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The VA Education Department at 1-888-442-4551

If you submit your VA Works application BEFORE 5:00 p.m. on the first Friday of the semester, the Office of Veteran Success will place a 90 day veteran tuition deferment onto your account to ensure you don’t accrue late fees or get dropped from classes during that time.
All Post 9/11 GI Bill® students who (1) complete a VA Works application and (2) submit their COE to OVS prior to the first Friday of the each semester will have:

1. a  90 day veteran tuition deferment placed onto their account

2. their financial aid and grants released to them during the second week of classes even if the GI Bill® has not paid USF tuition yet

Our office has 30 DAYS from the first day of the semester to certify your classes. The VA generally takes APPROXIMATELY 6-8 WEEKS to begin issuing payments to either you, USF, or both.

• Veterans: Veteran students who enter a semester with at least ONE day of entitlement remaining MAY be eligible to have their full tuition, books, and housing stipend paid for the ENTIRE semester. If a veteran has used education benefits PRIOR TO their GI Bill® , there is a chance they have utilized the maximum 48 months of total entitlement and would NOT be eligible to have their entire last semester paid for in that case. ***Contact the VA Education Department for verification***
• Veteran dependents: Veteran dependent students are ONLY eligible to receive educational benefit payments up until the final day of their entitlement. If this day falls in the middle of a semester, the student is responsible to pay the remainder of their tuition and fees.

Complete a Change in Benefits Request application in VA Works, found on the top left hand corner in the semester you are changing. If you have NOT yet been certified by OVS, you do NOT need to complete a Change in Benefits Request.

Once your certification has been submitted to the VA by the Office of Veteran Success, you will receive an automated email from the VA confirming the certification was submitted. The School Certifying Officials will place a GB Registration Restriction on your accout that will prevent you from making changes to your schedule (add/drop).  If you need to make an change to your schedule, please contact the Office of Veteran Success to request the lift of the GB restriction. You will also need to ensure your account is setup with the VA to submit your monthly school enrollment. Please visit Benefits Request Overview for an overview of the certification process.

The GB hold is a registration restriction placed on accounts of students who are using VA Education benefits, Educational Dollars for Duty (EDD), and/or Tuition Assistance (TA). It was created to prevent students from changing their class schedule after they have been certified or we receive their TA/EDD form.  Previously, students were making changes to their schedule after they were certified or submitted funding, which could impact their benefit/funding received. Our office has the permissions to add/lift this hold for students and provide communication to students when we lift their hold and how changes to schedule can impact their benefits.

Since USF does not release tuition and fee amounts until a few weeks prior to the beginning of the Fall semester, OVS only reports credit hour amounts with $0 tuition and fees to the VA so that students are able to begin receiving housing and book stipends on time. Once USF releases Fall tuition and fees, OVS then goes back to students’ Fall certifications and adds in tuition and fee amounts so they can be paid to USF.