Written on September 28, 2009 at 3:13 pm by

G.I. Bill Offers Advance Payments to Students Awaiting Government Payment

Filed under DoD News {2 comments}

Advance checks of up to $3,000 will be available soon for students who have applied for Veterans Affairs educational aid but have yet to receive their government payment.

Starting Friday, Oct. 2, students can go to one of VA’s 57 regional benefit offices with a photo ID and a course schedule to request advance payment of their education benefits. Because not all these offices are located near students, VA expects to send representatives to schools with large Veteran-student bodies and work with Veteran Service Organizations to help students with transportation needs.

A list of those VA regional offices is available online here.

Although VA does not know how many students will request emergency funds, it has approximately 25,000 claims pending that may result in payments to students.

The funds VA will give to students now are advance payments of the earned benefits for housing and books, and will be deducted from future education payments. VA officials said students should know that after this special payment, they can expect to receive education payments on the normal schedule: the beginning of the month following the period for which they are reimbursed.

“Students should be focusing on their studies, not worrying about financial difficulties,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. “Education creates life-expanding opportunities for our veterans.”

Read more about the G.I. Bill here.

Read the article on DefenseLINK here.

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  • Emmnauel

    Great information! I could not agree more with this statement “Students should be focusing on their studies, not worrying about financial difficulties”. Another option is to apply for a cashadvance. It is very important for young men and woman to pursue a degree that they are passionate about. Thanks for sharing this site: provided me with additional information regarding the GI bill and student funding.

  • Emmnauel

    Also, Reading through the Defense link you mentioned at officials said that “More than 27,500 students already have received benefits for housing or books under the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, or their schools have received their tuition payments”. This is outdated a little, so the number of students helped from the Post-9/11 GI bill has increased by a lot. Apply for financial help via the GI bill and other student funding options before applying for a cash advance. Higher education is a door away with the endless student financial help and resources.

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