VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Tips and Tool June 2016

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION What’s on the agenda? Tools and Resources – How to contact VA as an SCO – How to contact VA as a Veteran 85/15 Reporting Compliance Survey overview Open for Discussion 1

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Tools and Resources 2

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Help me, help you! Your ELR is here for you!  Approval issues  VA ONCE technical questions  Certification questions – Feel free to When ing your ELR about a Veteran specific issue, please include the student information – Name, Last 4 digits of SSN – Feel free to call – Feel free to request a visit Training Institutional challenges **NEVER ENTER A CLAIMANT’S FULL NAME IN SUBJECT LINE OF , OR FULL SSN ANYWHERE IN THE 3

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION SCO Resources Contacting VA as an SCO Jennifer Lanser, ELR: – – Fax: SCO Hotline: Debt Management Center: – Submit a Question (Right-Now-Web): – Set up an account, contact your ELR to have your account coded as a school official Benefits and Training Resources GI Bill Website – VA ONCE User Guide SCO Handbook Education Benefit information Your ELR 4

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION GI Bill Website 5

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION GI Bill Website 6

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Veteran Resources Contacting VA as a Veteran Education Call Center: Debt Management Center: Submit a Question (Right-Now-Web): Benefits and Resources GI Bill Website – eBenefits – its/homepage its/homepage 7

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION eBenefits 8

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting 9

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting What is the 85/15 Statement of Assurance of Compliance? The Code of Federal Regulations (38 CFR ) states VA shall not approve the enrollment of any VA- eligible person, not already enrolled, in any course for any period during which more than 85 percent of the students enrolled in the course are having all or part of their tuition, fees, or other charges paid to or for them by an Educational Institution or VA 10

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting Why is the 85/15 ratio in place? Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 – Included two payments $500 per academic year for T&F paid to the colleges and other institutions Up to $50/month housing allowance for single Veterans – By 1948 the single Veteran housing allowance was $75/month and the T&F had been raised to $550 per academic year Fun Fact: In 1948, Harvard’s tuition was $580 per academic year 11

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting Why is the 85/15 ratio in place? Veterans’ Readjustment Act of 1952 – The Korean Conflict GI Bill – Benefit payments were paid to the Veteran ($110 monthly stipend) and they were expected to pay their educational cost Congress decided to have Veterans pay out of a monthly stipend as a result of hearing which disclosed fraud by colleges and other institutions in the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 where T&F were paid directly to the schools 12

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting Why is the 85/15 ratio in place? Other consequences of the hearing enacted to enable the market to weed out expensive courses of poor quality – The 85/15% ratio – 2-year rule 13

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Statement of Assurance 14 Four columns: 1. Program Name 2. Number of VA Students 3. Total Enrollment 4. VA Student Percentage

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Computing 85/15 Program Name List each course of study or curriculum leading to a separately approved educational or vocational objective – Separate courses for computation purposes at IHLs will be determined by general curriculum only until the point at which it is reasonable to assume a major field would be declared, and after that point, by specific curriculum Examples General 2-year curricula at a 2-year IHL such as AA or AS degrees with no major specified, will require separate computations for each curriculum. Terminal 2-year courses (i.e. AAS Dental Technology or Auto Mechanic) and other associate degree courses where a field is specific must be computed separately for each objective Students attending 4-year IHLs and graduate school may be counted in general curricula such as BA and BS only until the normal point at which the school requires the student to declare a major subject. Then the 85/15 computation must be made for each specific curriculum. 15

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Computing 85/15 Program Name NCD (Non-College Degree) Courses must be computed separately by approved vocational objective. If several curricula lead to the same coded vocational objective, each must meet the 85/15 ratio requirement separately Courses offered at a branch or extension will be computed separately from courses at the parent facility 16

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Computing 85/15 Number of VA Students Enter the number of VA Students in receipt of VA education benefits. If a student elects to not use VA benefits or their eligibility has ended, the student should not be counted for the respected term – If VA students are excluded from the school’s financial aid because they are entitled to VA benefits, the school must count them on the VA side, even if they are not receiving VA benefits (does not apply to graduate level training) Total Enrollment Enter the total number of students enrolled in the program during the term VA Student Percentage Divide the number of VA students by the number of total students, resulting in a decimal, and should be converted to a percentage Example: 6 total VA students / 20 total enrollment =.3 or 30% for the ratio 17

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting When does this have to be reported? 18

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION 85/15 Reporting What if you are not in compliance? If the computation is greater than 85%, VA is not able to pay for enrollments submitted for NEWLY enrolled Veterans. Veterans already enrolled in the program are not affected. Once the program drops back into compliance, enrollments may be processed Example: The Criminal Justice program has 20 total students, of which 16 are Veterans receiving assistance, making the ratio is 80%. You have 2 new Veteran students wanting to enroll in the fall, and 2 non-Veteran students who graduated. This keeps your total students at 20. Student #17 can enroll and receive benefits, Student #18 can enroll, but could not receive benefits 17/20=.85 or 85% 18/20=.90 or 90% 19

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Compliance Survey Overview 20

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION VA conducts routine periodic compliance surveys to determine if an institution is complying with regulations for approval and certifications The compliance survey review consists of a random sample of VA student records certified by the SCO to determine if the institution has the internal controls and practices to meet approval requirements The results of the findings are conveyed to the institution; and in some instances due to the percentage of discrepancies, expanded surveys and complete 100% review of VA certified student records will occur to establish overpayments due to incorrect certifications Compliance surveys are conducted by both VA and SAA personnel Compliance Survey Overview

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Open For Discussion 22