Student debt seems to be in the news a lot lately. Statistics show it is at the highest that it has ever been in history. Generally, when talking about student debt, it is in regard students intentionally taking out loans while in school to get by.

And there are times when students going to school under the Post 9/11 GI Bill must take out loans too, but the basis of this article is how the grade received can create unintentional debt with the VA – something one want to avoid if possible.

In regard to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, frequently the terms punitive and non-punitive come up when talking about grades. Not only are many students confused by what each means, but the effects of each on their New GI Bill.

Punitive

Punitive refers to a grade that counts toward a degree thus affecting GPA – even if the effect is negative. Because this grade counts, Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits are authorized and the student is generally not required to pay back any tuition or fees the VA paid to the school on behalf of the student.

Non-Punitive

This grade, on the other hand, is one that does not count toward a GPA and the student may be required to pay money back to the VA. The most common example is withdrawing from a class after the official drop period has ended.

Mitigating Circumstances

But simply withdrawing from a class does not mean a student will automatically have to pay money back to the VA; it depends on the reason why they had to withdraw – known as mitigating circumstances. The reason usually involves something that was beyond the student’s control. Things like:

  • An illness, injury or temporary disability that prevented the student from attending classes.
  • Caring for immediate family member during an illness or an immediate family member’s death (and having to take care of loved ones).
  • An unavoidable change in the student’s employment location requiring a transfer, or a change in the hours of work that interfered with attending classes.
  • A change in an immediate family member’s financial obligations that required the student to suspend school and work full-time.
  • A course that was discontinued by the school.
  • Called to active military service.
  • In the case of a single parent, unanticipated childcare arrangements that deviates from a previously agreed upon schedule.

Once a non-punitive grade is assigned, it is up to the student to provide evidence of mitigating circumstances that should be sent to the VA with the school’s Notice of Change in Student Status. If mitigating circumstances is not sent in or is disapproved by the VA, they will not pay the school for the course. And if the student has already been paid the monthly housing allowance for the credits dropped, a debt will be created with the VA.

Once created, the student must contact the VA Debt Management Center and arrange for payment, a payment schedule, or request a waiver of collection. Otherwise the VA will collect by either reducing future Post 9/11 GI Bill monthly housing allowance payments or collecting from a student’s IRS tax refund.

If a student already has intentional student debt, they don’t need to incur unintentional debt by receiving a non-punitive grade without mitigating circumstances. However, if it does happen, it is always better to be proactive and contact the VA as soon as you know as to doing nothing and falling out of grace with the VA.

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Kness retired in November 2007 as a Senior Noncommissioned Officer after serving 36 years of service with the Minnesota Army National Guard of which 32 of those years were in a full-time status along with being a traditional guardsman. Kness takes pride in being able to still help veterans, military members, and families as they struggle through veteran and dependent education issues.