VA likely to miss deadline to process education benefits claims

VA likely to miss deadline to process education benefits claims
By Bob Brewin 08/13/2009

The Veterans Affairs Department has a backlog of nearly 200,000 education benefits claims from veterans just three weeks before universities and colleges start classes for the fall, and it is unlikely VA can process the applications in time, a knowledgeable congressional source said.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have filed for education benefits established by the 2008 GI bill, formerly called the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, which greatly expanded the benefits the government gives veterans for college education. For example, the bill hikes payments for tuition from $1,300 a month to a payment that is pegged at the highest tuition at a public university in a veteran's state of residence, which for Massachusetts would be $10,232. The bill includes monthly living expenses of $1,100 to $1,200.

VA has been overwhelmed with claims and the backlog means "schools are going to get paid late," said the congressional source who declined to be identified. Colleges and universities basically have two choices: decline to enroll veterans for the fall semester, which would cause bad publicity, or carry the veterans until VA payments arrive, according to the source. The situation is "not pretty, and it's going to get uglier," the source said.
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