VA and Military FAQs

Harvard University fully complies with Section 103.1.(b) of the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018. For students who are covered under Chapter 31, VR&E, and Chapter 33, Harvard University will not impose any penalty on any covered individual because of the individual’s inability to meet his or her financial obligations to the institution due to the delayed disbursement of funding from the VA under Chapter 31 or Chapter 33. Covered students will not be prevented from attending or enrolling in courses, will not be charged late fees, and will not be otherwise denied access to University services due to late payment from the VA until 90 days after the University has certified tuition and fees to the VA following the receipt of a Certificate of Eligibility or Statement of Benefits. The Certificate of Eligibility or Statement of Benefits should be provided to the Financial Aid Office of the covered individual's school prior to the start of classes, along with the Notice of Student Enrollment, to ensure that benefits are processed in a timely manner.

All Harvard applicants and current students are encouraged to apply for other forms of financial aid based on the policies of the school you will be attending. Receipt of Ch33 funding doesn’t impact a student’s eligibility for any other type of financial aid. However, any form of funding meant to offset the cost of tuition and required fees will be deducted from the amount certified to the VA. 

If you have specific questions about a program, most of that information can be found on the school or department’s website, with links to contacts. If you have questions about alternate financial aid options, prospective students can contact the school’s Financial Aid Office. If you have questions about your certification or late/missing payments, please contact the Certifying Official for your program:   Harvard Extension School: Joseph Frechette 617-495-4293   Harvard College & Graduate Schools: studentaccountoperations_fad@harvard.edu or 617-496-8050   Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School   Executive Education Program at Harvard Kennedy School

Each branch of the service has its own application process, forms, and benefits. Please visit the Military Tuition Assistance page for details. 

Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education has several programs eligible for use with VA benefits. A full listing can be found on WEAMS under Harvard’s NCD courses. All other executive education and professional education programs are ineligible. For further information about Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education programs, please contact their office directly via exed@hks.harvard.edu or 617-496-9000.

The VA reports a typical turn-around time of 30 days between certification and payment. In our experience, that time-line can vary. Some tuition payments are received in less than a week, some take several months. It can depend on the time of year and whether the certification was pulled for manual processing (which may happen if there’s a question about the cert or if a revision is submitted.)

It is our understanding that BAH payments begin roughly 30 days from the cert date, but not before the start of term. BAH payments, if sent after the start of term, should be retroactive to the first day of enrollment.

Students who are utilizing VA benefits, with the exception of students utilizing VR&E (Chapter 31), will see their certification data in my.Harvard once the School Certifying Official (SCO) has submitted data for a given term to the VA. When viewing your student account in my.Harvard, scroll to the bottom of the page. Once you’ve been certified, you’ll see the following:

Harvard University submits two certifications to the VA – The first is simply the dates of enrollment and the expected enrollment level to ensure students receive their BAH in a timely manner. The second is submitted after add/drop for the term and corrects the enrollment level, if necessary, and indicates the tuition and required fees for the term. This is what triggers payment for CH33 to Harvard University. Students utilizing Chapter 31 will see their information under Third-Party Billing details. Invoices for Chapter 31 are sent to VA counselors once the add/drop period for the term has passed.

Students who are receiving CH33 will be contacted by the VA each month to verify their enrollment once certification is submitted. If you fail to respond for two consecutive months, your BAH will be suspended by the VA. If you are unable to maintain your enrollment and require a LOA or withdrawal, please notify your registrar and financial aid office as soon as possible.

 

The children of Active Duty service members (who are using the parent/guardian’s ch33 benefit) have the same eligibility as a non-AD service member – if you are deemed 100% eligible for ch33, you are also eligible for YRP. You would also be eligible for BAH payments, assuming you meet the general enrollment requirements for BAH (more than half-time). 

Active-Duty service members and their spouses can use their CH33 benefit in full. However, BAH will be tied to your active-duty status and will not be paid via CH33.

The amount of your BAH (also referred to by the VA as the “MHA” for CH33 participants) is based on the military’s BAH for “an E-5 with dependents.” The rate is determined using the Cambridge zip code, 02138, which can be found here. 

Your BAH payment is pro-rated to match your % eligibility for CH33 funding. Students attending half-time or less or students using the benefit while on Active Duty (or spouses using the transferred benefit while their spouse is on Active Duty) are not eligible to receive BAH payments through their CH33 benefit. 

Your BAH is also based on your enrollment. If a term begins mid-month, you will receive a pro-rated BAH payment for the days you were enrolled.

Yes. Please report your intention to use Chapter 31 funding via the Notice of Student Enrollment prior to the start of each academic year. Your Chapter 31 counselor will send studentaccountoperations_fad@harvard.edu a PO for each term that will allow us to invoice via the VA’s preferred invoicing system – Tungsten. Invoices will not be accepted by the VA until add/drop for each term has passed. Chapter 31 is managed via Third-Party Billing. Please also submit a Third-Party Billing request through your school at the start of each academic year.

Eligible students should submit their benefits application through the VA’s website (Form 22-1990.)  The VA will produce a Certificate of Eligibility. Submit your Certificate of Eligibility along with a Notice of Student Enrollment form to your school’s Financial Aid Office to request certification. A new Notice of Student Enrollment form is required for every subsequent academic year, but if there is no change to your eligibility, you do not need to resubmit the Certificate of Eligibility.