Veterans Services FAQs

What is the STEM Extension?

Veterans Services FAQs


  • The VA will provide up to 9 months of additional Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits to certain eligible individuals who:
    • Have or will soon exhaust entitlement of Post-9/11 GI Bill®
    • Apply for assistance
    • Enroll in a program of education leading to a post-secondary degree that, in accordance with the guidelines of the applicable regional or national accrediting agency, requires more than the standard 128 semester (or 192 quarter) credit hours for completion in a standard, undergraduate college degree in biological or biomedical science; physical science; science technologies or technicians; computer and information science and support services; mathematics or statistics; engineering; engineering technologies or an engineering-related field; a health profession or related program; a medical residency program; an agriculture science program or natural resources science program; or other subjects and fields identified by VA as meeting national
    • Complete at least 60 standard semester (or 90 quarter) credit hours in a field listed above or has earned a post-secondary degree in one of these fields and is enrolled in a program of education leading to a teaching
  • Priority would be given to individuals who are entitled to 100% of Post-9/11 GI Bill®benefits and to those that require the most credit
  • VA can pay each eligible individual the benefits for up to 9 additional months, but the total may not exceed $30,000.
  • These additional benefits cannot be transferred to
  • This expansion becomes effective on August 1,

 

How do I apply for the STEM Extension?

  • Apply online: gov/education/how-to-apply/
  • Choose “Find your education benefits form”.
    • Select “Applying to extend my benefit using the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship”

 

What is BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing)?

  • Monthly benefit paid via direct deposit to students while attending school under the Post-9/11 GI Bill®
  • BAH is paid after the fact. If you start school on September 1 – the earliest you could bepaid under the best of circumstances is October

How much BAH (Basic Allowance for House) am I eligible for?

  • Equal to the BAH of an E-5 with
  • Active duty members and spouses of active duty members using transferred entitlementare not eligible for BAH
  • Students must attend more than half-time to receive the housing allowance
  • Benefits for attendance at less than full-time are pro-rated to the nearest multiple of For example, if 12 credits are required for full-time attendance and the student is taking 8 credits, the student will receive 70 percent of the housing allowance (8 divided by 12 equals .66, which is rounded up to 70 percent). See the chart below for a full breakdown of percentages based on enrolled credits.
  • Students enrolled in only online/distance learning will be paid BAH at a lower rate. Therate for solely online instruction is half the national average of the BAH rates payable for an E-5 with dependents in the continental United

 

BAH percentages based on enrolled credits:

Credit hours Training Time

Proration

Rate of Pursuit

MHA

1 - 5

Not Payable

 

$0

6

Not Payable

 

$0

7

7/12 = 0.58

60%

MHA * .6

8

8/12 = 0.67

70%

MHA * .7

9

9/12 = 0.75

80%

MHA * .8

10

10/12 = 0.83

80%

MHA * .8

11

11/12 = 0.92

90%

MHA * .9

12

12/12 = 100%

100%

Full MHA

 

Veteran Service FAQs

  • Yes, if the courses you are enrolled in apply to your degree or
  • VA can pay benefits for courses taken at secondary If the student is only enrolledat the secondary school (supplemental enrollment), VA will pay for the credits taken at the secondary school. If the student is enrolled at the primary school and the secondary school at the same time (concurrent enrollment), VA will pay for the combined credit, taking overlapping enrollment dates into account.
  • A Parent Letter from your primary institution is needed for this. You must submit theParent Letter to your secondary institution to let them know what courses you will be taking and the term dates of the courses. This lets the school know how to certify your benefits.

  • VA will not pay benefits for courses not required to complete your degree or
  • If we report that you received a grade which does not count toward your graduation, youmay have to repay all benefits the VA paid for the course (tuition and housing and if the dropped courses drop you to half-time enrollment, you would have to return all BAH paid to you for that term).
  • The exception to this rule is Rounding Out. This is an option for Chapter 33 Veterans onlyto ‘round out’ to full-time enrollment in their final semester/term; if their remaining credits needed to graduate would make them have less than full-time enrollment. This option is only available in the student’s graduating term.

  • If you withdraw from one or more courses after the end of your school’s drop period andreceive grades that don’t count toward your graduation requirements, you may have to repay all the benefits VA paid for the course from the beginning of the term (including BAH).
  • You may not have to repay the benefits if you show that the change was due toextenuating

Withdrawal circumstances the VA may accept include:

  • Extended illness
  • Lack of child care
  • Unscheduled changes in your employment
  • Severe illness or death in your immediate family

Note: You should send supporting documentation directly to the VA.

Circumstances the VA may not accept are:

  • You do not like your professor/instructor
  • You attempted too many courses at one time
  • You withdrew to avoid failing the class

Note: If you withdraw from a class, you must email Veteran Services, to have your enrollment adjusted. If you do not, you will create a debt with the VA for BAH paid to you for that class.