VA prepares for flood of education claims under new GI bill

The Veterans Affairs Department has received only a fraction of the enrollment claims it expects from veterans planning to attend classes this fall under the 2008 GI bill, and is bracing for an onslaught as the school year approaches.

As of this week, VA had received 13,000 enrollment claims from colleges and universities, and had approved 4,100 of those for payment, said Keith Wilson, director of the agency's Education Service. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, he told Nextgov. The agency anticipates as many as 328,000 claims, he said.

Enrollment claims are the last step in the process of recouping education benefits under the post-9/11 GI bill. Starting in May, veterans could apply for a certificate of eligibility from VA showing they were entitled to benefits. To date, the agency has approved 136,000 out of 193,000 applications received, leaving 57,000 unprocessed, Wilson said.

The majority of those pending were received in the past 30 days, and Wilson said VA has been receiving 3,600 claims daily.

Once veterans receive their stamp of approval, they provide it to the college or university they plan to attend. The schools then report enrollment information to VA, which, under the post-9/11 GI bill, makes a direct payment to the schools for tuition and fees, and a separate stipend payment of about $1,200 to the veterans. That stipend can be used for books and housing.

Asked to explain the disparity between the low number of enrollment claims -- 13,000 -- and projections that 328,000 veterans plan to attend school this fall using the post-9/11 GI bill, Wilson said many colleges did not set tuition rates until late July, and hence experienced delays in submitting enrollment forms.

"The busy time for us is August and September," he said, adding he is confident VA can get through pending claims in time to make payments for the fall semester. "That's why we hired 750 more claims examiners," he said.

But, Johann Sprenger, coordinator of veterans services at the University of Nevada Reno, said VA's state representative for Nevada told him the department was 60 days behind in processing. Sprenger suggested veterans could speed up processing by submitting an application for a certificate of eligibility along with an application for benefits.

According to VA's Web site the average processing time for education claims at four regional centers is 56 days. Steve Westerfeld, a VA spokesman, said that statistic is for all education benefit claims, including those under the Montgomery GI bill, Reserve Educational Assistance Program, and Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program, in addition to the 2008 GI bill. It typically takes 30 days to process claims for education benefits under the new GI bill, he said.