Military & Veteran Enrollment

Educational institutions, like TCL, cannot automatically determine your eligibility for VA Benefits, as we do not have access to the Active Duty Service Member or Veteran’s military service file.

We encourage all military-affiliated students to please get in touch with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Education Office at 1-888-442-4551 for information about their eligibility for VA benefits. To learn more about potential VA Educational Assistance Programs, please click on this link: https://www.tcl.edu/military-programs/veterans-education-benefit-programs/.

Students attending our approved credit-based programs must also complete the TCL Admissions Application and submit all the required admissions documentation (i.e., official transcripts) before course registration. Students must be enrolled in one of our TCL programs as approved by the State Approving Agency and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Please note: There are currently only three Continuing Education programs approved by VA, which includes the following:

• CDL – Commercial Driver’s License
• EMT – Emergency Medical Technician
• Welding – GMAW and FCAW, Oxyacetylene Welding, and Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)

You must contact our Continuing Education Office at 843-525-8205 for more information on applying for one of those three programs.

Utilizing your VA benefits will depend on a series of multiple factors, such as the following:

• Have you previously applied and utilized your VA educational benefits at another collegiate institution? If so, how many months of entitlement do you have remaining?

• If your benefits have run out for another VA Educational Assistance Program (G.I. Bill®), do you know whether you qualify for another one?

If eligible for VA benefits, students can apply online at https://www.va.gov/education/how-to-apply/. *Please allow up to four to six weeks for processing.

• For Chapter 30, 33, 1606 & 1607 Recipients: Please print out your Certificate of Eligibility or Statement of Benefits Information from the VA website within four to six weeks, after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has processed it. Send this document to gibill@tcl.edu.
• For Chapter 31 – Veterans’ Readiness and Employment Program® (formerly VA Vocational Rehabilitation) Recipients: Eligible students will be assigned to a VA Educational & Career Counselor within four to six weeks after applying. These personnel will send the approved Vocational Rehabilitation Authorization Form (VA 28-1905) via Tungsten to the Business Office.

There are only two VA Educational Assistance Programs that dependents may qualify for:

• Ch. 33: Post 9/11 G.I. Bill® Benefits: Service Members have the option to transfer their Post 9/11 benefits to their spouse or dependents before being discharged from active-duty military service via https://www.va.gov/education/transfer-post-9-11-gi-bill-benefits/. For assistance, please call VA at 1-888-442-4551. Once VA approves the transfer, dependents can apply online for the Post 9/11 benefits at https://www.va.gov/education/how-to-apply/. *Please allow up to four to six weeks for processing. VA will send a Certificate of Eligibility in the mail. Send that document to gibill@tcl.edu. This document must be in the student’s name.
• Chapter 35: Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance®: If the veteran has died or is permanently disabled from service-connected causes, dependent children (ages 18 through 26, unless the student meets exception guidelines) or the spouse may qualify for Chapter 35 benefits. Students can apply online at https://www.va.gov/education/survivor-dependent-benefits/. For assistance, call VA at 1-888-442-4551. *Please allow up to four to six weeks for processing. VA will send the Certificate of Eligibility in the mail. Don’t forget to send that document to gibill@tcl.edu.

• Our Office of Veterans Affairs does not automatically report student enrollment to VA, even after receiving your Certificate of Eligibility. All VA-eligible students must first register for classes each semester to utilize their VA benefits. It is the student’s decision to have our Office of Veterans Affairs report their enrollment to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• If you would like to have your enrollment reported, you must complete the Veterans Certification Form upon registration each semester; please submit this document and your class schedule back to our office via gibill@tcl.edu.

• Typically, students must enroll in at least 12 credit hours to be considered full-time during the 14-week Fall and Spring semesters that begin in January and August. If you desire to take all online courses or half-time load (any enrollment between six to eleven credits), please note that VA will prorate payments according to VA policies and regulations.
• We advise all our students to consult with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, prior to enrolling in our mini semesters, including our Summer term. Their office performs a calculation based on the start and end dates. Depending on the start date of our mini semesters, VA may consider full-time status during those mini terms with an enrollment of at least six to nine credit hours).
• Enrollment Disclaimer: Most importantly, we want our students to be responsible for the course registration process. Just because VA pays more based on full-time status does not necessarily mean that you should stretch yourself thin to take more classes than you can handle. Any additional funding you may be entitled to receive is an incentive as part of your VA Educational Assistance Program. We realize that many of our TCL students have other obligations outside of attending college, so please be cautious regarding this matter. Any student who withdraws from classes may owe money to both the college and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Please consult with your instructor, Navigator, or Faculty Advisor, if you are experiencing difficulty with your classes. The college has various resources that may assist you with achieving your educational and career goals.

Yes, please! We always want students to let us know when their schedule changes, as this may result in an underpayment or overpayment circumstance.

Yes, please! A separate VA Change of Major Form that all VA-eligible students must complete based on their current VA educational benefit.

• VA Form 22-1995 for all VA programs, except for Chapter 31 and 35 students
• VA Form 22-5495 for Chapter 35 students

Students must enroll in courses based on their current program of study. The only exception is course substitutions when your Faculty Advisor or Navigator sees fit as necessary. Otherwise, VA will not pay for those “other” courses.

There are only two VA programs that will pay the school for tuition and fees: Chapter 31: Veterans’ Readiness and Employment Program® (formerly VA Voc Rehab) and Chapter 33: Post 9/11 G.I. Bill®.

• RE: Post 9/11 Recipients: We want you to know that our office does not report the costs of books and supplies also to include the TCL College Store (Barnes and Noble) “TCL Course Ready” (formerly First Day Complete) Program. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides eligible students with the separate book allowance deposited into the bank account specified on your VA application.
• Students eligible for less than 100% of entitlement under Post 9/11 and other VA Educational Assistance Programs will still have to pay out-of-pocket, depending on whether they also apply for financial aid and other assistance programs (i.e., scholarships and Lottery Tuition Assistance).

All Chapter 31 students must opt out of this program, as the Veterans’ Readiness and Employment Program will pay for your books and supplies with the TCL College Store. All other VA-eligible students electing to opt-out of the program must read and complete the electronic Title IV Financial Aid Recipient Textbook Program Opt-Out form before the first day of classes. The opt-out selection can be found by following these prompts:

• Log in to Self Service.
• Click on your name at the top right-hand corner.
• Select Required Agreements.
• Click on the “Title IV Financial Aid Recipient Textbook Program Opt-Out” form.

If you opt-out of the program, you opt out for the entire semester, not course by course

• Our Office of Veterans Affairs initially reports enrollment information without the tuition and fees so that our Post 9/11 students can start receiving their book stipend (specifically to pay for the TCL Course Ready (formerly First Day Complete) Program out-of-pocket) and other supplies costs.
• During the first week of classes, we thoroughly review student enrollment and report tuition and fees so that VA can start sending tuition payments to our Cashier’s Office within the next couple of weeks.

If you have already submitted the required VA paperwork and our Office of Veterans Affairs has already reported the semester enrollment, please get in touch with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Education Office at 1-888-442-4551. It does take a while for VA to process your claim before receiving your payment, so we ask that you please be patient.