Source
r/Veterans•
andre2142

VA has not sent any BAH for the past 2 months after STEM scholarship extension.

GI Bill/Education

Hey all,

I got accepted for the "The Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship" right before my GIBILL ended as I have a yr left of college. Everything seems fine on the school tuition side.

But it's been 2 months so far and I have not received any BAH yet, I have called and all they keep telling me is that "All we can see in your file is that your BAH is in processing/Queue"

  • Has anyone on a similar situation experienced the same? anything else I can do to get more details? I'm running out of savings waiting.

UPDATE: As of 05NOV20 I have just received all the BAH that was owed to me, total waiting time has been a little under 3 months. I hope this gives everyone some insight/hope.

Posted Oct 21, 2020, 4:05 PM UTC · edited

1134
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-•

Apply for the pell grant as well, if you haven't already. It's an extra $6k/year to add to your savings. As for the BAH, you just gotta wait unfortunately

4
andre2142OP•

Oh definitely, I have. That's unfortunate about the BAH, but thankfully I have prepared for a time like this.

1
AutoModeratorMOD•

'Have you looked in the Wiki for an answer? We have a lot of information posted there.

To contact VA Education, 1-888-442-4551, for Voc Rehab VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment Program) assistance with appointments or problems with your Case Manager (not for missing payments): 1-202-461-9600.

Payments for all education benefits to include Voc Rehab VETERAN READINESS AND EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING AND SERVICES are paid at the end of the month you attend school - Dept of Treasury issues these payments using a 10 business day window - these payments are not locked into a specific day of the month like VA disability/military pay is. For Voc Rehab missing payments, contact your Case Manager or your local **Regional Office

Fall 2020 Post 9/11 GI Bill classes

Attention Veterans and Family members who have a VBA overpayment. If you are affected by the COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS), have a VBA benefit debt and need temporary financial relief, please contact DMC at 1-800-827-0648 to request assistance. The financial relief actions include the following until further notice: - Suspending all actions on Veteran debts under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. - Suspending collection action or extending repayment terms on preexisting VA debts, as the Veteran prefers.'

VA Education is going paperless - make sure VA has a current email address for you

For FREE math Tutoring - contact https://www.armysmart.org

Vet Tech Information from a veteran and VA information here]

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1
PCMR_GHz•

I havent received a housing payment or even tuition from the program since June of this year. All I keep hearing is to give it "up to 30 business days" to process. Meanwhile its been 4 months.

The most they can do is put a hardship flag on your account so they can process it faster but until then I am put on a registration hold at my university because of it.

1
andre2142OP•

Good gracious this is scary, best of you to you as well. I'll try to get mine flagged due to my situation.

1
I_am_DFW•

I applied in June was approved. I only needed July and Aug covered. I graduated Aug 7th. I still have not received a BAH payment or tuition. My school will not release my diploma because I owe them tuition. I graduated almost three months ago and still nothing. When I call they say I am in the authorization phase. I have been in this phase for months. Supposedly the last stage before dispersement of funds. This is ridiculous.

1
andre2142OP•

I hope we get a lumpsum of the past months. I still got a year left....so I'm kind of out there now. Best of luck on your situation.

1
I_am_DFW•

Got my BAh yesterday, waiting for tuition now

1
andre2142OP•

Hey thanks for the update, Interesting enough, I dont know if you noticed too, but lately I got a couple of general news emails regarding the GI BILL and 2 about that scholarship. It made think "hmm, they are starting move".

Did you got ended up getting all your BAH owed-to-date or just a month's worth?

1
I_am_DFW•

All of it at once. I think I got the book stipend too cause it was more than I was expecting

1
I_am_DFW•

I had gotten an email two days before that they were imputing it manually and would be processed within two weeks.

1
andre2142OP•

Glad to hear bud, I'm sure your school will get theirs too. Best of luck!

1
I_am_DFW•

Thanks man. Let me know when yours pulls through. Luckily I'm done with that nightmare. Best luck

2
blakew19d•

I am in the same situation. I got on the STEM extension in the summer, had some hiccups as usual, and eventually got everything to go through. Entering the Fall semester though I have called the VA 3 times. The first they just told me to keep waiting and that it was in the final approval phase. The second time I called, I apparently didn't have any enrollment verification with them, the school did that for me, and I'm supposed to be verifying my own enrollment at the end of each month. Did that and still nothing. Just got off the phone with them and they said that someone missed a step, they would put it in my notes and make me a priority and to wait another couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I'm graduating at the end of this semester and am behind on bills already because of all this. I know that this isn't helpful to anyone but you aren't alone in it.

1
andre2142OP•

Thanks for your insight, I'll update you all if there any movement on my end.

1
blakew19d•

I figured I’d share an update on my situation. Today I just got an email saying everything had been processed and approved for my housing payment. The day before yesterday I got super upset, called them up and told them that I was about to be on the street with my family from not paying rent and was going to shoot myself(I’m not). I do not recommend this course of action, but it seemed to work.

1
basedXchimchar•

Where do I contact to verify enrollment?

1
SCOveterandretired•

You email using the address in your STEM approval notification letter.

1
basedXchimchar•

Thank you. Is there a response usually? I’ve sent 2 emails with nothing back with the last week or so.

1
andre2142OP•

You email: STEM(dot)VBABUF (at) va(dot)gov

The day after completing the last month of the semester saying something along the lines of "verifying attendance for NAME on MONTH/YEAR"

1
AutoModeratorMOD•

'Have you looked in the Wiki for an answer? We have a lot of information posted there.

To contact VA Education, 1-888-442-4551, for Voc Rehab VR&E (Veteran Readiness and Employment Program) assistance with appointments or problems with your Case Manager (not for missing payments): 1-202-461-9600.

Payments for all education benefits to include Voc Rehab VETERAN READINESS AND EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING AND SERVICES are paid at the end of the month you attend school - Dept of Treasury issues these payments using a 10 business day window - these payments are not locked into a specific day of the month like VA disability/military pay is. For Voc Rehab missing payments, contact your Case Manager or your local **Regional Office

Fall 2020 Post 9/11 GI Bill classes

Attention Veterans and Family members who have a VBA overpayment. If you are affected by the COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS), have a VBA benefit debt and need temporary financial relief, please contact DMC at 1-800-827-0648 to request assistance. The financial relief actions include the following until further notice: - Suspending all actions on Veteran debts under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department. - Suspending collection action or extending repayment terms on preexisting VA debts, as the Veteran prefers.'

VA Education is going paperless - make sure VA has a current email address for you

For FREE math Tutoring - contact https://www.armysmart.org

Vet Tech Information from a veteran and VA information here]

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1
xDreadxNoughtXx•

I’ve been doing exactly what you did and got the same responses. The fact you got paid puts my mind at ease a bit. Hopefully the money will come in within a few weeks. Thank you for this post 🙏🙏

1
Comprehensive-Cod502•

I hate to say it, but I've joined your group because I'm having the same problem and getting no real answers but wait. I spoke to a person on the phone and was told that my file was being processed and I had to just wait until it was done. What I'm looking for is a little guidance to mitigate the problem for the time being. I ultimately think that this is a horrible thing to do to a veteran and not even give them a heads up that the system takes this long to issue any types of payment. The fact that the VA claims they have no dealings with it is complete and utterly irresponsible on their part. How can you recommend a program to vets that leave them high and dry for months on in? Completely purely unacceptable, I know that we all are thankful for the extra nine months of school. Some are using this as a form of income and living off of it to complete school by not telling them it will take months to process before you see anything is negligent at the least.

1
youonkazoo53•

I know this isn’t super useful, but I remember when researching about this a lot of people experienced the same thing as you and the solution is that you actually have to send some sort of “proof” to the company providing the scholarship and not the VA. Then you actually have to do it every single month to continue receiving payments. Hopefully this helps you in your search for answers

0
andre2142OP•

That makes sense on their part. Thank you for the input, at least I hope I get all these BAHs I'm missing once the finally process me

1
SCOveterandretired•

That information is incorrect - you have to email the VA every month. VA is the "company" providing the scholarship!

1
andre2142OP•

Thanks for clarifying and yes I have been emailing the VA directly trough an va.gov email they provided me that acknowledges my attendance verifications. looking back the last email did said:

Hello,

Thank you, Your Monthly Certification of Attendance has been received and sent for processing.

Due to an increase in workload processing has been delayed

You will receive a notification when your enrollment processing has been completed via a No-Reply email address. Thank you for your patience.

Buffalo RPO STEM Processing Team

So they seem to be backed up.

1
SCOveterandretired•

Many people have been getting that response it seems from what has been posted here and in some of the facebook groups I'm in.

1
SCOveterandretired•

What company?

1