Some student veterans struggling to make tuition payments on time were flooded with relief when the Milwaukee office of the Department of Veteran Affairs began handing out emergency checks last week.
The need for emergency checks arose when college veterans did not receive their benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which offers students who have had 90 days or more of service in the military up to $3,000 to help cover the costs of tuition, housing and books, spokesperson for the Milwaukee office Thomas Braun said.
The bill originally required 35 days to be processed. However, it was determined processing time was too long for students to receive aid before tuition was due, and the process of sending out emergency checks began, Braun said.
Currently, there is a backlog of over 25,000 claims nationwide and roughly 40 percent of veterans are awaiting checks, he said.
“The last thing veterans should have to worry about is their wallet — they should worry about classes and grades,” Braun said.
To minimize the student’s concern about making payments on time, VA has asked universities to allow students to be exempt from tuition and book fees for as long as possible, Braun said.
“From our perspective, we were told just when people came in and met eligibility requirements to hand over their check, no more questions were to be asked,” Braun said.
Although the exact number of Wisconsin veterans awaiting their checks remains unknown, over 1,200 checks were sent to the Milwaukee office, 142 of which were handed out last Friday, Braun said.
To help increase the speed of processing claims, 70 extra workers were hired, past workers were temporarily re-hired and other workers were granted overtime by the Department of Veteran Affairs, Braun said.
President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Investment Act had allowed for the hiring of approximately 760 people in investment affairs, which has helped VA work through inventory, Braun said.
“This is the first semester that the bill has been available so we are hoping this will be the only time we will have this crunch,” Braun said.
For college veterans finding it difficult to make time to head to the Milwaukee office for their checks, Braun advises them to go online where treasury checks will be cut three days after applications are received.
“I want to stress that we are really happy to help with this. We are excited to be a part of the biggest educational program since the World War II GI Bill,” Braun said. “We’ve seen lots of happy faces and relief from students.”
The University of Wisconsin has been working alongside students whose checks were delayed. A temporary waiver has been placed on student’s accounts, exempting them from being held accountable for their charges until the checks come, UW Office of the Registrar Assistant Registrar Michelle Kelley said.
Other students waiting to hear back about their eligibility have been granted an extended due date on payments, Kelley said.
“We are more than willing to work with students and do what we need to do to not penalize them in any way,” Kelley added.
