Veteran Student Services

For students using VA Federal GI Bill® benefits the School Certifying Official is required to report any course that is not completed, this includes courses that receive a “W” and courses that receive a punitive grade (F or NP) and have a last date of attendance prior to the end of the term. This may result in charges from the VA.

For students using DoD Military Tuition Assistance, specifically ArmyIgnitED, grades are entered into the ArmyIgnitED system for review.  

For students using State of Oregon Benefits, not meeting academic standards may lead to a loss of the benefit but grades are not reported.

Please note: only students using VA Federal GI Bill® benefits who do not meet Satisfactory Academic Standards will be contacted by the LBCC Veterans Office.

The GI Bill® requires that students using these benefits must maintain satisfactory academic progress. According to the law, the VA will discontinue payments of educational assistance if the individual does not maintain SAP. Progress is considered unsatisfactory if the individual does not meet the regularly prescribed standards of the institution of higher learning they are attending.

In other words, in order to continue to receive VA Education Benefits at LBCC, students must maintain satisfactory academic standards including a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher and a completion rate of 70%.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3034(a), 3323(a), 3474)

Veteran Students, In-Service Military Students, and Military Connected students using VA Federal GI Bill® benefits who do not meet LBCC’s academic standards will be notified by the Veterans Office via email.

Students can be in 1 of 4 statuses:

• Good Standing: Student is meeting or exceeding academic standards
• Warning: First term student has not met academic standards. 
• Probation: Second term student has not met academic standards
• Suspension of Benefits: Third term student has not met academic standards
• Student can appeal a Suspension of Benefits, at which time they are placed back into Probation status
• A student can elect to pay for a term out of pocket. If their academic status improves (they complete 100% of courses enrolled in for the term with a 2.0 term GPA) then they can be shifted back to Probation Status.

	Term 1 - Warning	Term 2 – Probation	Term 3 – Suspension of Veteran Benefits
Action:	A student does not meet term GPA or Cumulative GPA of 2.0 and/or does not complete 70% of courses for that term.	A student does not have a term GPA or Cumulative GPA of 2.0 and/or does not complete 70% of courses for that term for the second term. Or has not completed 70% of courses overall.	A student does not meet term GPA or Cumulative GPA of 2.0 and/or does not complete 70% of courses for that term for a third term. Or has not completed 70% of courses overall.
Consequence:	Email is sent to the student with resources for academic support. Benefits for following term are not impacted	Email is sent to the student with resources for academic support. Benefits for following term are not impacted	Email is sent to the student with appeal information. Benefits for following term(s) are suspended
Returning to Good Status:	To clear a warning, students must complete 100% of their enrolled the following term with a 2.0 GPA or better	To move from probation back to warning, students must complete 100% of their enrolled the following term with a 2.0 GPA or better.	Suspended students can complete an appeal (see below for more information) or attend a term without using benefits.

Remember: In order to graduate from LBCC students must complete 70% of courses they enrolled in with a minimum of a 2.0 cumulative GPA.

• Veterans Office: Provides information about benefits
• Learning Center: Provides free services including academic coaching, tutoring, and subject-specific support
• Accessibility Resources: Provides support when facing barriers to success.

• Once a student is notified that they are on Suspension of VA Benefits they may complete an appeal packet. Completion of the appeal packet does not guarantee that your appeal will be approved.
• The Veterans Office Suspension of VA Benefits Appeal packet is different from the appeal packets required by Financial Aid or Academic Suspension.
• A complete Appeal Packet must include:
• Packet filled out completely
• Satisfactory Academic Progress information (complete with an Academic Advisor)
• Student Success Plan & Resource Recommendations (Complete the Resource Recommendations with an Academic Advisor).
• Appeal Letter
• Education Plan in Degree Works

•  Appeals are reviewed by the Office of Financial Aid and Veterans and responded to within 2-weeks of receipt.

• Page 1: Focuses on your information and what the packet includes
• Page 2: Satisfactory Academic Progress information
• Access your Advising/Unofficial Transcript on your WebRunner Account. Review your Cumulative GPA, Earned Hours, and Attempted Hours.
• Enter this information on page 2 of the packet and calculate completion rate:
• Earned Hours at LBCC ÷ Attempted Hours at LBCC = Completion Rate
• Enter the information gathered from your WebRunner into the SAP Calculator 
• Using the SAP Calculator, determine your Projected Credits Earned to get 70%, Minimum Credits to Degree and Maximum credits to 150%
• Enter this information in the boxes on Page 2.
• Page 3: Student Success Plan & Resource Recommendations
• Chart 1: Academic Obstacles. Consider obstacles you faced over previous term(s).
• If your Academic Obstacles include Mitigating Circumstances make sure you can provide documentation.
• Chart 2: Resource Recommendations, work on this section with your Academic Advisor. As an Education Plan in Degree Works is required with your Appeal Packet, you must meet with your Academic Advisor.

• Page 4: Appeal Letter
  • Your appeal letter is made up of 2 sections of 250 words or fewer. Your letter should be addressed to the Veterans Office or To Whom it May Concern.
  • Section 1: Explanation
    • Your appeal is contending that extenuating or mitigating circumstances made it impossible for you to be successful.
    • Be aware, being overwhelmed is not an extenuating circumstance.
  • Per the VA, Mitigating Circumstances Include :
    • Illness, injury, or death affecting the student or their immediate family
    • Unavoidable change in employment
    • Unavoidable employment related transfer
    • Financial obligations beyond student’s control
    • Unanticipated active military service
    • Unanticipated difficulties with childcare
  • Section 2: Plan for Improvement
  • Include how you plan to use the Resource Recommendations you received from your Academic Advisor.
    • Documentation
  •  Appropriate documentation is required to support your statements.
    • Documentation that is submitted along with the Appeal packet is kept on file at LBCC but is not sent to the VA. You may receive notification from the VA if they require documentation of mitigating circumstances as well. It is the responsibility of the student to send all documentation to the VA.
    • Appropriate documentation of extenuating circumstances includes:
      • Documentation from Health Care Provider(s)
        • This includes (but is not limited to) documentation of visit, and letters from medical professionals.
        • Health Care Provider(s) include counselors, social workers, and medical doctors
      •  Police Reports
      • Death notices
        • This includes published obituary notices, death certificates, and documentation of funeral proceedings.
      • Court reports
  • In-Appropriate documentation includes letters from family or friends
• If you are required to submit an appeal packet to receive your VA Federal GI Bill® benefits, you will be contacted via Watermark. You can also access the packet here. 

If you have questions or concerns about documentation requirements, please contact the Veterans Office (vetsoffice@linnbenton.edu).