GI Bill® beneficiaries who receive another VA benefit to a separate banking account must update their banking information for receipt of all VA payments to one single bank account, no later than April 20, 2024. For example, if you receive GI Bill® payments to one of your bank accounts, and you receive disability compensation payments to another account, you will need to select one account for all payments by April 20. 

Step-by-step instructions for updating your direct deposit information are available on the VA website. 

Students using their Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits are encouraged to add their mobile number and email address through the Ask VA (AVA) System. This will ensure that you receive the latest updates on your monthly enrollment verification. Please note, that the contact information for the GI Bill is separate from the contact information on VA.gov or in other VA systems. If you do not yet have a VA login account, you can set one up at Ask.VA.gov | Veteran Affairs.

For more information on the enrollment verification requirement, including step-by-step instructions, a video walkthrough, and FAQs, explore the Enrollment Verification website. 

In addition to verifying enrollment with the VA, students must also complete the VA Enrollment Certification Request in SharkLink (see announcement from July 22, 2022) with NSU each semester to ensure seamless processing of VA benefits.

On December 21, 2021, President Biden signed the Responsible Education Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions Act or the REMOTE Act into law. Section two of this law extends the various COVID-19 protections for GI Bill® students from December 21, 2021, to June 1, 2022. In part, this means that students who were attending a course that was converted to online training because of COVID-19 and were getting paid the resident rate may continue to train online and will continue to receive the resident housing rate until June 1, 2022. 

While VA updates its systems to reflect this change students may receive a letter with the previous expiration date of December 21, 2021. This notice should be disregarded. Students may contact the Education Call Center at 888-442-4551 between 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday-Friday, to speak with a representative regarding questions about their benefits.

COVID-19 legislation that permits veteran students to receive Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) at the resident rate, while taking approved converted (online) courses, will end on December 21, 2021. When enrolling for courses in 2022 or any subsequent terms, students will need to enroll in approved resident classes to continue receiving your MHA at the resident rate. Additionally, if students are enrolled in converted courses that continue past December 21, 2021 AND have been receiving MHA at the resident rate due to COVID-19, the MHA will be reduced to the online rate on December 22, 2021. If you have questions about your specific circumstance, please contact the Education Call Center at: 1-888-442-4551 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. Students calling from outside the United States can call 001-918-781-5678 during business hours, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. EST Monday - Friday.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Debt Management Center resumed sending debt notification letters on October 1, 2021. If you owe money to VA for an overpayment related to VBA benefits, here is what you need to know: 

• VA automatically deferred collection on VBA benefit debts created on or after April 6, 2020, through September 30, 2021, to provide relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. Benefit debts created prior to April 6, 2020, had collection deferred upon request. VA also paused all collection activity on debts under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Treasury until September 30, 2021.

•  Most VBA benefit debts are collected by the VA Debt Management Center (DMC). This includes debts for benefits, like compensation, pension, and education. If VBA created a debt for you while collection was deferred, you likely received informational letters from DMC letting you know your debt existed, but you didn’t need to act until after September 30 unless you chose to do so.

For more information on resumption of debt collection, check out the latest information on https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/95184/debt-management-center-what-you-need-to-know-about-vba-debts-and-debt-relief/

If you know a veteran who is in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

Students using their Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits will be required to verify their enrollment at the end of each month beginning with terms starting after December 17, 2021. Failure to verify for two consecutive months will impact their Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments. 

What you need to know:

• The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is encouraging students to sign up for text message verification. This will provide students a simple and convenient verification option and ensure they receive MHA and/or kicker payments uninterrupted. 

• After December 17, 2021, all impacted students with a U.S. mobile phone number on file will receive an opt-in text as their next enrollment period approaches. Students who do not have a U.S. mobile phone number on file with VA will not be able to use text verification. They will be automatically enrolled into email verification.