When you enroll in school and take classes, you enter into an agreement with the school to pay for your classes and the associated fees. VA pays the tuition and fees to the school on your behalf when the School Certifying Official (SCO) certifies that you are enrolled in classes. By law, you are responsible for any debt incurred while receiving benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. VA is required by law to recoup any debt.
You are responsible for keeping track of your tuition and fee account balance. Visit your school's financial office regularly to review your account, ensure the charges are correct and that payments and refunds are processed correctly. Contact your SCO to make sure the certification sent to the VA matches your schedule. Please contact the Debt Management Center (DMC) when you receive a debt letter in order to make arrangements to pay the debt or discuss options if repaying the debt will cause a financial hardship.
The Debt Management Center may be contacted at 800-827-0648 or 612-713-6415 for international callers, or email at dmc.ops@va.gov
If you have questions about where the debt came from or how VA processed your education benefits, please call 1-888-442-4551.