December 10, 2021

Verifying Enrollment

Starting Winter quarter 2022 students using Post 9/11 benefits (Chapter 33) have to verify their enrollment with the VA each month in order to receive their Monthly Housing Allowance. This is in addition to submitting the every quarter you wish to use your benefits.

If you fail to verify enrollment for two consecutive months, your MHA/kicker payments will be placed on hold. In order to have your payments released, you will need to call the VA to verify your enrollment. When you call the VA to release your payments, you may also enroll in text message verification at that time.

How do I verify my enrollment with the VA?

Chapter 33 – Post 9/11 benefits can verify their enrollment via text or phone call.

Via Text Message:

• Opt in: Students with a U.S. mobile phone number can use text messages as a simple, quick option for verifying monthly enrollment. As your enrollment approaches, you will receive the following opt-in text: “Post-9/11 GI Bill® housing and kicker payments now require monthly enrollment verification. Would you like to submit yours via text? Please reply YES or NO.” Reply “YES” to opt in. The text message link will expire 14 days after receipt, so please respond within that time frame.
• Verify: After opting in, you can verify your enrollment every month simply by responding to the following text message from VA: “Did you remain enrolled in your courses in MON YYYY as certified? Please reply YES or NO. If you have dropped all your courses, you must reply NO.” Reply “YES” to verify enrollment for the previous month.

The VA will never ask for your personal information, such as social security number or bank account information, via text.

After April 28, we will be switching to a new number to send out our monthly enrollment verification texts. Post-9/11 GI Bill students opted into text verification will receive enrollment verification texts from the following short-code, 44354.  

 

The process remains the same for students and they will still receive an enrollment verification text on the last day of the month stating, “Did you remain enrolled in your courses in April 2022 as certified? Please reply Yes or No. If you have dropped any of your courses, you must reply No.” 

 

Note: This short code number is only for verifying enrollment. Students will not be able to contact a VA representative by texting or calling the number that messages them.  

 

Please reach out to the Education Call Center (ECC) at 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551) to update your contact information if you have not received a text message to opt-in. This will ensure that you receive the latest email updates on monthly enrollment verification and are able to opt-in to enrollment verification by text message.

Via Phone Call:

If you are unable to verify via text or email, you will need to contact the VA at 1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551) and ask a representative to verify your enrollment. NOTE: VA wait times may be high due to the number of students verifying enrollment each month. If you’re not sure if the VA has your phone number and/or email on file, you can also contact the VA to update your contact information and ensure you can verify via text or email.

Please see more details on the VA’s website.