VA to adjust tuition benefits processing for changes in law

The Veterans Affairs Department will have to tweak its software for processing educational benefits to comply with the latest version of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, top VA officials said during a media briefing on Monday.

The measure, which President Obama signed into law earlier this month, now sets a nationwide tuition cap of $17,500 for veterans attending private colleges and universities, rather than reimbursing them based on the rate charged by the most expensive public school in their state. Veterans who attend state colleges and universities will have their full tuition paid, even if it exceeds the $17,500 private tuition ceiling.

The new law also limits housing payments to semesters when veterans are in school as opposed to providing them year-round, and offers students taking online courses a housing stipend equivalent to half that granted veterans who physically attend classes, for a payment of about $650 a month.

Roger Baker, VA chief information officer, said he is facing an aggressive schedule to adjust the claims processing system by Aug. 1, when these and other changes take effect. The final piece of the automated setup, which provides an interface with department financial systems, went live in December 2010.

But Mike Walcoff, acting undersecretary for benefits at VA, said he does not anticipate the kind of problems the department experienced in 2009 when the original version of the law went into effect and claims had to be processed mostly by hand. This delayed payments to so many veterans that in late September 2009, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki ordered reimbursements of up to $3,000 to veterans who had not received stipend checks.

Automation has made a big difference, Walcoff said. In 2009, VA took 59 days to pay an original education claim; that has now dropped to 25 days. The department also processes 10,000 claims daily versus 2,000 in 2009, he said.

Since 2009, VA has paid out $8.1 billion benefits to 440,000 veterans or family members going to school under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.