VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION July 15-18, 2013 School Certifying Official Hotline

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION SCO Hotline Purpose of SCO Hotline The Do’s The Don’ts Resources Troubleshooting Issues Questions 1

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Purpose of SCO Hotline Prior to September 2012 the course of action for an SCO to solve school payment questions was through the Online Question Forum ( or send an to the Education Liaison Representative (ELR). This was not working 100% due to slow response. VACO established SCO Hotline on 09/21/2012. – A dedicated toll-free hotline available for SCO’s – The toll-free hotline number is – The hotline is available from 7:00am – 5:00pm central time. – Office is located in Muskogee Oklahoma. 2

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION SCO Hotline Do’s SCO Hotline is 1 st step in resolving school payment questions. ELR and Online forum always available for clarification or further questions. SCO must be identified on current VA Form – This is updated via the form (Designation of SCO) SCO must provide Facility Code. SCO must only ask questions about school payments or debts. SCO should record the name of VA employee and date/time of every call. Prior complaints have not been captured for feedback without this info. 3

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION SCO Hotline Don’ts SCO must not give out the Hotline phone number to students. – Students must use call center for all of their questions. SCO should not ask questions about: – Student BAH payments – Student Book and Supplies payments – Student Reimbursable Chapter payments – Student eligibility remaining – Student CH33 eligibility percentage – Student application status – Student debt 4

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Resources 5 Contacting the VA Education Liaison Representative SCO Line: SCO Fax: *To fax certification forms only Veteran Line: Debt Management Center: Debt Management Center (schools only) Submit a Question: * Once you have set up an account, contact ELR to code you as an SCO GI Bill Website eBenefits

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION Resources Continued 6 SCO Resource Page: VA Once VA Once Guidance SCO Handbook Online School Training Other good training and resources

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION “VA Once is not working” Which browser are you using? (Be sure to use Internet Explorer) Clear cache, cookies, make sure pop up blockers are not on If none of the above work, please send a screen shot to ELR “The payment amount is not what the school expected to receive” Is the student out of benefits? Has the student hit the tuition and fee cap for the year? Call the SCO Line or send in a question through Right Now Web If none of the above work, call ELR “We have a school debt that does not make sense” What triggered the debt? Call the SCO Line or send in a question through Right Now Web Still confused? Call ELR “The student didn’t receive a payment or has a debt” Have the student contact the VA 7 Troubleshooting Issues