Financial Aid for Veterans

Submit an online application at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

It may take between 3-4 weeks for the VA to process an application.

You will receive either an approval or denial letter from the VA. The VA makes the determination about your percentage of entitlement and length of time.

If approved, you will receive a Certificate of Eligibility. Complete the VA and Military Benefits form and upload your Certificate of Eligibility through the process.

In order to utilize Federal Tuition Assistance at LBCC, you will need to contact your unit's Education Service Officer. You will receive college counseling to assist you with the development of your educational plan. When planning your educational path, consult our college catalog for a list of all requirements, including licensure or other conditions. Once you have selected a program and developed an educational plan, you can submit your Military Tuition Assistance request.

You may visit the Department of Defense TA DECIDE for dynamic information and a comparison tool that is designed to aid participants of DOD’s Tuition Assistance (TA) program in making informed choices regarding schools and educational programs.

The Army’s new tuition assistance platform, ArmyIgnitED, is now available for soldiers to request tuition assistance. 

To receive Army tuition assistance, create an account in ArmyIgnitED and submit your Education Path.

When you have been admitted to LBCC, please complete the VA and Military Benefits form to let us know that you have been admitted.

Once your Education Counselor and LBCC has received and approved your education path, LBCC will upload your Student Degree Plan to ArmyIgnitED.

To request TA each term, you must complete the LBCC Enrollment Verification Form and list the courses for which you wish to receive TA funding no later than 7 days before the start of the term. LBCC will then upload your course enrollment information into ArmyIgnitED. You will then need to request your TA for those courses in ArmyIgnitED, no later than 5 days before the start of the term.

If you have any issues or questions about Army TA, please contact your Education Counselor.

Click here for a helpful guide on how to create an educational path and request
Tuition Assistance through ArmyIgnitED.

Contact your unit’s Educational Services Offices (ESO) or representative to receive approval. Each military branch has its own application form and procedures. Visit your local installation education center, go online to a virtual education center or click on the following links for each service branch:

• Army
• Marine Corps
• Navy
• Air Force

This refund policy is ONLY applicable to eligible U.S. service members who have paid for all or a portion of their course tuition using Military Tuition Assistance (TA). Students not in this category should refer to the Tuition Refunds section of the college catalog or the Refunds page of our Accounts and Payments website.

Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded. To comply with the Department of Defense (DOD) policy, LBCC will return any unearned TA funds on a prorated basis through at least the 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based upon when a student stops attending.

In instances when a service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, LBCC will work with the affected service member to identify solutions that will not result in a student debt for the returned portion in compliance with the DOD policy. 

If you have been notified that you will be deployed, contact Admissions & Records to discuss your options, which may include the following: 

• Complete withdraw with full refund 
• Incompletes, if eligible

In addition, contact the Office of Financial Aid and Veterans. We will request a copy of your active duty letter and report your active duty status to the VA. 

Upon your return to LBCC, you will be readmitted to your program with the same academic status you had when you last attended LBCC or were accepted for admission in accordance with 34 CFR 668.18. 

LBCC complies with Department of Defense Memorandum of Understanding. We have signed on in compliance with a Department of Defense (DOD) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to show we follow DOD guidelines. What that means:

LBCC maintains accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and complies with Federal and State regulations

LBCC has established the Veterans Office, which can provide students with information and refer students to services:

• Information about our programs and access to professionals to help with course planning
• Information about cost and funding options, including access to Financial Aid professionals who can assist students in learning about federal or private options

LBCC discloses its Cohort Default Rate

LBCC has a readmission policy that allows Service members to readmit to the college in the same status they left if the reason for leaving was because they were called to active duty in accordance with 34 CFR 668.18.

LBCC does not practice aggressive recruiting of any students, including Service members or veterans.

LBCC does not incentivize any employee based on enrolling students in school or receiving federal aid.

LBCC is honored to welcome Service members and Veterans and provides these services in addition to a Veterans Resource Center located on the Albany Campus in the Forum, Room F-109. If you have questions about what is available at LBCC, please contact our Veterans Offices.

Complete the admission process for LBCC.

Bring your VA Certificate of Eligibility and DD 214 to the LBCC Veterans Office to begin receiving benefits.

Complete and submit the LBCC Veterans Office entrance forms to get your file started. Forms are available at the LBCC Veterans window in Takena Hall.

Submit all transcripts from previous schools and military service.

** Any veteran receiving GI Bill® benefits while attending LBCC is required to obtain official transcripts from all previously attended schools and submit them to the school for review of prior credit.**

For Army, Navy, Marine or Coast Guard Military Transcripts:

Transcripts can be requested at the Joint Services Transcript website
(Due to security certificate issues, this site works best with Firefox browsers)
Students are asked to create an account.
Transcripts can be sent to the school of choice.

For Air Force Transcripts:

Military transcripts from Air Force service can be requested at Air University

Submit the Enrollment Verification Form every term. This form lists the classes the student is claiming for Educational Benefits. This form can be turned in at the LBCC Veterans Office window as soon as the student is registered for classes.

A new form should be submitted if there are any changes to the student’s schedule.

Student’s must be in a VA Approved degree program and must match what they have declared with the college. A ‘Change of Place or Program’ form must be submitted to the LBCC Veterans Office if the student changes majors. This is a different form than the Registration or Financial Aid Office.

Verify that the classes the student is enrolled in apply to the completion of their declared degree program.

Submit the student’s enrollment certification to the VA.

Notify the student when the classes they are enrolled in are unable to be certified.

Report dropped classes and grades to the VA.

Follow the Satisfactory Academic Policy standards established by LBCC Veterans Office.

Notify and report students on Veterans Academic Probation and Suspension who fall below LBCC Academic Standards

Effective July 1, 2018

In accordance with changes to OSU’s military transcript policy, LBCC will award students submitting their DD 214 or military transcripts 3 PE Activity credits. This is a change from the previous policy of awarding 3 credits for the PE 231 Lifetime Health & Fitness degree requirement.

Students who submitted their DD 214 or military transcripts prior to July 1, 2018, will still be awarded the 3 Credits for the PE 231 Lifetime Health & Fitness degree requirement.

Partial Term and weekend classes are reported to the VA based on dates of attendance. For a 1 credit class, the student will be at 12 credit enrollment for the duration of the reported dates of the class and drop down to 11 credits when the class ends.

Classes completed with a ‘D’ or better cannot be certified with the VA again unless the degree requires the classes to be completed with a ‘C’ or better.

Dual enrolled students must declare a home school. If the student is taking classes at both schools, the home school must send a ‘Parent School Letter’ to the Veterans Office of the guest school to verify the classes apply toward the degree at the home school.

The Veterans Office only submits the number of credits (and tuition & fee dollar amount for CH 33) to the VA. The VA will make the calculations based on the student's VA approved percentage rate.

When and how much the VA pays is determined by the VA and the LBCC Veterans Office has no access to the information. Student veterans can contact the VA directly to speak to someone at the VA Educational Hotline at 888-442-4551.

The LBCC Veteran Office will report the number of credits certified for and then report Tuition & Fees after the first week of class, after the Add/Drop period.

The VA will send the book stipend and housing allowance directly to the student and the tuition & fees to LBCC.

If the student is not at 100% entitlement, they will need to pay for their part of the tuition & fees.

Distance Education and Hybrid classes are reported separately and can affect your housing allowance.

Chapter 30 (Montgomery GI Bill®), Chapter 35 (Dependents), Chapter 1606 (Reservists)

The LBCC Veterans Office reports the number of credits only. The VA pays based on level of enrollment.

The student must verify their attendance with the VA on the last day of the month attended or the first day of the next month. They can either call 877-823-2378 to verify by phone or log into WAVE.

The VA pays directly to the student and it is their responsibility to pay tuition and fees.

Student Veterans work closely with their VA VR&E Case Manager.

Students should check with the LBCC Veterans Office and their VA VR&E Case Manager to verify there is an up-to-date authorization on file.

The law requires that educational assistance benefits to Veterans and other eligible persons be discontinued when the student ceases to make satisfactory progress toward completion of their training objective.

The Veterans Office will evaluate the student’s classes each term to verify they apply toward the completion of the student’s declared program. Any classes that do not qualify toward the completion of a degree will not be certified with the VA and will be the student’s responsibility to cover those tuition expenses.

At the end of each term, the student veteran’s grades will be evaluated. Those students who fall below a 2.0 GPA or the 70% completion rate will be placed on Academic Probation. Students will be notified by mail. This is a warning and does not affect their benefits for the next term. They have the following term to clear the probation and move back into good standing or drop down into Academic Suspension. To clear Academic Probation, the student veteran must complete 100% of their enrolled classes with a 2.0 GPA or better.

A student veteran on Academic Probation who does not succeed the following term is placed on Academic Suspension and will be notified by mail. Veterans do have the option to complete the appeal process but they will not be certified to receive benefits until it is approved. If the appeal is not approved or the student has already received an appeal before, they will need to complete a term on their own. After a successful term without benefits, they may request an evaluation to be reinstated.

On June 1, 2022, COVID-19 legislation that permits students to receive the Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) at the resident (in person) rate, while taking approved courses converted to online training due to COVID-19 will end. The Veterans Administration (VA) realizes this transition could pose a hardship to mid-term students. To resolve any negative impact on students, the VA will continue to pay students at the resident (in-person) rate through the end of the month or term, whichever occurs sooner. At LBCC, this will include the Spring 2022 term.

Students enrolling for courses beginning after June 1, 2022, will need to enroll in approved resident (in person) classes to continue receiving their MHA at the resident rate. As the Summer 2022 term begins after June 1, 2022, this change will potentially impact our Veteran students that are unable to register for seated or hybrid courses. As such, LBCC is committed to reducing the financial impact students may experience during the Summer 2022 term.

For students receiving the Post 9/11 G I Bill that are attending online and are at full-time status, LBCC will supplement the difference of the MHA for the Summer 2022 term for a maximum of $ 2,415., ¾ time (9-11 credits) at $ 1,811.26 and 1/2 time (7-8 credits) at $1,220.50. LBCC will disburse this grant in two installments; July 28, 2022, and August 30, 2022. Funding for this supplemental grant is provided by Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).

The Veterans Office will determine eligibility based on benefits, enrollment level, and course type. Students will be notified via email if they are eligible to apply for the Summer Supplemental Housing Grant. The link to the Summer Supplemental Housing Grant form will only be available to eligible students via their LBCC student email account. The Summer Supplemental Housing Grant form will be reviewed by the Vice President of Finance for approval and compliance.