Important Information
Important information for students to know
The following information is a general listing of important topics for veteran students so that they may better understand the policies and procedures required to attain their benefits.
Section 702 (The Choice Act)
Kentucky and ECTC are in compliance with Section 702 (The Choice Act) for in-state resident rate requirement. Because of this, we can still process certifications for our students for their educational benefits for the Summer and Fall 2015 semesters. If you are receiving VA education benefits and are being charged out-of-state tuition, please contact us immediately to resolve this matter.
Tutorial Assistance Facts Sheet
For more information about VA Tutorial Assistance, click here.
Non-standard Term Classes
Check with the school certifying official before you enroll in modules, learning anytime, or bi-term classes.
Online Classes
Remedial or deficiency courses cannot be taken online. These classes must be taken in a classroom. The Department of Veterans Affairs will not pay for remedial, refresher, or deficiency classes taken online.
Regarding Books
If you are taking a class in which the text book is included with the cost of the tuition, you must pay for the text book. For example, with the Pearson Digital Lab online book for $68.75, the student must pay that as an out-of-pocket cost.
College Navigator
College Navigator is a tool for students to aid in the selection of schools and training programs.
VA Student Responsibilities
The VA Student Responsibilities Form is a list of the responsibilities that is required by each student while using VA education benefits.
Office Hours
We are open on Monday-Friday from 08:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M.
VA Office Closing Dates
The VA Office will be closed from:
June 19, 2017 to June 23, 2017 for Mandatory Training.
Should you need assistance, call the VA Hotline at 1-888-442-4551.
Enrollment Request
If we do not process your request because of any reason and you receive a letter informing you about that problem, you must resubmit the VA Briefing & Veterans Enrollment form when the problem has been corrected. Upon submitting the ECTC Veterans Enrollment form you must select "Change to initial request" on the form.
Dropping Classes
If you drop a class you should complete an online drop request with the Records Office. You must notify our office when you have dropped a course. This is done to avoid an overpayment with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Enrollment
Enrollment certifications for the fall semesters for some chapters will be delayed. The delay is caused by the Board of Regents meeting that takes place in the month of June. At this meeting the Board of Regents must decide what the tuition rate will be for the calendar year beginning in the fall semester.
- For Chapter 33/Post 911 the law requires that the actual tuition and the actual fees assessed for the certified enrollment period are reported.
- For Chapters 30, 35, 32, 1606 and 1607 the law allows certification to be submitted before the term begins, unless training time is less than half-time or the student is on active duty.
- For Chapter 31 students, tuition and fees are not required to be reported to your case manager. We will process all chapter 31 students without the tuition rate for every fall semester upon request.
Verification of Enrollment
Chapters 30, 1606, & 1607 must verify their enrollment monthly by Web Automated Verification (W.A.V.E).
Chapter 33
Financial Aid is always processed within a month of the start of the term and their funds will be disbursed at this time. The Department of Veterans Affairs will process their funds after the last day in each month and most students should receive their checks between the 1st-15th of the following month. Your Financial Aid will be taken by the school to pay your tuition and fees and this will be refunded to you when the Department of Veterans Affairs pays the school for your tuition and fees. Until the Department of Veterans Affairs pays ECTC, an NOC code is placed on your account to prevent you from having all of your classes cancelled. This is due to precertification as requested by Mr. Allison A. Hickey letter dated July 26, 2013 that in order to ensure that the books & supplies stipend and the monthly housing allowance will be paid on time. Also, you will receive a student bill every two weeks from the ECTC Business Office reminding you that your balance has not been paid. These letters will continue until the DVA makes a payment to the school for you. Tuition and fees are processed after ECTC's drop and add session. The only way to get around this is for you to pay out of pocket or have a third party make your payment for tuition and fees.
A Books and Supplies Stipend may be received before the semester starts, if all required documents are turned into the Veterans Affairs Office on the main campus by the set deadlines.
Post-9/11 GI Bill: Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship
Children of an active duty member of the Armed Forces who died in the line of duty after September 10, 2001, are eligible for this benefit. A child may be married or over 23 and still be eligible.
Transfer of Entitlements
Nature of Transfer
An eligible service member may transfer up to the total months of unused Post-9/11
GI Bill benefits, or the entire 36 months if the member has not used them.
Family member use of transferred educational benefits is subject to the following:
- Spouse:
- May start to use the benefits immediately.
- May use the benefit while the member remains in the Armed Forces or after separation from active duty.
- Is not eligible for the monthly stipend or books and supplies stipend while the member is serving on active duty.
- Can use the benefits for up to 15 years after the service member's last separation from active duty.
- Child:
- May start to use the benefit only after the individual making the transfer has completed at least 10 years of service in the Armed Forces.
- May use the benefits while the eligible individual remains in the Armed Forces or after separation from active duty.
- May not use the benefit until he/she has attained a secondary school diploma (or equivalency certificate), or reached 18 years of age.
- Is entitled to the monthly stipend and books and supplies stipend even though the eligible individual is on active duty.
- Is not subject to the 15-year delimiting date, but may not use the benefit after reaching 26 years of age.
Submitting a Request to Transfer Chapter 33, New Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits to Dependents
This is the process according to the DOD:
- Using your CAC card or DFAS pin, log on to the DoD Transferability of Education Benefits (TEB).
- The family members eligible for benefits under DEERS will be shown. (If a dependent's name is grayed out or the edit button does not work, it means that the member is not eligible for DEERS benefits and thus is not eligible to receive transferred benefits.)
- Click the edit button for each family member you want to transfer benefits to. Choose the start date and end date, and number of months of benefit. (Spouses can use for 15 years after the member separates/retires; children can use until their 26th birthday.)
- Once you've added your family members, check all the boxes to indicate you've already read and understand each statement on the transfer request page.
- After you have submitted your request to transfer benefits, in the upper left corner of the TEB site, you will see your name, status submitted, and the date of status will be blank.
- To track the status of your request, you will have to return to the TEB page and monitor the status.
- After a request is approved, the status of your request will change to "approved" and the date of status (approval) will be the date you submitted your request. The TEB site will automatically transfer the data to the VA, so that they can process a family member's request for a certificate of eligibility.
- Once your request is approved, your family member, the student, has to submit a request for a certificate of eligibility to the VA. They should use VA Form 22-1990e, and can do so via the VA website (link below). VA's current processing time is 4-6 weeks.
- After receiving the certificate of eligibility from the VA after their benefits have been reviewed and processed, the student will provide the certificate to the School Certifying Official. VA's current processing time is 4-6 weeks. Another option is to take a copy of your TEB approval from the DOD website to the School Certifying Official and ask them to certify your enrollment to VA.
- If the student has not received the certificate of eligibility/award letter from VA when he/she enrolls in school, he/she should ask the business office or financial aid office to ask for possible fee deferment or other options available.
- Tuition funds will be sent direct from the VA to the school. Children using transferred benefits will receive the monthly living stipend and the books and supplies stipend. Spouses using the transferred benefits will only receive the monthly living stipend and the books and supplies stipend if they use the benefits after you separate from active duty.
Ways Educational Institutions can assist with timely VA Education Payments
It is critical to maintain regular contact with your School Certifying Official on campus. They are your key connection point between the school and Veterans who are utilizing their benefits.
Veterans that make changes to the number of credit hours (dropping or adding classes) impacts benefit payments ~ and may result in indebtedness to VA ~ but will most certainly impact the timeliness of your benefits as VA re-processes your claim.
- Today, Veterans' drop/add actions account for more than 50 percent of the total 4.4 million claims transactions VA completes each year.
- Veterans are responsible for overpayment, which can result in monies subtracted from their future housing allowance payments.
- Your School Certifying Official can help VA in educating Veterans on the impacts that these changes have on the timeliness of their benefits.
