be tricky.

Starting with Spring 2016, SWC shifted the Spring term dates. Now, instead of starting in January, Spring will start in early February. In order to help veteran students continue their education and not incur the loss of BAH for a month-and-a-half over the winter, SWC has created a special four-week-long intersession term in January.

Because this is a "non-standard" term in VA parlance, the number of units that it takes to reach full-time status are modified in a somewhat complex manner. Only the DVA can determine equivalency and rate of pursuit: schools are expressly forbidden to make any claims about course loads.

Based on conversations with the DVA and the Certifying Handbook, the following table represents a reasonable estimate of what course load must be taken to qualify as half- or full-time in order to get benefits.

January 2017 Intersession Term - Equivalence of a 4-Week Term

Non -33 Credits	Load		Chp. 33 Credits	Load
> or equal to 3	FT		> or equal to 4	FT
2	3/4		3	3/4
1	< 1/2		2	< 1/2

The SWC Summer and January sessions are composed of terms that are considered "non-standard" by the DVA. This means that none of them are the traditional length of a semester (16 weeks). Any term which is not the 16-week traditional semester length like Summer terms, Fast-Track, or special program terms, will have the value of its credits adjusted by the DVA when they determine the training time/rate of pursuit for benefit purposes. Generally, courses shorter than a semester are "worth" more toward training time than a full-term course, but how they are counted up can be tricky.

Starting with Spring 2016, SWC shifted the Spring term dates. Now, instead of starting in January, Spring will start in early February. In order to help veteran students continue their education and not incur the loss of BAH for a month-and-a-half over the winter, SWC has created a special four-week-long intersession term in January.

Because this is a "non-standard" term in VA parlance, the number of units that it takes to reach full-time status are modified in a somewhat complex manner. Only the DVA can determine equivalency and rate of pursuit: schools are expressly forbidden to make any claims about course loads.

Based on conversations with the DVA and the Certifying Handbook, the following table represents a reasonable estimate of what course load must be taken to qualify as half- or full-time in order to get benefits.

January 2017 Intersession Term - Equivalence of a 4-Week Term

Non -33 Credits	Load		Chp. 33 Credits	Load
> or equal to 3	FT		> or equal to 4	FT
2	3/4		3	3/4
1	< 1/2		2	< 1/2

The Spring term will continue as normal with a first and
second Fast Track period standing in early February.

You should always be concerned with how your training time is calculated as that determines the level of benefits you are entitled to. Especially for Post 9/11 (Chapter 33) recipients, it can mean the difference between receiving BAH or not. The DVA will perform calculations on such non-standard terms where classes aren't the same length as a standard semester (16 week) course. Still, there are a few rules to keep in mind that will keep you out of trouble.

1. You have to remember that the DVA looks at your course load and determines training time based on a day-by-day analysis of the number of credible courses being taken each day.
2. Non-standard classes are generally taken at an accelerated rate and are counted as being "worth more" in terms of standard equivalent credits than their stated units would imply. However we do have a few courses that are longer than a standard term and they will actually be worth less!
3. To determine what your training time (course load) would be you need to first convert all non-standard classes into standard equivalents, then overlay those credits on a calendar and sum them up (sounds harder than it really is).

Step One: Convert all non-standard terms/courses into standard equivalents. Again, this is only an estimate; the DVA will determine this using a calculation. You don't have to do the math - for our estimating purposes, you can do the same thing for Chapter 33 using conversion table below (other programs have a slightly different conversion table). Look up the credit equivalent for each of your non-standard classes and write them down.

Chapter 33 Semester Equivalency Table

Weeks ⇒	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Credits ⇓
10	12.9
9	11.6	12.5
8	10.3	11.1	12.0	13.1
7	9.0	9.7	10.5	11.5	12.6
6	7.7	8.3	9.0	9.8	10.8	12.0	13.5
5	6.4	6.9	7.5	8.2	9.0	10.0	11.2	12.9
4	5.1	5.5	6.0	6.5	7.2	8.0	9.0	10.3	12.0	14.4
3	3.9	4.2	4.5	4.9	5.4	6.0	6.7	7.7	9.0	10.8	13.5
2	2.6	2.8	3.0	3.3	3.6	4.0	4.2	5.1	6.0	7.2	9.0	12.0
1	1.3	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.8	2.0	2.3	2.6	3.0	3.6	4.5	6.0

Step Two: Overlay each course by calendar dates to sum up your equivalent course load on a day-for-day basis (this can be done very simply with a timeline). Sum up the course equivalents to find your training load from period to period.

Let's do an example so you can see how this works. Leon has signed up for three classes: a full-term three-unit class, a first fast-track class of three units, and a second fast-track class of two units. Does Leon have sufficient credits to receive BAH under Chapter 33 - in other words, when is Leon considered to be pursuing more than half-time training time so that he can start drawing his BAH?

Leon registered for class, immediately declared his classes online with Veteran Services, and reported the following:

Class Declarations for Leon

Course	Start Date	End Date	Weeks	Credits
BIOL 130 01	24 AUG	12 DEC	18 (Full term)	3
HIST 100 502	24 AUG	17 OCT	8 (Fast-Track I)	3
EMT 109 303	19 OCT	12 DEC	8 (Fast-Track II)	2

Luckily Leon did submit his SEP in a timely manner. All of his classes were degree-related and approved for payment. All the classes except for BIOL 130 are non-standard terms and must be standardized with the table. We use the table and we come up with:

Class Credit Equivalents for Leon

Course	Start Date	End Date	Credits	Equivalent Credits
BIOL 130 01	24 AUG	12 DEC	3	3 (Full term - no change)
HIST 100 502	24 AUG	17 OCT	3	6.7
EMT 109 303	19 OCT	12 DEC	2	4.2

Now we have to put these onto a time line:

Leon's Credit Timeline

Dates:	24 Aug	17 Oct		19 Oct	12 Dec
Classes:				EMT 109 (4.2 Cr.)
	HIST 100 (6.7 Cr.)
	BIO 130 (3 Cr.)
Training Time	9.7 Cr. (BAH YES)		3 Cr.*	7.2 Cr. (BAH YES)

So you can see that because Leon used both fast-track periods, he was fine: he maintained over six adjusted units ("greater than 50%") and was eligible for BAH. Break pay will continue the BAH benefit until the next period (the gap where BAH could be lost is where the asterisk is shown - but since the gap is fewer than three days the DVA will continue paying BAH).

But what if Leon had decided to take a different section of HIST-100? He wants -502 instead of -501. It is the same class, so it is still approved for benefits and he is taking the same number of units that term, but would Leon still get BAH for the whole term? Section 502 meets from 19 Oct - 12 Dec (still eight weeks long but the course occurs at a different section of the timeline). Now his timeline looks like this:

Leon's New Credit Timeline

Dates:	24 Aug	19 Oct	12 Dec
Classes:		EMT 109 (4.2 Cr.)
		HIST 100 (6.7 Cr.)
	BIO 130 (3 Cr.)
Training Time	3.0 Cr. (BAH NO)	13.9 Cr. (BAH YES)

Leon took the same classes as before and might think that his eight SWC units (showing that overall he was above half-time) would entitle him to BAH for the term: but he would be wrong! Leon loses his BAH for the first two months of the term because of the way the class dates laid out the adjusted credits!

The general rule is that if you do not have sufficient full-term credits (over six - "greater than 50%") to gain Chapter 33 BAH benefits, and you need fast-track classes to gain BAH, you should take approved classes in both fast-track periods to maintain BAH payment for the entire term.

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Veteran students, who receive benefits under Chapters 30, 1606 and 1607, must verify their enrollment on or after the last day of each month. Veterans receive an award letter from the VA Regional Processing Center in Muskogee, OK, after certification of enrollment in authorized courses. Once this is received, the student can self-certify. To insure prompt payment of benefits you must remember to certify every month, even if your class(es) ended before the end of the month. The earliest that verification can be done is the last day of the month. Monthly verification (self-certification) can be done via one of the following two ways: Internet - WAVE (Web Automated Verification of Enrollment): Easiest and shows detailed information about YOUR benefits. Follow this link for more information.

Telephone - Using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) 1 (877) 823-2378

Failure to self-certify every month will lead to your benefits being delayed or suspended.

Please be aware that Federal holidays and filing your Intent Form late, may delay the initial Certification Process and thus, timely deposit of your benefits. You are encouraged to plan accordingly and keep at least a month’s benefits in reserve at your financial institution to prevent problems, especially if your benefits provide the majority of your income.

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Direct deposit of your monthly VA educational benefits payment is available for Chapter 30, 31, 33, 1606 and 1607 recipients. This option allows faster receipt of monthly benefits, and work study payments. It also decreases the chance of missing, lost or stolen checks.  If you did not request direct deposit when you applied for benefits, you may initiate the process at any time by calling the VA at: 1 (877) 838-2778:  Monday – Friday 5:30 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. – Pacific Time.

You need to provide your VA file number, 9 digit bank routing number, and checking or savings account number.  To cancel or change direct deposit or home address, fill out Form 20-572 at Veterans Services. We will fax your request to the VA Regional Office in Muskogee, OK.

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Rates depend upon amount contributed and/or length of time in service (Number of months of contribution), as well as enrollment status. Inquire at Veterans Services or GI Bill^® website for current pay rates for each chapter.

Undergraduate Enrollment Status by Number of Credits
	Full Time	3/4 Time	1/2 Time
Fall and Spring	12.0+	9.0 - 11.5	6.0 - 8.5

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If you are having difficulty in any of your classes, you should first talk to your professor.  If the difficulty is other than that which can be addressed by tutoring, you should make an appointment with a Counselor.  Through the VA, up to $1200 is available for Individualized Tutorial Assistance.  You must be receiving VA education benefits at half-time rate or more.  If you have a deficiency in a subject necessitating private tutoring, beyond Tutoring/Learning Assistance services available on campus, students can be reimbursed for payments to a qualified tutor. The first $600 does not count against your benefits award.  For questions regarding VA tutorial assistance, and to get a copy of Form 22-1990, contact Veterans Service.  Students will need to provide documentation from their instructor identifying their need for tutoring, the qualifications of, and fees paid to the tutor, to apply for reimbursement.

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