Veterans' Benefits
Ozark Christian College is approved for certification of students eligible to receive educational assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA). Contact the VA School Certifying Official, Lacey Branstine, at 417.626.1206 or [email protected].
Below are chapters under which you may qualify. For details of eligibility, please see the GI Bill® website.
Chapter 30 - Montgomery GI Bill® Active Duty
Chapter 31 - Vocational Rehabilitation Program
Chapter 32 - Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
Chapter 33 - Post 9/11 GI Bill®
Chapter 35 - Dependent or Spouse of 100% Disabled or Deceased Veterans (Service Connected)
Chapter 1606 - Montgomery GI Bill® Selected Reserve/National Guard
Chapter 1607 - Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP)
To apply for education benefits or if you are a transfer student and need to change your school or program, go to VA.gov.
To check the status of benefits, go to eBenefits.
85/15 Rule
The Code of Federal Regulations (38 CFR 21.4201) states VA shall not approve the enrollment of any VA-eligible person, not already enrolled, in any course for any period during which more than 85 percent of the students enrolled in the course are having all or part of their tuition, fees, or other charges paid to or for them by an Educational Institution or VA. Please contact the VA School Certifying Official, Lacey Branstine, for details and to see if the program you are interested in is eligible.
Veterans' Responsibilities
Federal regulations require a student to be seeking a degree/certificate in order to be eligible for veterans' benefits. Students must only take classes that apply to their degree/certificate. Any other classes taken will not be certified for payment. Please refer to the OCC Catalog for information on eligible classes for your program.
You must notify the OCC Financial Services Office if you add or drop a course, change your degree program, change your address or withdraw from classes.
If you do not make satisfactory academic progress, you may be placed on probation or suspension from veterans' benefits.
The DVA requires OCC to give prior credit for any previous education you may have received. Official academic transcripts from each previous college you have attended must be on file in the OCC Registrar's Office. Veterans' benefits can be certified for only two semesters without official academic transcripts being on file. Any subsequent semesters of attendance will not be certified for payment until the required academic transcripts have been received and evaluated by the Registrar's Office.
Veterans' benefits cannot be used to defer tuition and fees at OCC. Payments are made directly to the student and are paid for the previous month's attendance. For example, payment due for attendance in September will be not be received until October.
Students using Chapter 30, 1606 and 1607 must verify their enrollment each month at gibill.va.gov/wave or by calling 877.823.2378.
‘‘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 website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill."
