Determining Veteran Status for Financial Aid Purposes Arianna Gray – Assistant Director, Financial Aid & Veterans Services, Collin College Lindy Henrie – Advisor, Financial Aid & Veterans Services, Collin College Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Federal definition of Veteran for FA Have served (veteran) or are serving on ACTIVE DUTY in the U.S. Armed Forces for purposes OTHER THAN training Army Navy Air Force Marines Coast Guard Released under a condition other than “dishonorable” No minimum amount of time – even 1 day counts (provided it’s active duty) including basic training From AVG Guide Pages 24-25 Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

There are 3 levels or types of service Active Duty – the military is their full-time job. Reserve & National Guard – the military is a part-time job. Reserve & National Guard that were called to active duty for federal service by order of the president - their usual part-time service became a full-time job for a limited/specified period of time. Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Determining type of service Look in Box 2 of the DD214 Branch of Military Active Duty Reserves ARMY REARMY; RegARMY or RA (occasionally USA) AUS or USAR Army National Guard ------- ARNG or ARNGUS AIR FORCE USAF or Air Force - RegAF USAFR Air National Guard ----------- ANG or ANGUS NAVY USN USNR MARINES USMC USMCR COAST GUARD USCG USCGR Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Determining if Reservists/NG’s called to active federal duty Look in Box 18 on DD214 Definitive location for evidence of active federal duty. Called up by presidential order for a purpose other than training. Beware other areas on the DD214 that may use the word “active duty”, “active service”, or “…completed first full term of service”, etc. Beware active duty to assist with state level emergency (flood, hurricane, riot control, etc.) This is NOT federal service. Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Discharge Status Look in Box 24 on DD214 Some status’ you might see here include: Honorable General or General under honorable conditions Other than honorable Entry level separation Dishonorable and Bad Conduct Discharge* Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Other notes about the DD214 DD214 is the “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty” This does NOT mean the person was an active duty soldier (were full- timers), only that they served on active duty for some reason. ALL TRAINING is considered/called active duty because soldiers attend training full-time (there is no part-time training). This does not make them an active duty (full-time) soldier. Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

U.S. Service Academies & Preparatory Schools U.S. Military Academy (West Point) U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis) U.S. Air Force Academy U.S. Coast Guard Academy U.S. Merchant Marine Academy U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School U.S. Naval Academy Preparatory School U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Let’s look at some example DD214’s Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Texas Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

Thank you! Arianna Gray – agray@collin.edu 972-881-5786 Lindy Henrie – lhenrie@collin.edu 972-881-5731