In a press release issued January 23, 2010 the VA announced that it would begin recovery of advanced payments made to education benefit recipients during the fall 2009 semester. “The advance payments were a huge success and helped thousands of student Veterans during the first days of the historic Post-9/11 GI Bill focus on studies and not their finances,” said Keith Wilson, Director of Education Services at VA. “Now, we can get to the business of closing the books on advance payments and focus on supporting Veterans for the spring semester.”
The advance payments were offered through a web portal to Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients in the fall of 2009 as the backlog of education benefits applications grew, leaving many veterans waiting weeks and even months for their financial award.
At the conclusion of semester VA discontinued advance payments through the web portal. VA is currently processing approximately 7,000 education benefits daily, up from an average of 2,000 at the beginning of the fall 2009 term. As of January 22 the Department has processed more than 105,000 of the approximately 132,000 spring enrollments received.
As always, veterans are encouraged to apply for education benefits as early as possible to avoid delays.
