VA Addresses Housing Payment Rates and Delays
12/07/2018
Last month, NACUBO reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was facing a backlog of nearly 73,000 GI Bill claims. These delays were the result of ongoing technical problems processing housing claims due to implementation of changes included in the Forever GI Bill.
On Nov. 28, the VA announced it is resetting its implementation efforts to give the agency the time, contracting support, and necessary resources to process spring 2020 enrollments by December 1, 2019. This means that the VA will pay monthly housing allowances for the current academic year based on the location of a school’s main campus, not the physical location of the student, a key change included in the Forever GI Bill.
The VA will also pay monthly housing allowance rates for the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the current academic year uncapped Department of Defense Basic Housing Allowance (BAH). This BAH rate will be equal to, or higher than, many students’ current housing allowance rates. In addition, the VA will correct underpayments that resulted from implementation problems and will not hold students liable if they were overpaid as a result of the implementation difficulties.
