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	Common Questions   Below is a list of frequently asked questions and answers that veterans, employees and educational institutions have asked the State Approving Agency for Veterans Training. All VA forms related to a students enrollment should be forwarded to the VA Regional Processing Office of jurisdiction. For Ohio, the address is: Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Processing Center P.O. Box 4616 Buffalo, New York, 14240-4616. The VA toll free number is 1-888-442-4551. Who do I contact to determine the status of my VA benefit Check? A student is required to complete one year of on-the-job training following completion of the instructional training. Can the student use VA benefits for this job training? How do I gain access to E-cert? Will the SAA provide assistance in completing forms to enroll a trainee in an approved OJT/APP program? I completed a certificate exam, and applied for reimbursement from the VA, but was denied payment. How can I secure reimbursement for this exam? A veteran attending my approved program received a denial letter stating the calendar dates were not approved. What must I do so that the veteran can receive payment? I received a federal check from the U.S. Treasury. What is it for? How does my school become approved for the training of Veterans? Where do I send VA applications and enrollments certifications for students applying for educational benefits? How do I know if my program is approvable? We recently added new staff who will be responsible for certifying the enrollment of Veterans. How do we get the new staff listed as a certifying official? I am a new certifying official and am lost. Will the SAA visit my school to assist me? There has been a change in the authorizing official at our institution. Who should be notified? A veteran at my school is pursuing a dual degree. Can this be approved? Is there a set number of hours that can be approved for a flight rating? Does the two-year period of operation apply to two new degree programs we are adding? A student at our institution has a bachelor's degree and now want to earn a teaching certificate. Can the teaching certificate be approved? How can I obtain our institutions assigned facility code number? Our college offers courses at sites other than the parent campus. Are we required to obtain approval for these sites? How long does it take to become approved? Does Ohio approve blanket (statewide) approvals for on-the-job training programs? A veteran told me that he did not want to transfer any credit hours from his previous college. Does he have an option? I am a new certifying official at a clock hour school. What determines if my veteran students will be paid benefits on a full-time basis? How do I find out which forms I need to fill out in order to begin receiving benefits? How do I find out if my school is approved? My school is approved, but the course I am pursuing is not. What forms should be filled out for approval and payment? How long does it take the school to get approved so the student can begin receiving benefits? I received a letter from the DVA denying my request for benefits. What are my next steps? How can I find out more about Chapter 35 (eligible spouses and dependent children) benefits? Who do I contact to determine the status of my VA benefit Check? Contact the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) at 1-888-GIBILL-1. ⇑ Return to Top A student is required to complete one year of on-the-job training following completion of the instructional training, to meet licensing requirements. Can the student use VA benefits for this job training? Yes, providing the employer offering the training meets the requirements for approval of on the job training. ⇑ Return to Top How do I gain access to E-cert? E-cert is an electronic certification program that allows schools to certify enrollment by the internet. You must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (can download from VA website at www.GIBill.va.gov), complete the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and mail it to your VA Educational Liaison Representative of jurisdiction. The ELR will contact you with further details upon receipt of the MOU. ⇑ Return to Top Will the SAA provide assistance in completing forms to enroll a trainee in an approved OJT/APP program? Yes, simply contact the SAA and request assistance from the area consultant. ⇑ Return to Top I completed a certificate exam, and applied for reimbursement from the VA, but was denied payment. How can I secure reimbursement for this exam? The entity that actually owns or has been granted authority by the first owner to issue the license or certificate must apply for approval to the SAA in the state where the offering organization is headquartered. ⇑ Return to Top A veteran attending my approved program received a denial letter stating the calendar dates were not approved. What must I do so that the veteran can receive payment? All calendar dates must be submitted to the SAA for approval. The SAA must be notified of any changes (additions or deletions) at the institution that impact the approval. This information is then forwarded to the DVA who will update the On Line Approval File. ⇑ Return to Top I received a federal check from the U.S. Treasury. What is it for? The VA pays each school an annual reporting fee based upon the number of eligible persons that were enrolled at the end of the calendar year. This fee is meant to help offset the costs associated with certifying the enrollment of eligible students. The VA pays $7 for each student enrolled under any of the chapters noted. They will also pay an additional $4 if an advanced payment check was delivered on behalf of a student. ⇑ Return to Top How does my school become approved for the training of Veterans? A responsible official at the school should contact the State Approving Agency (SAA) in writing to request approval. After your request is received an educational supervisor will contact you by phone to schedule a mutually convenient visit to your school. In addition to conducting an on-site inspection of the facilities and equipment available for instructional purposes, the supervisor will review approval criteria, the application process, and record-keeping requirements with you. Copies of your facilities publications and other supporting documentation will be requested and reviewed on site. ⇑ Return to Top Where do I send VA applications and enrollments certifications for students applying for educational benefits? All VA forms related to a students enrollment should be forwarded to the VA Regional Processing Office of jurisdiction. For Ohio, the address is Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Processing Center, P.O. Box 4616, Buffalo, New York, 14240-4616. The VA toll free number is 1-888-442-4551. ⇑ Return to Top How do I know if my program is approvable? In general, an institutional program must lead to a vocational, educational, or professional objective as defined in VA guidelines. A consultant from this office will evaluate your program upon request to determine if it meets approval criteria outlined in the appropriate VA regulations. ⇑ Return to Top We recently added new staff who will be responsible for certifying the enrollment of Veterans. How do we get the new staff listed as a certifying official? The DVA has a Certifying Officials Form (VA form 22-8794) that must be updated if you wish to make changes (additions or deletions) in the certifying officials listed at your facility. You may contact the SAA or VA to secure a copy of the form. Complete it and return it to the SAA for processing. Included in our database is a listing of all certifying officials at each approved site. ⇑ Return to Top I am a new certifying official and am lost. Will the SAA visit my school to assist me? The SAA will visit your school to provide technical assistance upon written request. ⇑ Return to Top There has been a change in the authorizing official at our institution. Who should be notified? The SAA must be notified if there is a change in the approved authorizing official. SAA will contact the school to update approval applications and then forward this information to the DVA. ⇑ Return to Top A veteran at my school is pursuing a dual degree. Can this be approved? Dual degrees must be approved by the SAA if the student will exceed the numbers of hours approved for a single degree. Requirements for completion of both degrees must be forwarded to the State Approving Agency. ⇑ Return to Top Is there a set number of hours that can be approved for a flight rating? The maximum number of dual hours that can be approved by the SAA is 20% over the FAA minimum requirements. The maximum number of solo hours is the minimum number of solo hours required by the part 141 Appendix. If there are no minimum hours specified by the FAA for a particular rating the SAA will approve the number of hours listed in the FAA approved training course outline. ⇑ Return to Top Does the two-year period of operation apply to two new degree programs we are adding? The two-year period of operation does not apply to courses that lead to a standard college degree. ⇑ Return to Top A student at our institution has a bachelor's degree and now want to earn a teaching certificate. Can the teaching certificate be approved? The teaching certificate is approvable as a professional objective since it requires state licensure to practice the profession. ⇑ Return to Top How can I obtain our institutions assigned facility code number? The Department of Veteran Affairs assigns facility code for each approved institution. The DVA office of jurisdiction for your state can provide this number. In Ohio, that number is also listed on the approval information notice (SAA-9) attached to your school application. ⇑ Return to Top Our college offers courses at sites other than the parent campus. Are we required to obtain approval for these sites? Courses offered to Veterans at off-campus sites must be approved by the SAA. A listing of off-campus sites and courses at that site must be provided to SAA approval. ⇑ Return to Top How long does it take to become approved? The length of time that it takes to complete the approval process depends upon the length of time it takes a school official or employer to provide SAA with a completed approval package. This agency has established a performance standard that specifies that a completed approval package will be forwarded to the DVA within 30 days. The average turn-around time is 14 days. ⇑ Return to Top Does Ohio approve blanket (statewide) approvals for on-the-job training programs? No. Each site providing training on the job is approved separately. ⇑ Return to Top A veteran recently told me that he did not want to transfer any credit hours from his previous college. Does he have an option? No. A veteran must provide a record of all previous training. The school must maintain a written record that demonstrates that prior credit was evaluated, appropriate credit was granted, and the training period was shortened proportionately. ⇑ Return to Top I am a new certifying official at a clock hour school. What determines if my veteran students will be paid benefits on a full-time basis? The Department of Veterans Affairs has published requirements that specify what constitutes full time enrollment at a clock hour school. If laboratory instruction predominates in the curriculum the student must be in attendance at least 22 clock hours per week to receive full-time benefits. If theory predominates a student must attend 18 clock hours per week. Benefits will be paid at a lesser amount in accordance with VA guidelines specified in CFR 21.4270. ⇑ Return to Top How do I find out which forms I need to fill out in order to begin receiving benefits? Contact the Department Affairs at 1-888-GIBILL-1 or the Certifying official at the school or training site. ⇑ Return to Top How do I find out if my school is approved? Contact the State Approving Agency in the state where the training is offered. A link to the National Association of State Approving Agencies is on this main page which includes a listing of the State Approving Agency for each state. ⇑ Return to Top My school is approved, but the course I am pursuing is not. What forms should be filled out for approval and payment? The school must make application for approval of the new course to the State Approving Agency before benefits can be authorized. After the course is approved the school must certify the enrollment to the VA for payment. If the veteran has never used benefits before, the veteran must also complete an application for benefits (Form VA22-1990). ⇑ Return to Top How long does it take the school to get approved so the student can begin receiving benefits? The time required for a school to get approved depends on how long it takes the school to provide the State Approving Agency with a completed approval package. The State Approving Agency processes completed packages within thirty (30) days of receipt. ⇑ Return to Top I received a letter from the DVA denying my request for benefits. What are my next steps? If the facility you are attending has already made application to the State Approving Agency (SAA) for approval this likely means that your application was received at the DVA before the approval applications were processed and inputted in the DVA computer system. The DVA letter advises that the application will be processed as soon as notification is received regarding the approval. You may want to follow with a letter or phone call to the DVA's toll free number to check the status of your application. The State Approving Agency follows up on all denial letters and contacts the facility regarding the denial letter. If the program qualifies for approval, the facility is encouraged to make application to the SAA. In the event the facility can not meet approval criteria, the letter advises you to give consideration to selecting another training site that is approved. A directory of approved training sites can be found on this web site. ⇑ Return to Top How can I find out more about Chapter 35 (eligible spouses and dependent children) benefits? The State Approving Agency approves and supervises program of education. Questions regarding eligibility or payment under any of the educational benefit programs must be directed to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The toll free number is 1-888-442-4551 or you can check their web site for more information at www.GIBill.va.gov. ⇑ Return to Top