Veteran and Military-Affiliated Education Benefits

First thing you need to do is make sure you have applied to Drake and have been accepted. Please see the Veterans Affairs page with Admission, as this has a lot of helpful information.

If you have not been accepted to Drake and have questions, we will answer general questions to the best of our ability.

Next you will need to make sure you have G.I. Bill education benefits. Please go to the VA website to see if you qualify and request your benefits. We do not have the ability to see a student's benefits without the student providing that information. Once you have been approved, the VA should send you a Certificate of Eligibility (COE).

If you are a parent who has veterans' benefits and want to transfer them to your dependents, please go to milConnect. Please be aware that you must have transferred your benefits before leaving the service. You CANNOT transfer benefits afterward.

If you are a Chapter 31 student, please make sure your counselor sends your authorization via Tungsten to Drake. You do not have a COE.

Please note: With appropriate documentation provided by the VA that serves as verification of a student's eligibility of Chapter 31 or 33 benefits, Drake University will not impose any penalty including the assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, libraries or other institutional facilities, and/or the requirements that a Chapter 31 or Chapter 33 recipient borrow additional funds to cover the individual’s inability to meet his or her financial obligations to Drake due to the delayed disbursement of a payment by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Drake abides by Section 103 of the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018.

Students who have Chapters 30, 33, 35, and 1606 will have a COE. Drake University does require students to provide a copy of their COE for our records. Please email your COE to veterans.benefits@drake.edu.

If you are Chapter 31, your counselor will need to send Drake proof of your benefits via Tungsten. You will not have to do anything on your end.

This next step is not a requirement to do before meeting with us, but to help speed up the process you may wish to complete it. After you have submitted your COE depending on the time of year, you will also need to fill out a Request for Certification. This only needs to be done if you have already signed up for the upcoming semester.

The Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty (MGIB-AD) can help a veteran pay for education and training programs. If you’ve served at least 2 years on active duty, you might qualify for the MGIB-AD program. This program can be used for education and training.

This chapter is not intended to cover the cost of tuition, but is a monthly stipend sent directly to the student. Make sure you set up your bank account with the VA to receive direct deposits. The payments will be sent once a month and will be prorated if students do not attend classes the full length of the month. The amount is also dependent on your enrollment status (full-time/part-time status). Please make sure you set up your direct deposit.

If you would like to see this year's rates, click below.

Chapter 30

The Dependent Education Assistance Program (DEA) Chapter 35 provides aid to a spouse, son or daughter (including stepchild or adopted child) of veterans who are either deceased or permanently and totally disabled as a result of a service-connected disability.

This chapter is not intended to cover the cost of tuition, but is a monthly stipend sent directly to the student. Make sure you set up your bank account with the VA to receive direct deposits. The payments will be sent once a month and will be prorated if students do not attend classes the full length of the month. The amount is also dependent on your enrollment status (full-time/part-time status). Please make sure you set up your direct deposit.

If you would like to see this year's rates, click below.

Chapter 35

The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (Fry Scholarship), is a scholarship for children and spouses of certain Veterans. If your parent or spouse died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, while serving in the Armed Forces, or was a member of the Selected Reserve who died from a service-connected disability, you may qualify for this benefit. This benefit provides money for tuition, housing, books, and supplies. If you'd like to see if you qualify, please go to the VA website.

The Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) offers up to 36 months of education and training benefits. If you are a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, or Air National Guard, you may be eligible for this benefit. This benefit can be used for education and training.

This chapter is not intended to cover the cost of tuition, but is a monthly stipend sent directly to the student. Make sure you set up your bank account with the VA to receive direct deposits. The payments will be sent once a month and will be prorated if class is not in session the full length of the month. The amount is also dependent on your enrollment status (full-time/part-time status). Please make sure you set up your direct deposit.

If you would like to see this year's rates, click below.

Chapter 1606

The Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program helps veterans explore employment options and address education or training needs that may be required to obtain gainful employment.

Tuition and fees will be fully covered, as well as books and supplies necessary for the successful completion of your degree. Students also receive a monthly housing stipend that can be used to pay for room and board. Students can cover other educational expenses if they work with their counselor.

When you order your books from the bookstore, they do have options for you to pay with your Chapter 31 benefits.

Please make sure you set up direct deposit.

This chapter will receive money directly from the VA to Drake to help cover their tuition. If you have 100% Chapter 33, then your tuition will be fully covered, plus your monthly housing stipends. If you have less than 100%, then you will receive the percentage of tuition and fees that you qualify for. If you only have 60%, then only 60% of your tuition and fees will be covered. You will then be responsible for the remainder of your balance.

Your monthly housing can be used to pay for your books, room, and board. That money is sent directly to students. It is up to the student to decide on how to use this money.

The monthly payments will be prorated if students do not attend classes the full length of the month. The amount is also dependent on your enrollment status (full-time/part-time status) and whether your classes are online or in-person. Students with in-person classes will receive more money than those who are online.

Please make sure you set up direct deposit.

If you would like to see this year's rates for Chapter 33, please click below.

Chapter 33

The Yellow Ribbon program is only available to those students who are eligible for Post 9/11 benefits at the 100% level. Each year, the Department of Veterans' Affairs determines a tuition cap. This is the maximum tuition they will pay for outright. If a student reaches the cap, the Yellow Ribbon program goes into effect. Drake University and the VA will split your remaining tuition costs and pay their share. This means your expenses will be covered. The tuition cap calendar with the VA starts over August 1st. There is no separate application process for the Yellow Ribbon program- if you meet the above requirements, you are automatically eligible. For more information, please see the VA website.

Besides providing a COE, Drake requires students to fill out a Request for Certification. Twice a year, the education benefits office will send an email to all students intending to use benefits that includes the Request for Certification. We also verify what chapter the student wants to be certified under, if they are a current or former military personnel, and if the student knows how many months they have left of their benefits. Once we have the COE and confirmation of certification, then we will certify when the time comes. Typically, we begin completing certifications roughly 3-4 weeks before the semester commences.

Students receiving any form of G.I. Bill education benefits will be required by the VA to confirm their enrollment each month. If a student fails to do so, the VA will withhold their monthly stipend.

We start to certify students for the fall semester two weeks before school starts. To ensure you are certified on time, make sure to have your COE sent and have filled out our Request for Certification. We need to have both to certify a student. We only require the COE once but require the Request for Certification for every semester. 

If you are a Chapter 33 student, we must certify you twice. We will start by only certifying you for full/part-time status in early August, and then, after the drop period has ended, we will certify you again for the cost of your tuition. Money then comes in a few weeks after classes start, so if your class does not start until later in the semester, your money will not come in until then. You will receive a full bill, so please do not panic when you get that notification. Your bill will only be reduced after the tuition money comes in, or you use your monthly payments to pay your bill down.

Once we have certified a student, the student should be notified via email. Some students have already set themselves up and use their personal email. If an email has not been set up, Drake will use the student's Drake email. So please check either your Drake email or whichever personal email you may have provided.

J-Term is paid through your spring bill with spring tuition. Since you do not need to have your tuition covered during this period, many students choose not to be certified for J-Term. If you would like to still receive your monthly stipend, you may use 1 month of benefits for J-Term. If you choose to use your VA benefits for J-Term, we will certify you in early December. Make sure you have filled out a Request for Certification. For Chapter 33, we will certify you for full/part-time status early December and again after the drop period ends for the cost of tuition. Please note that if you take 3 credits during J-Term and only 9 credits during the regular spring semester, you will not be considered full-time for the spring semester via the VA. You will be considered full-time by Drake, but this will affect your direct payment money.

For the spring semester, we will start certifying about two weeks before school starts. Please make sure you have filled out a Request for Certification before this time. For Chapter 33, we will certify you for full/part-time status early January and again after the drop period ends for the cost of tuition. Money then comes in a few weeks after classes start, so if your class does not start until later in the semester, your money will not come in until then.

For the summer semester, we will start certifying in early May if your class starts in May or June. If your class starts in July, we will wait until June to certify you. Make sure you have filled out a Request for Certification. For Chapter 33, we will certify you for full/part-time status early May or Late June, and again after the drop period ends for the cost of tuition.

Please note: Drake University will not impose any penalty including the assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, libraries or other institutional facilities, and/or the requirements that a Chapter 31 or Chapter 33 recipient borrow additional funds to cover the individual’s inability to meet his or her financial obligations to Drake due to the delayed disbursement of a payment by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Drake abides by Section 103 of the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018.

If you are a graduate student who is taking classes that are not the full length of the term, then we use the VA chart to determine your full-time status. Most graduate programs are 9 credits to be considered full time at Drake. We then add up the number of weeks your course is and go across to 9. Example, if your course is 6 weeks full time for those 6 weeks is 3 credits. So if that course is 3 credits for 6 weeks, it is considered full time.

If you withdraw/drop a class, you may need to pay the VA back for the cost of any housing/books costs. If you receive Chapter 31 or 33, Drake will have to pay back all or a portion of the VA money that came in for tuition and fees.

If you drop below full time status, you will be responsible for paying back any over payments of your monthly payment. Example would be if you were registered for 12 credits and took a W for a 3 credit class, you are now at 9 credits with the VA. The VA sees this as drop from full time status to 3/4 time status. If you were receiving $2,000 a month for housing for full time in-person this will now drop to 3/4 time in-person and now your payment is $1,500. You will owe the difference back to the VA.

The VA might recognize that you are in situations beyond your control (mitigating circumstances) that caused you to withdrawal or drop a class with a W. They then may decide not to charge you in full.

Mitigating circumstances include:

• An illness or death in your immediate family
• An injury or illness you had while you were enrolled
• A change in your conditions of employment that you couldn’t avoid
• A job transfer to a new location while you were enrolled that you couldn’t avoid
• Immediate family or financial demands that you had no control over
• Active military service that you didn’t know about ahead of time
• A sudden end to (or cancellation of) the course you were taking
• A sudden end to child care coverage that you didn’t know about ahead of time

You will need to share these circumstances with our office by emailing veterans.benefits@drake.edu.

If you are unsure if your circumstances will be accepted, please feel free to contact the VA.

Exceptions

• Students are allowed to take a W without mitigating circumstances for up to 6 credit hours.
• The 6 credit hour exclusion is a 1-time exception that lets you drop up to 6 credit hours and still keep the benefits you received up to the day you stopped attending classes. You don’t have to show mitigating circumstances to keep those benefits. 
• You can use the 6 credit hour exclusion only once, even if you drop fewer than 6 credits. So you can’t use it to drop 3 credits, then use it a second time to drop 3 more credits. 

Please be aware that the VA determines if/when a student qualifies for this exception. We cannot guarantee the VA will grant the exception.

If you are a veteran and you are in need of tutoring, you may qualify for tutoring money. See the VA webpage for more information.

If you are transferring to Drake and have already used your VA benefits, you will need to fill out the VA Form 22 1995 form to update your information.

If you have Chapter 35 benefits, please use VA Form 22 5494.

If you have changed your major while at Drake, you will also need to fill out the VA Form 22 1995 form.

If you have Chapter 35 benefits, please use VA Form 22 5494.

If you plan on studying abroad or taking a Drake travel seminar, please note that the VA will not pay for any airfare, lodging, or food.

If you plan on studying abroad through an outside company or school, you will be expected to pay for the program out of pocket. The VA will not certify any student that uses a study abroad program that is operated by a third party. There are no exceptions. Programs the VA will not pay are Worldstrides, AIFS Abroad, and School for Field Studies (SFS). Even if you are paying through Drake, you cannot use VA benefits if going through a third party. 

If you plan on studying abroad and you working with the foreign school directly, there is a chance the VA will allow you to be certified. The foreign school will be the ones to certify you, but you will need to have a guest letter from Drake in order to use your benefits. You will want to make sure this school has the ability to certify you with the VA.

If the course is taken through Drake there will be charges that cannot be covered by the VA. We will have to break down the larger fee to see what the VA will cover. Student's will be expected to pay for a portion of the course. Please note that J-Term undergraduate seminars only charge you for the costs of the trip and not for tuition and fees.

If you would like to take a course at another accredited institution to help complete your degree. Please email veterans.benefits@drake.edu for a guest letter. You will need to provide the name of the school, the course(s) you are planning to take, and the time frame you are taking them. If you then have the school contact for VA benefits, we will gladly send on the letter.

For students who attend a different institution and would like to take courses at Drake University we would need a copy of a guest letter from the certification team at your home institution. This letter should provide the following information: the course(s) you are planning to take, the time frame you are taking them, and confirmation the courses are degree applicable.

Available to actively drilling National Guard or US Reserves members, FedTA pays for up to $250 per semester hour of coursework up to 16 semester hours per year. Limited to 130 total credit hours towards an undergraduate degree.

If you receive Federal Tuition Assistance (TA), you will need to work with your branch of service to get your benefits. Drake can only view these benefits but is unable to do much to ensure it is used or received. We may be able to let you know if we can see you in the portal and if you are missing any details you need to provide.

After you create your account, you must create an Educational Goal. This must be completed before submitting a Tuition Assistance Request. To avoid problems, create as soon as you know what school you plan to attend. NLT 10 days before courses start (recommend 30 days before courses start).

Tuition Assistance Request can be submitted up to 60 days before the course start date. You must submit at least 8 days prior to the course start date (we recommend 14 days before or earlier). Recoupment Waivers must be submitted within 30 days of when the school submits the “W” grade.

Please reach out to your academic advisor to discuss and create your Evaluated Degree Plan. Our office will be unable to assist you with knowing what you need to graduate.

TA money is not the fastest process; please know it can either be on time or take the entire semester for Drake to receive TA money. Please email veterans.benefits@drake.edu when you have been approved to use TA. This will ensure that we have your major/degree listed on the site you use for your benefit.

To learn more about qualifying for Federal Tuition Assistance, how to apply, and who your assigned State Education Service Specialist is, please visit https://nationalguard.com/education-programs/federal-tuition-assistance.

The Iowa National Guard Service Scholarship provides annual awards to Iowa National Guard members who attend eligible Iowa colleges and universities.

The award amount is determined annually. 

Questions about the scholarship should be directed to the Army Education and Incentives Office. Their website is found here.

When contemplating a withdrawal from the university due to being called to active duty, students should consult their academic advisor and instructors to consider the time and/or coursework remaining in the term.

Students who wish to withdraw from some or all of their classes must contact the Office of the Registrar to provide a copy of military orders verifying “called to active duty” status.  The Office of the Registrar can also provide the student with additional information about specific procedures relating to their withdrawal and identify next steps for the student.

Students may pursue the following options:

1. Complete Withdrawal: Withdraw from all current-term courses
2. Partial Withdrawal: Retain enrollment in one or more courses and withdraw from one or more other courses. Students must receive approval from the instructor(s) of the course(s) for which they wish to remain enrolled.
3. No Withdrawal (retain current enrollment): Earn either a final grade or an incomplete in all courses for which the student currently is enrolled. Students must receive approval from all of their instructors to remain enrolled in their courses.

If the withdrawal occurs after the drop deadline as described in the official catalog, students will receive a “W” for courses from which they withdraw.

Courses for which the student receives a grade, including a grade of incomplete, will have applicable tuition and fees assigned.  Courses from which the student withdraws will result in a refund of tuition and fees to the student’s account.

Students are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Accounts, the Financial Aid Office, and Drake’s certifying official for veterans’ benefits.  In particular, there may be federal or state rules and requirements that are not under the control of Drake University and must be strictly administered.

I. Scope and purpose

In accordance with federal regulations, 34 C.F.R. § 668.18 and the Department of Defense (DoD) Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Drake University will promptly readmit service members who seek readmission to a program that was interrupted due to military service or a uniformed service obligation. The service member will be readmitted with the same academic status they had when last attending Drake University or accepted for admission to Drake University.

II. Definitions

• Military service (or service in the uniformed services) - Voluntary or involuntary service in the armed forces, including service by a member of the National Guard or Reserve on active duty, active duty for training, or full-time National Guard duty under federal authority, for a period of more than 30 consecutive days under a call or order to active duty of more than 30 consecutive days. This does not include National Guard service under state authority.
• Service member - someone who is a member of, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an obligation to perform, service in the uniformed services.
• Foreign service member - someone employed in one of several federal agencies: the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Foreign Commercial Service of the Department of Commerce, the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture, or the U.S. Agency for Global Media. These members possess, and must present, a U.S. government Official Form 126 “Foreign Service Residence and Dependency Report” issued by their agency as confirmation of the status.
• Appropriate officer - A warrant, commissioned, or non-commissioned officer authorized to give such notice by the military service concerned.
• Armed Forces - the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard.
• Active duty - full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. Active duty includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. Active duty does not include full-time National Guard duty.

III. Notification of military service

A student must provide orders, or an appropriate officer of the armed forces or official of the Department of Defense must give oral or written notice of such service to the Office of the Registrar as far in advance as possible under the circumstances.

• If military necessity, such as service in operations that are classified or would be compromised by such notice, this notification need not be given.
• An indication of when the student is expected to return to Drake University is not required.

IV. Notification of intent to return

Students must provide notification of Intent to Return within the specified time periods outlined below. A student who fails to apply for readmission within these periods does not automatically forfeit eligibility for readmission but will be subject to Drake University’s established leave of absence policy and general practices.

• Students must notify the Office of the Registrar orally or in writing of Intent to Return and provide supporting official military obligation documentation within three years of the completion of the service absence.
• Students must notify the Office of the Registrar or program registrar’s office orally or in writing of Intent to Return and provide supporting official military obligation documentation within two years after the end of the period needed to recover from an illness or injury if the student was hospitalized or convalescing due to an illness incurred or aggravated during the performance of service.

V. Tuition and fees

If the student is readmitted to the same program, for the first academic year in which they return, the school must assess the tuition and fee charges that they were or would have been assessed for the academic year during which they left the university. However, if the student’s veterans education benefits or other service member education benefits will pay the higher tuition and fee charges that other students in the program are paying for the year, the school may assess those charges to the student as well.

If the student is admitted to a different program, and for subsequent academic years for a student admitted to the same program, the school must assess no more than the tuition and fee charges that other students in the program are assessed for that academic year.

VI. Readmission requirements

A returning student will be permitted to enroll into the next class or classes in the program beginning after they provide notice of intent of readmission, unless the student requests a later date or unusual circumstances require the school to admit them at a later date.

A returning student will be readmitted into the same academic program the student was enrolled in prior to the military service obligation. If the exact program no longer exists, the student must be admitted to the program that is most similar, unless the student requests or agrees to admission to a different program.

Returning students will be readmitted with the same enrollment status, number of completed credit hours, and academic standing as the last academic year of attendance.

If Drake University determines that a returning student is not prepared to be readmitted in the same academic program with the same academic status or is unable to complete the program, the school must make reasonable efforts to enable the student to resume or complete the program at no additional cost to the student. If such efforts are unsuccessful or place an undue hardship on the school, the school is not required to readmit the student.

In accordance with federal regulations, returning students who receive a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge from the Armed Forces (including the National Guard and Reserves) are not eligible for readmission under this policy. However, service members who receive dishonorable or bad conduct discharge may remain eligible for readmission even though they will not be entitled to the benefits outlined in this policy.