Veterans Thread Forum

[SemperLegal]

Just found out that a school I'm seriously considering will not/can not recode a scholarship to make it not exclusively for tuition. Once my tuition is reduced to 0, I don't get to net the difference.

I realize it's kind of shitty to bitch about having a $0 COA, but that still bites.

That sucks. Try asking elsewhere (possible the university cashier, if its diffrent from the law school one). Between the Financial Aid department, the finance office, and the dean of students, someone might be able to figure it out.

[erik the viking]

I am an e5 and will ETS in August. I have the post 911 GI bill and have already been accepted to UVA. I just found out about the fLEP program and am interested and was wondering if I can still do it. I heard that the deadline is November 1st and that you have to be an officer. Is there a chance? Is anyone else doing it here this year?

[uvandy]

FLEP is only for officers. Navy has a similar program for enlisted but the other branches don't.

http://www.jag.navy.mil/careers_/career ... s_ipp.html

[JazzyMac]

I am an e5 and will ETS in August. I have the post 911 GI bill and have already been accepted to UVA. I just found out about the fLEP program and am interested and was wondering if I can still do it. I heard that the deadline is November 1st and that you have to be an officer. Is there a chance? Is anyone else doing it here this year?

Congratulations! Can you please post your stats, if you care? GPA, LSAT, etc.?

[Cobretti]

Just found out that a school I'm seriously considering will not/can not recode a scholarship to make it not exclusively for tuition. Once my tuition is reduced to 0, I don't get to net the difference.

I realize it's kind of shitty to bitch about having a $0 COA, but that still bites.

That's the situation at NU...

[Magical Trevor]

Just found out that a school I'm seriously considering will not/can not recode a scholarship to make it not exclusively for tuition. Once my tuition is reduced to 0, I don't get to net the difference.

I realize it's kind of shitty to bitch about having a $0 COA, but that still bites.

That's the situation at NU...

I just hit that situation myself. However, the BAH from the Post 9/11 isn't high enough to avoid having to pay for living expenses. It's still very low cost relative to most people, but if they'd just recode I would be set...

[TheSpanishMain]

Any other reservists who aren't 100% eligible? I'll be sitting at 90%. Here's my issue.

Say tuition at a given school is 30k a year for in-state. School also gives you a scholarship for 20k a year. Finally, your GI Bill benefits would be worth 27k a year (90% of 30). Now, if the school reports to the VA AFTER paying your scholarship, the VA might only pay you 9k (90% of 10k) leaving you to foot the rest. If it goes the other way, you should be fully covered.

Just trying to puzzle this one out.

[ScottRiqui]

Any other reservists who aren't 100% eligible? I'll be sitting at 90%. Here's my issue.

Say tuition at a given school is 30k a year for in-state. School also gives you a scholarship for 20k a year. Finally, your GI Bill benefits would be worth 27k a year (90% of 30). Now, if the school reports to the VA AFTER paying your scholarship, the VA might only pay you 9k (90% of 10k) leaving you to foot the rest. If it goes the other way, you should be fully covered.

Just trying to puzzle this one out.

The VA is now the "payer of last resort", so your second scenario is correct (the VA pays 9k, and it goes directly to the school). So, that "20k/year scholarship" only saves you about 2k/year. It saves the VA a ton of money, though.

[Rotor]

Any other reservists who aren't 100% eligible? I'll be sitting at 90%. Here's my issue.

Say tuition at a given school is 30k a year for in-state. School also gives you a scholarship for 20k a year. Finally, your GI Bill benefits would be worth 27k a year (90% of 30). Now, if the school reports to the VA AFTER paying your scholarship, the VA might only pay you 9k (90% of 10k) leaving you to foot the rest. If it goes the other way, you should be fully covered.

Just trying to puzzle this one out.

I disagree with Scott. The last payer provision just means that VA is the last one to contribute, not that your benefits are based on the remaining balance. I believe they report the full tuition to VA, then apply the scholarship, then VA pays the remainder up to 90% of the original tuition and fees. Of course, you should check with your school's VA rep to confirm.

[grungy89]

In terms of payment order are (univ. provided) grants treated any differently than (Univ. provided) scholarships? All though undergrad/post 9-11GIBILL I was getting Univ. grants that were all refunded to me after about 2 weeks into each semester. I hope that Law School Schollies ( not tuition restricted) are refunded in the same manner for GI Bill vets as my undergrad grants. Are you saying you wont get them refunded to you?

[ScottRiqui]

Here's the wording from the "G.I Bill 2.0" revision (emphasis added):

"The VA will pay the actual net cost for in-State tuition and fees assessed by the institution for the program of education after the application of—

– any waiver of, or reduction in, tuition and fees; and

– any scholarship, or other Federal, State, institutional, or employer-based aid or assistance (other than loans and any funds provided under section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) [Federal Title IV]) that is provided directly to the institution and specifically designated for the sole purpose of defraying tuition and fees;"

So all reductions in tuition and fees are applied first, then the VA pays what's left, subject to your eligibility limits. The last bolded part is why there's been so much discussion here about "re-coding" scholarships. If you can get the school to say that the scholarship is NOT specifically designated for tuition/fees, then it won't reduce the tuition/fees bill that gets sent to the VA for payment.

[grungy89]

Whew! Thank you for calming my up all night studying nerves. I was already considering other careers!

[grungy89]

Here's the wording from the "G.I Bill 2.0" revision (emphasis added):

"The VA will pay the actual net cost for in-State tuition and fees assessed by the institution for the program of education after the application of—

– any waiver of, or reduction in, tuition and fees; and

– any scholarship, or other Federal, State, institutional, or employer-based aid or assistance (other than loans and any funds provided under section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) [Federal Title IV]) that is provided directly to the institution and specifically designated for the sole purpose of defraying tuition and fees;"

So all reductions in tuition and fees are applied first, then the VA pays what's left, subject to your eligibility limits. The last bolded part is why there's been so much discussion here about "re-coding" scholarships. If you can get the school to say that the scholarship is NOT specifically designated for tuition/fees, then it won't reduce the tuition/fees bill that gets sent to the VA for payment.

Also, about this. I' repeat what I've been told, even though I'm sort of a pariah around here, if it can help another vet, and that is that public law schools often have less latitude regarding restrictions on the scholarships they offer.

[TheSpanishMain]

Here's the wording from the "G.I Bill 2.0" revision (emphasis added):

"The VA will pay the actual net cost for in-State tuition and fees assessed by the institution for the program of education after the application of—

– any waiver of, or reduction in, tuition and fees; and

– any scholarship, or other Federal, State, institutional, or employer-based aid or assistance (other than loans and any funds provided under section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) [Federal Title IV]) that is provided directly to the institution and specifically designated for the sole purpose of defraying tuition and fees;"

So all reductions in tuition and fees are applied first, then the VA pays what's left, subject to your eligibility limits. The last bolded part is why there's been so much discussion here about "re-coding" scholarships. If you can get the school to say that the scholarship is NOT specifically designated for tuition/fees, then it won't reduce the tuition/fees bill that gets sent to the VA for payment.

Right. I just wonder if that eligibility percentage is based on the original amount, without the scholarship. So if there is 10k left after scholarship, the VA pays all of that because they would have paid up to 27k (90% of full tuition.) Hm.

[ScottRiqui]

Here's the wording from the "G.I Bill 2.0" revision (emphasis added):

"The VA will pay the actual net cost for in-State tuition and fees assessed by the institution for the program of education after the application of—

– any waiver of, or reduction in, tuition and fees; and

– any scholarship, or other Federal, State, institutional, or employer-based aid or assistance (other than loans and any funds provided under section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) [Federal Title IV]) that is provided directly to the institution and specifically designated for the sole purpose of defraying tuition and fees;"

So all reductions in tuition and fees are applied first, then the VA pays what's left, subject to your eligibility limits. The last bolded part is why there's been so much discussion here about "re-coding" scholarships. If you can get the school to say that the scholarship is NOT specifically designated for tuition/fees, then it won't reduce the tuition/fees bill that gets sent to the VA for payment.

Right. I just wonder if that eligibility percentage is based on the original amount, without the scholarship. So if there is 10k left after scholarship, the VA pays all of that because they would have paid up to 27k (90% of full tuition.) Hm.

The VA doesn't necessarily even know what the pre-scholarship tuition/fees amount was (although they probably do).

All they really need to know is what the school submits for reimbursement, which is post-scholarships. To use your example, the school is submitting a claim for $10k to the VA. The VA doesn't need to know whether tuition was $30k and you had a $20k scholarship, or tuition was $40k and you had a $30k scholarship, or maybe tuition was only $10k to begin with. All they see is that the school is submitting a claim for $10k, and the VA decides how much of that to pay based on eligibility percentage.

It's kind of a screw job for the student, but the "payer of last resort" setup was probably a necessary cost savings to offset the fact that now the GI Bill pays full in-state tuition at any public school, rather than there being an hourly cap like it used to be.

[TheSpanishMain]

Just got hold of the school's VA rep. Scott is correct, sadly. I'm not too bummed, since my book allowance will just about cover the difference anyway, but it's still a bit of a downer.

[TheJanitor6203]

Just got hold of the school's VA rep. Scott is correct, sadly. I'm not too bummed, since my book allowance will just about cover the difference anyway, but it's still a bit of a downer.

Where are you going?

[TheSpanishMain]

William and Mary most likely.

[erik the viking]

I am an e5 and will ETS in August. I have the post 911 GI bill and have already been accepted to UVA. I just found out about the fLEP program and am interested and was wondering if I can still do it. I heard that the deadline is November 1st and that you have to be an officer. Is there a chance? Is anyone else doing it here this year?

Congratulations! Can you please post your stats, if you care? GPA, LSAT, etc.?

3.25/173

Got in at nyu ed and UVA and gucl rd

[TheJanitor6203]

I am an e5 and will ETS in August. I have the post 911 GI bill and have already been accepted to UVA. I just found out about the fLEP program and am interested and was wondering if I can still do it. I heard that the deadline is November 1st and that you have to be an officer. Is there a chance? Is anyone else doing it here this year?

Congratulations! Can you please post your stats, if you care? GPA, LSAT, etc.?

3.25/173

Got in at nyu ed and UVA and gucl rd

You ED'ed at NYU and UVA?

[TheSpanishMain]

I am an e5 and will ETS in August. I have the post 911 GI bill and have already been accepted to UVA. I just found out about the fLEP program and am interested and was wondering if I can still do it. I heard that the deadline is November 1st and that you have to be an officer. Is there a chance? Is anyone else doing it here this year?

Congratulations! Can you please post your stats, if you care? GPA, LSAT, etc.?

3.25/173

Got in at nyu ed and UVA and gucl rd

You ED'ed at NYU and UVA?

I read that as "ED at NYU, already got in RD to GULC and UVA."

Congrats, Erik! Are you worried about ED at NYU locking you out of scholarship money, or does Yellow Ribbon have you covered?

[unc0mm0n1]

I am an e5 and will ETS in August. I have the post 911 GI bill and have already been accepted to UVA. I just found out about the fLEP program and am interested and was wondering if I can still do it. I heard that the deadline is November 1st and that you have to be an officer. Is there a chance? Is anyone else doing it here this year?

Congratulations! Can you please post your stats, if you care? GPA, LSAT, etc.?

3.25/173

Got in at nyu ed and UVA and gucl rd

You ED'ed at NYU and UVA?

What? How did you get that from what he wrote?

[TheJanitor6203]

He identified NYU as ed then said UVA then GUCL RD. So I was unclear if he was grouping UVA with NYU or GULC.

[twobitrye]

I've been so focused on applications that I haven't looked much into how scholarships pair with the GI Bill. Posts higher up on this thread make it pretty clear that the VA is the payer of last resort, but I'm wondering if there's any way for a school to postpone scholarship money until after the GI Bill runs out. If I had two years left of benefits and I were to get a scholarship for, say, 5k a year, would it be reasonable to ask a school to put all of that into the third year so that I could maximize my vet benefits while they still last?

Sort of a bizarre question, but I figured this would be the place to ask it.

[Magical Trevor]

Question for all of you: Would you submit paperwork for a YRP slot to a school that you aren't 100% committed to attending?