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Policy Protecting our Veteran/Dependent Students from Late Fees and Penalties Due to Veteran Affairs Payment Delay

Policy Protecting our Veteran/Depen­dent Students from Late Fees and Pen­alties Due to Veteran Affairs Payment Delay

 

Great Basin College (GBC) will not penalize or prohibit a Veteran Education Program student from attending or participating in courses while awaiting Veterans Affairs (VA) payment (for up to 90 days) which include the following under THE VETERAN’S BENEFITS AND TRANSITION ACT OF 2018 Title I Sec. 103 Para. (e)(l)(B)(page 2):

  • Assessment of late fees.
  • Denial of access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities.
  • Require the student to pay out of pocket or borrow additional funds due to the inability to meet financial obligations to the institution as a result of delayed payments for educational assistance from VA.

Note: GBC requires Veteran/Dependent students to submit a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and additional appropriate documentation to the Veterans Resource Center (VRC) in order to qualify for the protections listed above. If a student does not comply, the Veteran/ Dependent student are not protected, and GBC will be allowed to charge a late fee. The late fees and penalties, which are due to the student’s failure, will be owed by the student. Even if the student ultimately submits a COE and VA pays tuition and fees after the fact, the late fee will not be reimbursed to the student.

Note: The law prohibits the school from requiring a student to use his or her federal financial aid, or other sources of payment, for tuition and fees while it awaits VA payments within the 90-day period. However, schools are not prohibited from allowing a student to utilize his or her federal financial aid, or any sort of aid or loan for tuition/ fees during the interim period if the student wishes to do so. What a school may not do is insist that the student utilize their aid, take out loans, or do anything else so that the tuition and fees are paid in advance of the VA benefit program.

A school may require a student to pay any charges for which there is no exception. VA will pay based on statute or VA regulations. Some examples are:

  • Fees for room or board.
  • Optional fees, i.e. parking.
  • The unmet portion of tuition payments as a result of a student qualifying for less than 100% of the maximum amounts payable.
  • Great Basin College may use standard collection.

Note: policies for these amounts, including the assessment of late fees. Also, if the amount that VA eventually pays is less than what the school anticipated receiving, the school is free to levy a fee or require the student to pay for the unmet charges. For additional questions, contact the Veterans Resource Center at 775.327.2128.