GI Bill Benefits®

Active Duty Members and Veterans of the US Armed Forces may be eligible for education benefits under the GI Bill®, as well as eligible dependents. The official source of information about educational benefits under the GI Bill® is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at www.gibill.va.gov . Please refer to the VA's website to learn more about the individual benefits for which you may be eligible.

Marist University does participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program for undergraduate students eligible at 100% for Chapter 33 Post 9/11 Benefits. Active duty members are not eligible for Yellow Ribbon.  Students must formally apply to the Yellow Ribbon Program and they may do so using Marist’s online VA Enrollment Certification Request Form (see below).  Please note: the University has a limited number of Yellow Ribbon spaces available in the program.  Eligible students must apply and the applicants are accepted into the program on a first-come-first-served basis. Please refer to the VA website for more information about the Yellow Ribbon Program,  www.gibill.va.gov

Apply to the VA for GI Bill® Benefits:

All Chapters except Transferred Benefits under Chap 33:

Apply using one of the following two methods:

1. online using the VA's Online Application at https://www.va.gov/education/how-to-apply/

2. by paper application using form 22-1990 available at http://www.va.gov/vaforms/

Chapter 33 Transferred Benefits to Dependents

1.) Apply to the Department of Defense for permission to transfer benefits to dependents. Using the Transferability of Education Benefits (TEB) website: https://milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil/milconnect/public/faq/Education_Benefits-How_to_Transfer_Benefits

2.) To track the status of your request, you will have to return to the TEB webpage and monitor the status. Once approved, print the TEB approval for the University's School Certifying Official.

3.) Once your request is approved, your dependent must apply for Chap 33 benefits. Your dependent should do so using one of the following two ways:

a.) on line using the VA's Online Application at https://www.va.gov/education/how-to-apply/

 b.) by paper application using form 22-1990 available at http://www.va.gov/vaforms/

Register to use your GI Bill® Benefits at Marist:

After you have applied to the VA for GI Bill® Benefits, you will need to submit an online VA Enrollment Certification Request Form and several documents to the School Certifying Official to begin using your benefits at Marist. 

The link to the VA Enrollment Certification Request Form is https://forms.office.com/r/92raNiBaYU. 

This link requires a Marist UserID and Password. Prospective students will not be able to access this form until Marist has issued a Marist UserId and Password.

Required documents include:

• A copy of the Certificate of Eligibility or the Award Letter (for all chapters except Chapter 31 VR&E)
• A copy of the DD-214, member copy 4 - long form (required of all applicants except dependents and active duty members)

These forms may be submitted as attachments to the online VA Enrollment Certification Request Form:  https://forms.office.com/r/92raNiBaYU.   It is recommended that you submit everything all at one time.

Chapter 31 Veteran Readiness & Employment: VA counselors submit an authorization directly to the university– students do not have to submit any documents other than the DD-214, but they might have to remind their counselor to submit the authorization every semester.

Verification of Enrollment

After the student has supplied all the required documents (see above), the School Certifying Official at Marist sends enrollment information to the Veteran's Affairs Regional Office.  This initiates payment of your benefits by the VA.

To recap, the entire process for enrollment verification at Marist University is as follows:

1. The student applies to the VA for benefits (see links above).
2. Student submits the VA Enrollment Certification Request Form  to the School Certifying Official via https://forms.office.com/r/92raNiBaYU.  
3. Upon receipt of all required documentation, the student is tagged as a VA benefit recipient.
4. The School Certifying Official supplies the VA Regional Office with all required enrollment information.
5. Payments are issued after the VA processes all enrollment certifications (this may take several weeks).

Initial enrollment verifications are submitted to the VA shortly before the term begins and again at the conclusion of the Add/Drop period.  Thereafter, updates are sent to the VA on a monthly basis.  Marist submits verifications on a semester-to-semester basis and not on a once-per-academic-year basis - this results in an interval between Fall and Spring semesters and over the summer when MHA payments cease temporarily.  Please take this into account when making financial plans.

Please Note: students are required to submit the VA Enrollment Certification Request Form every semester that they intend to use their VA Benefit.

For Chapter 33 Post 9/11 benefit recipients:  The VA requires that schools report tuition, fees and financial aid (excluding Pell and loans).  Therefore, final verifications with financial information are submitted to the VA once all financial aid has been disbursed.  This significantly delays the VA payment of tuition and fees to the University.  Tuition bills are generated at regular intervals throughout the term.  Credit for your GI Bill® benefit will not appear on your tuition statement until the payment has been received by the University from the VA.

Tuition Payment Information

For standard Montgomery GI Bill® benefits (Chaps. 30, 35, 1606, 1607):

The VA submits payment directly to the student and does not share the monetary amount of the benefit with the University.  Therefore, Marist does not allow Montgomery GI Bill® (Chaps 30, 35, 1606 and 1607) to be used as a basis for deferring tuition payment.  Students must pay their tuition bills out of pocket and then use the monthly stipend as reimbursement.

For Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill® Benefits:

The VA submits payment for tuition and fees directly to the University on behalf of students receiving Chapter 33 benefits.  Marist will defer payment for this benefit.  Students must provide the School Certifying Official with a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) which denotes Payment Tier Rate and number of months of eligibility.  The University needs this information to determine the amount that the VA will contribute and the amount for which the student will be responsible.  If the student is eligible for and has been accepted into the University's Yellow Ribbon Program, this information will also be used in determining the payment amount due from the student.  The Office of Student Financial Services will work with the student to determine the amount of tuition for which the student will be responsible.

If the student is eligible for a Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) or a book stipend, the VA will send payment directly to the student.  After the VA has received and processed the enrollment certification from the school, payment will commence after the term begins and, usually, around the first of the month. These stipends will be not sent out by the VA prior to the start of the term regardless of how early the school certifies enrollment.  The student should plan to pay these expenses out of pocket until the VA commences payment.

 

Marist University Contacts:

For Benefit Application Procedures or Enrollment Certification:

            School Certifying Official
            Office of the Registrar
            Marist University
            3399 North Road
            Poughkeepsie,  NY  12571
            (845) 575-3250
           Cheryl.lown@marist.edu

 

For Tuition or Billing Information:

            Student Financial Services
            Marist University
            3399 North Road
            Poughkeepsie,  NY  12571
            (845) 575- 3230
            Scott.Khare@marist.edu

 

Department of Veterans Affairs

www.gibill.va.gov
1-888-GI-BILL-1
1-888-442-4551
 

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.