On January 5, 2021, President Biden signed the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (P.L.116-315) into law. This new law brings significant changes to Veterans’ education benefits. Many of the changes enhance or expand education benefits for Veterans, Service members, families and survivors and provide for the improvement and/or expansion of various GI Bill® programs. Isakson and Roe Act Summaries - Education and Training (va.gov)
- Section 1010 – Monthly Enrollment Verification Verification of enrollment to receive Post-9/11 GI Bill® Benefits
- As of August 1, 2021, Non-College Degree (NCD) students must verify their enrollment status each month to continue receiving their Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments.
- This change will be implemented in phases, starting with students enrolled at a NCD facility, and extending to students at Institutes for Higher Learning (IHL) this Fall
- Note: Monthly enrollment verification is applicable to only Chapter 33 students NCD facility students can verify their enrollment status in one of two ways
- Text Messaging – NCD students who choose VA’s “Opt-In” feature will receive a text message each month prompting them to verify their enrollment status
- Telephone – NCD students who Do Not Opt-In for text may call the Education Call Center (ECC) at 888-442-4551 to verify their enrollment status
- NCD students who reply ‘Yes’ to the verification text or confirm their enrollment status hasn’t changed by phone will have MHA payments released on the first of the month as usual
- NCD students who reply ‘No’ or report a change by phone will prompt the Veteran Claims Examiner (VCE) to review for updated enrollment information from the SCO. If no updated information is pending, the VCE will contact the SCO to request an update be submitted.
- MHA payments will be held in the meanwhile-If a student fails to verify for two consecutive months, VA will withhold future MHA payments until they call the Educational Call Center (ECC) to verify.
Please note that any communication about this issue MUST be submitted directly to the Educational Call Center (ECC) since VA School Certifying Officials (veterans@barry.edu) will not be able to verify that information.
You can reach the Educational Call Center at 1-888-GIBILL-1 (888-442-4551). Call between 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday-Friday.