BaylorRegistrarVA Education BenefitsThe Effects of Schedule Changes (Debt Info)

The Effects of Schedule Changes
(Debt Information)

Generally overpayments of VA benefits are the responsibility of the student. However, there are instances under the Post 9/11 GI Bill® when an over-payment is created on a school and funds need to be refunded to VA.

A debt is established on a school when:
  • The student never attended classes for which he/she was certified regardless of the reason for non-attendance
  • The student completely withdraws on or before the first day of the term. If student reduces, the debt is a student debt
  • The school received payment for the wrong student
  • The school received a duplicate payment
  • The school submitted an amended enrollment certification and reported reduced tuition and fee charges, reduced Yellow Ribbon amount, or reduced both. (Reductions based on student's action should be reported on a 1999B with the changes in the enrollment and will result in a debt to the student.)
  • The student died during the term, or before start of the term
  • VA issued payment above the amount certified on the enrollment certification that was used to process the payment (VA data entry error)
A debt is established on the student for tuition/fees/yellow ribbon when:
  • The student withdrew after the first day of the term (FDOT)
  • If the student completely withdrew on the FDOT, treat as if student never attended
  • The student reduced hours whether the reduction occurred before or during the term
  • If the student attended at least one day of any of the classes certified and a payment has been issued, any debt created by the reduction/withdrawal should be charged to the student
  • The school submitted a change in enrollment (1999b) and reported a reduction in tuition, fees, and/or Yellow Ribbon due to student action reducing or terminating training.
  • If a student drops a course and adds a course so that there is no net change in training time, any change to tuition, fees, and/or Yellow Ribbon is a student debt.
    • Schools must refund tuition and fee payments to students in accordance with their established refund policies, so that the students can resolve over-payments.

The information provided above is from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs School Certifying Official Handbook.

Contact information for VA:

For information on what caused a debt, contact the Education Call Center at the VA Regional Office:

VA Regional Office
PO Box 8888
Muskogee, OK 74402-8888
1-888-442-4551 (phone)
918-781-7863 (fax)

Education Case Managers are available 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. The system's automated functions can provide information about benefits, applications, etc., and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For Debt Collection Information, contact the VA Debt Management Center (DMC):

VA Debt Management Center
P.O. Box 11930
St. Paul, MN 55111-0930
1-800-827-0648 (phone)
www.va.gov/debtman

Business hours are 7:30 am to 12:15 pm and 12:45 pm to 6:00 pm, Central Time. Mondays and the first business day of the month are always the busiest. The best times to call on those days are 10:30 am to 12:15 pm and 1:15 pm to 3:00 pm, Central Time.

If you cannot reach the DMC by phone, try later in the day or consider e-mailing: iris.custhelp.va.gov/app/ask/. There is specific information about debt resolution on the DMC web-site.