Veterans Educational Benefits

Your service pays off. Students who hope to receive veterans’ educational benefits at Vanderbilt should request a certificate of eligibility (COE) from the VA at (888) 442-4551 or Apply for Benefits. The VA will determine whether or not a student is eligible for VA educational benefits.

Post-9/11 GI Bill^®

Students who qualify for benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill^® may use the GI Bill^® Comparison Tool to obtain an estimate of their benefits. The tool will request the student to enter the percentage of eligibility (POE) from the certificate of eligibility (COE). It is important to know that the housing allowance is pro-rated based on the number of days the student is enrolled in classes. A student’s academic time status is determined by the number of hours in which a student is enrolled. Academic time status definitions may be found in the school catalog .

Because Vanderbilt University is a private university, students who receive Post-9/11 GI Bill^® benefits are subject to a maximum tuition and fee reimbursement rate each academic year. This amount may be found at the current rates of payment.

Students who receive any scholarships that are designated specifically for tuition and fees should be advised that the amount of these scholarships must be deducted from the total amount of tuition and fees that is reported to the VA.

Deadlines

In order to expedite the processing of VA educational benefits, it is recommended that students who wish to use VA educational benefits adhere to the following deadlines. Our office will confirm receipt of documents that are received. If you do not receive confirmation within a week, please email our VA school certifying officials at VASCO@vanderbilt.edu.

Fall semester: submit all required documents by July 1.
Spring semester: submit all required documents by November 1.
Summer semester: submit all required documents by March 15.

Students who cannot provide all documents by these deadlines should consult with a VA School Certifying Official in the Office of the University Registrar prior to the deadline.

Calculating Post-9/11 GI Bill^® Benefits

Forever GI Bill®—Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act

Please be sure to review the federal legislative changes in the Forever GI Bill®—Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act . One significant change will be the way that monthly housing allowances are calculated for students receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits. The VA is offering Colmery Webinars at the following link https://benefits.va.gov/gibill and has posted slides from previous webinars.

If you have specific questions about possible changes to your monthly housing allowance, we recommend using the AskVA feature at https://benefits.va.gov/gibill. Because the VA pays the monthly housing allowance directly to students receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits, the VA has informed our office that, due to federal privacy laws, they are unable to share specific information about a student’s monthly housing allowance with the school certifying official.

Important Information

Due to the extended processing time of the VA, it is not recommended that students rely on VA payments to arrive prior to Vanderbilt’s payment deadline. We suggest that all students have a plan to cover their living expenses until VA educational benefits are paid. The VA can take as long as 6-8 weeks to process certifications for VA educational benefits.

Please note that student loan aid will be applied to outstanding charges on your student account. Refunds are only initiated when there is a refundable credit balance on your account which occurs after the VA payment posts. The VA does not release payments for class sessions until shortly before a session begins. Students in modular programs may not have a refundable credit balance on their account until late in the semester which is why we recommend that students have a plan to cover the first 6-8 weeks of living expenses for each semester in which VA educational benefits are requested.

The student service fees and health insurance fees are not covered by VA educational benefits because those fees are not mandatory for all students at Vanderbilt. Additional information regarding the waiver of these fees may be found at activity fee waiver or a student health insurance waiver. Maintenance fees in the Owen Graduate School of Management are also not approved for VA educational benefits.

The VA does not reimburse students for application fees or matriculation deposits.

Yellow Ribbon Program

At Vanderbilt, all students who qualify for the Yellow Ribbon Program are entitled to receive a yellow ribbon award. Students apply for the Yellow Ribbon Program by submitting the VA-1 form. The VA School Certifying Official will review the requests and notify students if they do not qualify for the Yellow Ribbon Program based on the criteria below:

The percentage of eligibility (POE) must be 100% for the student to be considered for the Yellow Ribbon Program. As of August 1, 2022, active duty servicemembers and their spouses are eligible to participate in the Yellow Ribbon program. Children of a service member who is on active duty are eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Service members who have earned a Purple Heart may use the Yellow Ribbon Program as of August 1, 2018.

Service members who have earned a Purple Heart may use the Yellow Ribbon Program as of August 1, 2018.

The Law School and the Owen Graduate School of Management award an unlimited Yellow Ribbon funds based on the unmet need of a student. Effective August 1, 2023, all other schools award yellow ribbon funds up to $16,000 based on unmet need.

Yellow ribbon funds are distributed after the national cap for the Post-9/11 GI Bill^® has been expended. Yellow ribbon funds are awarded for each semester or session in which the student has requested certification provided that the student has unmet need. Yellow ribbon awards may reduce, or be reduced by, other institutional aid awarded. The university will review its yellow ribbon commitment each year. Participation levels may vary in future years.

Examples of how Yellow Ribbon Program awards are calculated are listed at: https://registrar.vanderbilt.edu/va/gi-bill-benefits.php

If students have questions about how the Yellow Ribbon Program is administered, please address those questions to the VA School Certifying Official at VASCO@vanderbilt.edu. Appeals to Yellow Ribbon Program policies and procedures should be directed to Molly Thompson, Senior Associate University Registrar.

If you wish to request VA educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill^®, please complete the VA-1 Form.

Other VA Educational Benefit Programs

If you wish to request VA educational benefits under any other VA educational benefits program, please complete the VA-1 Form.

Questions

Questions regarding VA educational benefits should be directed to the VA School Certifying Official in the Office of the University Registrar at: VASCO@vanderbilt.edu.

Tuition

Current tuition rates are published by the Office of Student Accounts under Fees and Charges.

Questions regarding financial aid should be directed to the financial aid office in each Vanderbilt school.

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 website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill .