VA and Military Education Benefit Certification

Welcome to OSU!

The Office of the Registrar houses your Veterans and Military Certifying Team.

We are here to:
  • Help you get started with VA and Military benefits at OSU
  • Certify your enrollment each term
  • Approve your veteran priority registration
  • Answer questions about VA and Military education benefits
  • Partner with the Military and Veteran Resource Advisor to provide START sessions regarding your benefits
  • Partner with Business Affairs to follow up on VA payment issues

Step 1:

 Apply to OSU

Admission Fee waiver available for undergraduate admissions for current service members and veterans.  Click on “Request Fee Waiver” in application.

Current service members, veterans, and dependents using VA education benefits may be exempt from paying the Advanced Tuition Deposit with appropriate documentation.

Visit the Undergraduate Admissions webpage for additional information.

Submit military transcripts for credit evaluation.

Visit the Admissions Credit Opportunities webpage for additional information.

Step 2:

Apply for Financial Aid

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Apply for In-state Tuition Rates

Applications for in-state tuition must be received by the last day to drop with a 100% refund for the term, as published in the Academic Calendar.

In-State tuition rates are not applicable to Ecampus courses because the charges are the same for resident and non-resident students.

Additional Benefits Available for Oregon residents

Step 3: 

Apply for VA Education Benefits

If VA education benefits were received at a different institution, complete the Request for Change of Program or Place of Training through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

And/Or

Apply for Military Tuition Assistance (applicable to service members only).

TA DECIDE Program 

DANTES DoD VolEd Program

Step 4:

VA & Military Benefits Intake Survey

Complete Oregon State’s VA and Military Benefits Intake Survey to submit your benefit documents

Contact the Veteran & Military Certifying officials at [email protected] with your questions about benefits.

Use this QR code to access this page on your phone and use your camera to snap a photo of your verification to complete the intake survey

Step 5:

Register for START Orientation

OSU-Cascade students:

Cascades START

OSU Ecampus students: (No on-campus orientation is required)

Ecampus Online Orientation

Important Reminders for VA Education Benefit: Chapter-Specific

The VA and Military Benefit Certifying Team starts certifying credit hours to the VA in Week 9 of each term (for the upcoming term). No request is needed from you! Tuition and fees are certified to the VA starting in Week 2 of each term (for that term).

Below is important information that you need to know that is specific to your VA Education benefit chapter. Please click here to learn important information applicable to all chapters.

Chapter 33

Chapter 35

Chapter 30

Chapter 1606

Chapter 31

Chapter 33 Information:

  • Chapter 33 pays according to your rate of pursuit.
  • We pre-certify your credit hours (that apply to your degree) a few weeks before the term begins. We certify tuition/fees after the full-term drop deadline. Note that any tuition-only funds/benefits (e.g., military tuition assistance, ROTC scholarships, etc.) are deducted from the dollar amount we certify to the VA.
  • Chapter 33 students who also receive financial aid will automatically receive an advance of the anticipated tuition and fee payment from the VA to their OSU account before the term begins. This advance of expected VA funds helps to trigger the disbursement of their financial aid award. Once the term has begun, the advance is reversed so that the VA payment, once it arrives, can accurately reconcile the tuition/fee charges it covers.
  • Any interest charges that accrue due to delayed chapter 33 payments will be reversed by Business Affairs once the VA payment arrives.

Chapter 35 Information:

Chapter 30 Information:

  • Chapter 30 pays according to your enrollment level or training time.
  • You can generally use both Chapter 30 benefits and Military Tuition Assistance (TA) benefits at the same time, under the Top Up program.
  • Every month, you must verify your enrollment via WAVE.

Chapter 1606 Information:

  • Chapter 1606 pays according to your enrollment level or training time.
  • Students may use Federal Tuition Assistance and Chapter 1606 MGIB-SR benefits to cover the same courses when enrolled in a program of education that is half-time or greater (6 credits or more). Concurrent use is not authorized when enrolled less than half-time. 
  • Every month, you must verify your enrollment via WAVE.

Chapter 31 Information:

  • The major listed for you in OSU’s system must match the major listed on your Chapter 31 authorization that comes from your VR&E counselor.
  • We certify your enrollment solely for those courses that fall within the date range listed on your authorization. Once the end date has passed, it is important that your counselor send us a new authorization if the VA will continue to cover your education.
  • Chapter 31 students have their certification to the VA handled by the VA and Military Benefit Certifying Team and the invoicing to the VA is handled by Third Party Billing.
  • Once we have a valid authorization for you, information about you and your book/supply allowance is shared with the Beaver Store. The Beaver Store allows you to charge your books and supplies (within any restrictions outlined on your authorization form) before any VA payment is issued. The Beaver Store works with OSU’s Third Party Billing department to ensure your book/supply charges are covered and invoiced to the VA.

College Financing Plan - Shopping Sheet

Oregon State is committed to providing the College Financing Plan (Shopping Sheet) to all prospective veterans and service members. This personalized Shopping Sheet contains standardized information describing the cost of attending and the federal and state financial aid available. 

College Financing Plan

The College Financing Plan (Shopping Sheet) is a consumer tool the College uses to notify students, who file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and are using Veterans Affairs Educational Benefits, about their financial aid packages.  It is a standardized form designed to help students make informed decisions about funding their education who have applied to multiple institutions.


What is the difference between the College Financing Plan and the offer letter?

Oregon State makes every effort to provide each financial aid recipient with an offer letter that is clear and complete. Since colleges and universities use many different formats for their offer letters, students may find it difficult to compare the financial aid offers from various schools. The College Financing Plan is a standardized form used by schools that have agreed to comply with the VA’s Principles of Excellence.

The Principles are designed to help ensure that students can make good educational and financial decisions using a clear, comparative tool that evaluates various financial aid offers. The college financing plan generates figures that are estimates only and all tuition rates and fees are subject to change without notice.

Will all veteran students have access to the College Financing Plan?

Students who file a FAFSA and indicate on their application for admission that they are using VA education benefits will receive a College Financing Plan.

Where can I view my College Financing Plan?

Your College Financing Plan will be available through The Financial Aid Portal once your financial aid offer has been processed.

Resources

For questions about Military-related education benefits, please contact the Veterans and Military Certifying Team at [email protected].

Step-by-step instructions on using VA and Military benefits at OSU are available on our VA and Military Education Benefit Certification page.

Information about education benefits offered by the VA is available at the official U.S. government website.

Additional tools to help estimate the cost of your education are provided on the Office of Financial Aid webpage. 

An in-depth description of cohort default rates and how the rates are calculated is available on the U.S. Department of Education's Default Prevention and Managment website: enter our OPEID number 003210.

  • A Cohort Default Rate (CDR) is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1st to September 30th, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year. If Oregon State University's CDR ever rises above the national average, this site will be updated to reflect such a change. 

Quarterly Certification of Benefits

The VA and Military Benefit Certifying Team starts certifying credits to the VA in Week 9 of each term (for the upcoming term). No request is needed from you! We will send you an email notification with certification dates based on enrollment level (full-time, ¾ time, etc). The best practice is to have your schedule set by the date we begin certifying. 

Below is important information that you need to know regardless of your VA Education benefit chapter.

  • Students using VA Education benefits qualify for veterans’ priority registration.
  • Courses certified to the VA must be required for your degree; extra electives (i.e., electives you do not need to complete your degree) cannot be certified and do not count towards your enrollment level with the VA.
    • For undergraduate/post-baccalaureate students, the Certifying Team uses MyDegrees to confirm degree applicability. It is important that any course substitutions be in MyDegrees prior to certification.
    • For graduate students, we will submit a Degree Applicability Verification DocuSign form directly to your graduate program director each term that you enroll in courses. We will certify your courses upon receipt of an approved verification form. 
  • If you are planning to take courses at another institution, you must complete the Parent School Letter prior to certification each term.
  • VA education benefits are calculated based on daily enrollment in the term. Changes to your registration on or after the first day of the term, such as adding courses or dropping courses, can affect payment of your VA education benefits. If you do need to make a change in your registration, please refer to the related deadlines.
  • The VA generally does not pay for withdrawn courses unless it is your first withdrawal up to 6 credits. The VA will also consider exceptions if there are mitigating circumstances. If you withdraw due to mitigating circumstances, email documentation (e.g., doctor’s note) of the circumstances to [email protected] so we can report the circumstances to the VA.
  • If you take a course with the S/U grade mode, make sure you earn an “S” (Satisfactory) grade. The VA does not pay for courses where a “U” grade is earned and will ask you to repay them for the course.
  • If you fail a course (“F” grade), you are not required to repay the VA for the course because “F” grades count in your overall degree progress.
  • If you receive an incomplete (“I/” grade), the VA will only ask you to repay them for the course if a “U” grade is earned after the incomplete is resolved.
  • Summer term can be complex if you are trying to maintain your housing allowance over the summer. Learn more about summer mini-sessions, enrollment calculations, and drop deadlines as they relate to VA payments.

Click here for important information specific to each chapter.

VA and Military Education Benefits FAQs

These FAQs are focused on using education benefits at OSU and certification related to those benefits and applying for in-state tuition (Choice Act and HB2158).

Not finding what you need below? Access more FAQs for military-connected students at OSU.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Yes, you are permitted to use state tuition assistance along with your federal VA education benefits or federal military tuition assistance. If you are using Chapter 33 benefits, be aware that your state tuition assistance will be deducted from the tuition/fees certified to the VA (just as federal tuition assistance is deducted).

Yes. Learn more about in-state residency for service members and scroll down on that same page to learn about the federal Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act. You can learn about state tuition programs here.

Learn more about military deployment accommodations here. We also recommend submitting a copy of your orders to the VA and Military Benefit Certifying Team at [email protected].

Yes, you are expected to submit your Joint Services Transcript to the Admissions department if you will use VA education benefits. Learn more about obtaining military experience credit here.

In the end, the VA and/or the military branch determines if it will pay or not pay for your courses. We know that the VA will not pay for “U” grades so it is important to pass your class if you select the S/U grade mode. For tuition assistance, OSU is required to return some TA funds if you withdraw from your course or stop attending and earn an “F” before the 60% mark. At the end of each term, the VA Military Certifying Team reports all grades to the military branches for students using TA benefits. For students using VA education benefits, we report all withdrawals and “U” grades to the VA.

Study abroad coverage depends on your chapter, your major at OSU, and the type of study abroad program you seek. In general, the VA will pay your benefits as if you are enrolled in on-campus courses. They may pay additional fees specific to the study abroad program if the program is required for your degree. VA will not pay for any costs related to travel or any third party charges; this means that third party provider programs are not covered by the VA. Keep in mind that study abroad experiences often have course dates that do not follow the regular OSU academic calendar and some programs are measured in semester hours instead of quarter hours; these factors can have an effect on your housing allowance. If you plan on using VA education benefits to study abroad, please notify the VA Military Certifying Team as soon as possible by emailing [email protected].

Tutorial assistance may be paid if you are using Chapters 30, 33, 35, and 1606 to help you pay for necessary tutoring. The maximum pay is $1200 (monthly maximum of $100) and is in addition to your regular monthly education benefits. To request tutorial assistance, work with your instructor to obtain a letter stating you are deficient in your course competency and need to access tutoring and forward that letter to [email protected]. The VA Military Certifying Team can help you find an approved tutor.  You, your tutor and the School Certifying Official (SCO) will complete an Application and Enrollment Certification for Individualized Tutorial Assistance.  The application must be signed and dated on or after the date of the last tutoring session, and submitted to the VA at the end of each month or combination of months.

At the end of each term, the VA Military Certifying Team will notify you if you are on academic warning or academic probation and will share a list of resources with you to help you to improve your academic standing. The VA Military Certifying Team is also required to report students on academic probation and academic suspension to the VA. Suspended students cannot continue to enroll at OSU and cannot use their benefits. Learn more about academic progress standards for veteran students at OSU.

Non-degree students can be certified for VA education benefits up to two terms as a non-degree student as long as they are pending admission to a degree program at OSU and are taking courses that apply directly to that degree program.

 If you are approved for a late drop by the ARC, the course is removed from your transcript, your charges for the course are reversed, and the VA Military Certifying Team will adjust your certification to the VA to reflect the new amount of credits and the date the late drop was approved. The reduction in course load may affect your housing allowance, if you receive one. If your petition included documentation of mitigating circumstances, the VA Military Certifying Team will report the mitigating circumstances to the VA, as well. If you received VA education benefits and plan to petition the ARC, we recommend emailing [email protected] to learn more about how your petition may affect your certification of benefits.

WAVE stands for Web Automated Verification of Enrollment and is a system used to verify your attendance each month. Monthly verification is required of students receiving Chapter 30 and 1606 benefits. This verification is done by you and not by the VA Military Certifying Team.

Yes, you can. Any time you wish to take a class at another school that will transfer back to OSU and fulfill a degree requirement, you will want to complete the Parent School Letter. You might want to learn more about the Degree Partnership Program at OSU, as well.

The VA will pay for repeated courses as long as you have not yet met the minimum grade required for that course in your degree program. For example, if you have taken a required course twice and earned a “D” each time, and the minimum grade is a “C,” then the VA will pay for you to take the course again so that you can reach the minimum grade required for your degree. The VA will not pay for you to repeat a course simply because you wish to earn a better grade.

Undergraduate students may consider utilizing the Planned Educational Leave Program. If your leave from OSU is due to deployment or military training, you do not have to pay the $25 and are not limited to one PELP. Graduate students may consider taking a leave of absence after consulting with their academic program or graduate school.

Chapter 33 students with a financial aid package of $1000 or greater automatically have a portion of their expected VA payment advanced to their OSU account before the term begins. This advance of expected VA funds helps to trigger the disbursement of their financial aid award. Once the term has begun, the advance is reversed so that the VA payment, once it arrives, can accurately reconcile the tuition/fee charges it covers.

Oregon State University offers priority registration to students using veterans' educational benefits and veterans and military members who submit appropriate documentation. More information can be found on the Veterans Priority Registration web page.

Yes! If you are assessed non-resident tuition at OSU and receive Chapter 33 benefits at the 100% rate, you may be eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Yellow Ribbon is available to off-set the difference between non-resident and resident tuition only and  is not applied to summer term courses or E-campus courses because students are not charged non-resident tuition for these courses. For more information, please visit the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon webpage.

To apply to receive the Yellow Ribbon benefit, you will need to email [email protected] to verify your eligibility. OSU has agreed to award $3,000.00 per academic year to undergraduate students and $4500.00 per academic year to graduate students. The VA will provide matching funds.

In some cases, nonresident students may benefit more from certain tuition programs instead of using the Yellow Ribbon program. Learn more about in-state residency for service members and scroll down on that same page to learn about the federal Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act. You can learn about state tuition programs here.

We do recommend that all students complete the FAFSA to see if they qualify for federal financial aid funding. In some cases, VA payments can be delayed and having a financial aid award at the start of the term makes it easier to obtain needed books and supplies. Click here to learn more about financial aid at OSU.

FAQs: Applying for In-State Tuition (Choice Act & HB2158)

No. You must submit your request for in-state tuition along with supporting documentation that you have established a physical presence in Oregon before your tuition rate can be changed at OSU. The links to these requests are below.

Yes. Requests for in-state tuition must be received by the last day to drop with a 100% refund for the term, as published in the Academic Calendar, to receive in-state tuition effective that term.

Documentation that you have established a physical presence in Oregon can include your UHDS Housing Assignment (accessible via the housing portal), a rental agreement/lease, an Oregon driver’s license or ID, or other documentation with your name and Oregon address.

Check your email for the DocuSign form. You’ll need to use the link in that email to complete the request.

Yes. If your VA benefits run out before you complete your degree at OSU, then you must meet the following conditions to keep the in-state tuition rate under the Choice Act:

  • You must remain continuously enrolled (except summer term) in classes each fall, winter, and spring term until you have completed your degree.
  • You must remain in the same major until you graduate. This means that if you change your major after your benefits have run out, then you will no longer be given the resident tuition rate under the Choice Act.

NOTE: You may make changes to your degree program and take terms off from school while you have remaining VA education benefit entitlement.

Yes. When you are approved for in-state tuition, the Office of Financial Aid and the Scholarship Office will adjust your awards to reflect your new in-state tuition charges. Any non-resident financial aid or scholarships already applied to your account for the term in which you begin paying in-state tuition will be reversed.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill will pay the cost of in-state tuition only. If you are charged non-resident tuition and use Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, then you will be responsible to pay the difference between the in-state tuition that the VA pays and the non-resident tuition that you are charged. Non-resident financial aid and scholarship awards, including the WUE Scholarship and the Provost Scholarship, may help cover the difference and reduce your out-of-pocket costs. Additionally, if you have been awarded Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits at the 100% eligibility level, then you may also apply to use Yellow Ribbon, for which OSU pays additional funding ($1000 for undergraduates and $1500 for graduates) each quarter term except Summer, and which the VA matches, to help offset the cost of the non-resident tuition that you are charged. To request to use Yellow Ribbon benefits at OSU, please email the Veterans and Military Certifying Team at [email protected].

No. Non-resident students are only considered for the WUE Scholarship and the Provost Scholarship at the time of their admission to OSU. Current and continuing OSU students are not eligible to be re-considered for either scholarship if they lose the in-state tuition rate.

No. The in-state tuition request approvals change your tuition rate only. It will not change your residency classification with OSU. The only way to request a review of your residency classification is to submit a Residency Affidavit with the Office of Admissions. Additional information may be found on the residency website.