Important Information You Need to Know

Many factors have an impact on the amount of Veterans Affairs education benefits you can receive. Read through the following list to familiarize yourself with these rules and procedures. School Certifying Officials (SCOs) do not determine eligibility nor are they VA representatives.

  • ALL admissions requirements (i.e. application, transcripts, placement test(s), and evaluation of courses) MUST be completed for continued certification by the GTCC Veteran Resource Center (VRC).
  • Students who submit a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) from the VA to the school for Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 GI Bill®) will have their applicable portion of in-state tuition and required fees paid to the school by the VA, based upon remaining entitlement.
  • The tuition for Veterans Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31), N.C. Scholarship for Children of Wartime Veterans, and Tuition Assistance students (with approval letters on file) will be paid for by the respective entity sponsoring the student.
  • All other GI Bill®chapters and veteran education programs are responsible for students' tuition cost by the school's payment due date. You cannot charge your tuition and fees to the school. Please allow 30-45 days for VA benefits to start.
  • All new students are required to attend an orientation session before their first registration at GTCC.
  • Once you have met with your advisor and have registered, submit a copy of your current schedule and required forms to the VRC. This must be done every semester that you want to use your benefits.
  • GTCC SCOs certify students using the beginning and ending dates of each class, including minimesters. This may change your Rate of Pursuit (RoP). The VA looks at how many credits a student is in every day of the semester, and pays accordingly. Please watch your term dates. Veterans taking minimester classes should note that these classes affect your certification status. Your benefit payments will be prorated based on how many hours you will be taking at any one time. (For example, if you enroll for a class that begins in August and ends in December and you also enroll for a class that begins in October and ends in December, then you will not be considered to be enrolled for both classes for VA payment purposes until October, when the second class begins.)
  • Fall and spring semesters RoP for Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA):
    • 12 hours = full time
    • 9-11 hours = 3/4 time
    • 7-8 hours = 1/2 time
  • Summer semester hours vary. Contact the VRC for the most up-to-date Summer Rate of Pursuit (VA only).
  • If you do not want to be certified for a semester, you do not need to do anything.
  • GTCC SCOs use the course catalog as the official guide for their programs. Any courses taken outside of the ones listed under your program in the catalog are your financial responsibility. The VA will not pay for non-credit courses, courses previously passed with a "D" or better (unless a better grade is required by your program for graduation), courses for which transfer credit has been granted, courses taken for audit purposes, or courses passed by a proficiency exam.
  • Any remedial/developmental classes (below 100 level classes) must be taken in person! No exceptions!
  • If a course substitution is being granted, it must be approved by the department chair and division chair. A copy of the course substitution must be provided to the VRC. There will be no certification for course substitutions by the SCO without a copy of the written, signed approval.
  • Students whose grade point average (GPA) falls below the required 2.0, will be placed on academic probation after one semester. If after the second semester of study your GPA is still below 2.0, you will be placed on academic suspension from veterans educational benefits. The suspension will remain in effect until the required 2.0 GPA has been achieved. (Please note that if you are using financial aid with your veterans benefits, there are separate policies for satisfactory academic progress and for maintaining eligibility for those programs.)
  • GTCC's SCOs must promptly be informed of ANY changes to your schedule or semester hours. This includes dropping a course, withdrawing from school, unofficially withdrawing from coursework when you stop attending in person or participating online, or a change in your program of study. Failure to follow proper procedures could result in a debt to the VA.
  • Veterans must notify the GTCC VRC and the Records Office of any address changes. You also will need to notify the Regional Processing Office of these changes as well. You may contact the GI Bill® Hotline by phone at 888-GIBill1 (1-888-442-4551) 8 a.m.-9 p.m. ET Monday-Friday.
  • GTCC VA students taking classes at another institution (guest school), who are planning to transfer credit back to GTCC (parent school), will be considered a "VISITING" student at the other institution. Please visit the VRC for steps on how to have these classes certified by the VA.
  • Incomplete (I) grades must be completed by the 5/8 point of the semester following the receipt of the incomplete. Students cannot register for any classes in which they received an incomplete grade until that incomplete has become a grade that is below the program requirement. Please note that failure to remove an incomplete grade which is a pre-requisite for a current class will cause you to be dropped from that class, and the "I" will convert to an "F" and will be factored into your GPA.
  • Tutorial Assistance is available for recipients of all chapters of VA Educational Benefits. If needed, contact the VRC for more information.
  • Let your instructor know in advance if you need to make arrangements to complete an assessment somewhere other than GTCC. If a non-GTCC proctor is needed, it is the student's responsibility to make arrangements and secure a testing appointment. Once the student has completed the Request for Proctor form, and submitted it to the Assessment Center, it will be forwarded on to their instructors and the instructors will then communicate their proctoring and testing instructions to the non-GTCC proctor. Any fees that are associated with using non-GTCC proctors are the responsibility of the student.
  • All VA education benefit recipients (except for VR&E Chapter 31 students) must verify their attendance each month. Failure to do so may cause a delay in their monthly payment.
    • Chapter 30, 35, and 1606: To verify attendance on the last day of each month, call VA's automated line at 1-877-823-2378, or Chapter 30 and 1606 can visit W.A.V.E. (Web Automated Verification of Enrollment).
    • Chapter 33: Visit the VA's website for more information on how to opt in for texting options.