GI Bill® Benefits and Certification Process

Eligible service members, spouses, and dependents may receive up to 36 months of education benefits, generally payable for 15 years following your release from active duty. The following payments may be available:

  • Tuition paid to the school
  • Monthly housing allowance paid to the recipient
  • Annual books and supplies stipend paid to recipient

How much a student receives in payments varies on enrollment at a public or private school, military status, and course registration each semester.

Learn more about the Post-9/11 chapter and review current payment rates.

Certification Process

To ensure an accurate certification and help avoid potential delays, be sure that the Registrar’s Office has a current Proof of Benefits on file. Please note that Georgetown University will only submit a certification without Proof of Benefits once and subsequent semesters require a letter to be on file.

Once a student submits the BRF, the request will be evaluated by the Certification Team.

To ensure enrollment and tuition information is up to date, certifications are typically sent 2-4 weeks prior to start of the semester. Once a certification has been submitted to the VA, an automated email will be sent to the student’s Georgetown email account with the update.

If you would like to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program (YRP) please ensure that you indicate your intentions on the BRF.

The Office of Third Party Billing review the student’s request and will calculate the net tuition and fees. If a student is receiving tuition-specific scholarships, grants, employer aid, or Tuition Assistance, the School Certifying Official is required to deduct tuition specific aid from the tuition and fees reported to the VA. Note: Federal loans are not required to be reported to the VA.

The expected amount from the VA’s tuition benefits sent to Georgetown, if any, will be posted on the student’s Student Account as a memo item to act as a placeholder until the actual VA payment arrives. If the student is eligible for to receive Yellow Ribbon Program benefits, a memo for the VA’s payment will be placed onto the student’s account and Georgetown’s payment will post live to the student’s account.

If the student submits the BRF on or prior to 1 October for the Fall Semester and on or prior to 1 March for the Spring Semester, the memo will protect the student from late fees as the school waits for payment to be received. Please note that the memo process is a manual process once a the BRF has been processed and therefore, it can take a couple of weeks for the memo to reflect on a student’s account. If the VA payment is not expected to cover all of the billed charges on the account, the student must pay the remainder by the due date listed on the billing statement or set up a payment plan with the Office of Billing and Payment Services. The School Certifying Official will then submit a certification to the VA to specify the student’s credit hours, dates of enrollment, rate of pursuit, and tuition certified to the VA .

As long as there are no processing delays, the first housing allowance payment (if applicable) is sent directly to the student’s bank account the first week of the month for the previous month’s enrollment. As a reminder, the VA will only send applicable housing allowance payments for the specific dates you are enrolled in classes. The book stipend payment (if applicable) is sent directly to the student’s bank account between 2-4 weeks after a certification is submitted to the VA.

Eligible service members may receive up to 36 months of education benefits. The monthly benefit paid to you is based on the type of training you take, length of your service, your category, any college fund eligibility, and if you contributed to the $600 buy-up program. You usually have 10 years to use your Montgomery benefits, but the time limit can be fewer or more years depending on the situation.

How much a student receives in the monthly payment varies depending if the student participated in the $600 Buy-Up program and course registration each semester.

Learn more about the Montgomery Active Duty chapter and review current payment rates.

Certification Process

To ensure an accurate certification and help avoid potential delays, be sure that the Registrar’s Office has a current Proof of Benefits on file. Please note that Georgetown University will only submit a certification without Proof of Benefits once and subsequent semesters require a letter to be on file.

To ensure enrollment and tuition information is up to date, certifications are typically sent 2-4 weeks prior to start of the semester. Once a certification has been submitted to the VA, an automated email will be sent to the student’s Georgetown email account with the update.

Once a student submits the online BRF, the request will be evaluated by the Main Campus Certification Team. 

After this review, the School Certifying Official will have credit hours, dates of enrollment, the tuition and fees, and full or part time (full/part time status) certified to the VA.  

The VA will send monthly benefit payments directly to the student while the student is enrolled in classes. Students using Chapter 30 are required to pay their tuition and fees balance in full by the specified due date on the billing statement or set up a payment plan with the Office of Billing and Payment Services.

Recipients of Chapter 30 are required to verify their enrollment each month through the VA’s WAVE system for the months enrolled in classes.

The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program is authorized by Congress under Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 31. The mission of VR&E is to help veterans with service-connected disabilities to prepare for, find, and keep suitable jobs. Also, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services provide vocational-educational counseling to veterans and certain dependents. VR&E can provide a wide range of vocational and educational counseling services to service members still on active duty, as well as veterans and dependents who are eligible for one of VA’s educational benefit programs.

Eligible service members with a service related disability can receive a comprehensive evaluation from the Department of Veterans Affairs to determine abilities, skills, and interests for employment by providing vocational counseling and rehabilitation planning for employment services. In some cases, post-secondary training at a college, vocational, technical or business school is indicated as a required step in a veteran’s plan to attain gainful employment. 

Learn more about Vocational Rehabilitation and how to apply.

Certification Process

To ensure an accurate certification and help avoid potential delays, Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation recipients will need to have the VA-FORM 28-1905 on file with the Registrar’s Office each semester to be certified.

To ensure enrollment and tuition information is up to date, certifications are typically sent 2-4 weeks prior to start of the semester. Once a certification has been submitted to the VA, an automated email will be sent to the student’s Georgetown email account with the update.

Students receiving Vocational Rehabilitation benefits, must have their Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor submit a 28-1905 form to the School Certifying Official. Most counselors provide a form each semester once a student has provided the counselor an unofficial transcript for the previous semester’s enrollment. To confirm if the Certification Team has an up-to-date form, please contact the School Certifying Official.

Once a student submits the online BRF, the request will be evaluated by the Main Campus Certification Team.

The Office of Third Party Billing review the student’s request and will calculate the net tuition and fees. If a student is receiving tuition-specific scholarships, grants, employer aid, or Tuition Assistance, the Certifying Official is required to deduct tuition specific aid from the tuition and fees reported to the VA. Note: Federal loans are not required to be reported to the VA.

The expected amount from the VA’s tuition benefits sent to Georgetown, if any, will be posted on the student’s Student Account as a memo item to act as a placeholder until the actual VA payment arrives.

If the student submits the BRF on or prior to 1 October for the Fall Semester and on or prior to 1 March for the Spring Semester, the memo will protect the student from late fees as the school waits for payment to be received.   Please note that the memo process is a manual process once a the BRF has been processed and therefore, it can take a couple of weeks for the memo to reflect on a student’s account. The School Certifying Official will then submit a certification to the VA to specify the student’s credit hours, dates of enrollment, training time (full/part time status), and tuition certified to the VA .

To receive the Vocational Rehabilitation Book Voucher, the VA FORM 28-1905 must be on file and up to date. Once the form is on file, contact the Third Party Billing Office to arrange for a book voucher to be provided to the Georgetown University Bookstore. Once a student has received the book voucher, books can be purchased at the Georgetown University Bookstore.

Survivors and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Act provides education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of certain veterans. Eligible spouses and dependents may receive up to 45 months of education benefits when a veteran who died or is permanently and totally disabled as the result of a service-connect disability. The disability must arise out of active service in the armed forces. Please note: If you began your program on August 1, 2018 or after, you have 36 months to use your benefits.

How much a student receives in the monthly payment varies depending on the student’s course registration each semester.

Learn more about the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance chapter and review current payment rates.

Certification Process

To ensure an accurate certification and help avoid potential delays, be sure that the Registrar’s Office has a current Proof of Benefits on file. Please note that Georgetown University will only submit a certification without Proof of Benefits once and subsequent semesters require a letter to be on file.

To ensure enrollment and tuition information is up to date, certifications are typically sent 2-4 weeks prior to start of the semester. Once a certification has been submitted to the VA, an automated email will be sent to the student’s Georgetown email account with the update.

Once a student submits the online BRF, the request will be evaluated by the Main Campus Certification Team. After this review, the School Certifying Official will have credit hours, dates of enrollment, the tuition and fees, and training time (full/part time status) certified to the VA.

The VA will send monthly benefit payments directly to the student while the student is enrolled in classes.  Students receiving these benefits are required to pay their tuition and fees balance in full by the specified due date on the billing statement or set up a payment plan with the Office of Billing and Payment Services.

The MGIB-SR program may be available to eligible service members of the Selected Reserve. The Selected Reserve includes the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve and Coast Guard Reserve, and the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. This benefit may be used for degree and certificate programs, flight training, apprenticeship/on-the-job training and correspondence courses. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances.

Learn more about the Montgomery Selected Reserve chapter and review current payment rates.

Certification Process

To ensure an accurate certification and help avoid potential delays, be sure that the Registrar’s Office has a current Proof of Benefits on file. Please note that Georgetown University will only submit a certification without Proof of Benefits once and subsequent semesters require a letter to be on file.

To ensure enrollment and tuition information is up to date, certifications are typically sent 2-4 weeks prior to start of the semester. Once a certification has been submitted to the VA, an automated email will be sent to the student’s Georgetown email account with the update.

Once a student submits the online BRF, the request will be evaluated by the Main Campus Certification Team. After this review, the School Certifying Official will have credit hours, dates of enrollment, the tuition and fees, and training time (full/part time status) certified to the VA.

The VA will send monthly benefit payments directly to the student while the student is enrolled in classes.  Students receiving these benefits are required to pay their tuition and fees balance in full by the specified due date on the billing statement or set up a payment plan with the Office of Billing and Payment Services.

Recipients of Chapter 1606 are required to verify their enrollment each month through the VA’s WAVE system for the months enrolled in classes. 


GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill. (new window)