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Veterans education benefits

Chapter 35 Enrollment Verification

At the end of January 2026, Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) students will be required to verify their enrollment each month with the VA to receive their benefit payments. Once verified, payment processing can take five to seven calendar days.

VA has automatically verified all Chapter 35 enrollments for December 2025. December payments are expected to be processed by the end of the first week of January. Please note that certain banking institutions may take longer to make funds available to students.

Steps for students using Chapter 35 (DEA):

  1. Complete the quarterly Enrollment Certification Request (ECR) form for VA benefits.
  2. A VEBO School Certifying Official will certify your enrollment with the VA. You should receive an automated email from the VA when this happens.
  3. Verify enrollment with the VA. To verify enrollment, the following options are available:
    • Text: To verify via text, students can opt-in when they begin using their benefits to receive a monthly text message from VA to confirm their enrollment. This is the fastest way for students to verify their enrollment and receive their payments.
    • Email: If students choose not to opt into text verification, they will receive monthly enrollment verification messages from the VA by email.
    • Online: Chapter 35 students can verify their enrollment through the VA’s online tool.
    • Ask VA: Students can verify through Ask VA by sending a message with their enrollment dates via Ask VA. This is a manual process. Therefore, payment will be five to seven days once the message is formally reviewed, not from when the student submits the Ask VA message.
    • If a student had previously opted out and would like to change their enrollment verification method to text or email, they can call the Education Call Center (ECC) at 888-442-4551, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday.

     

  4. VA releases payment direct deposit to the account you used to set up VA benefits.

To make sure students receive updates on enrollment verification requirements, and to have access to text and email verification methods, VA recommends that students review and, if needed, update their personal contact information, including email address, mailing address, and mobile phone number. Students can update their contact information in their VA.gov profile, through Ask VA, or by calling the ECC.