{"id":67109,"date":"2019-01-04T19:32:42","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T19:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/04\/va-sec-on-gi-bill-problems-we-owe-you-every-penny-that-youve-earned\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:19:28","slug":"va-sec-on-gi-bill-problems-we-owe-you-every-penny-that-youve-earned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2019\/01\/04\/va-sec-on-gi-bill-problems-we-owe-you-every-penny-that-youve-earned\/","title":{"rendered":"VA secretary on GI Bill problems: \u2018We owe you every penny that you\u2019ve earned\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told a large gathering of student veterans Friday that his No. 1 priority for the VA in 2019 is quality customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the VA will correct inaccurate payments <\/a>made to thousands of student veterans last fall. Stymied by technical problems, the department has been giving students the wrong housing stipend amounts for months and continues to do so \u2014 long after the Aug. 1 deadline Congress gave VA to calculate housing stipends under revised rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe bottom line is: We owe you every penny that you\u2019ve earned. That is what the nation has promised you, and that is what you deserve,\u201d Wilkie said, addressing some 2,300 student veterans attending the annual Student Veterans of America National Conference<\/a> via livestream, after his plans to attend in-person were cancelled last minute because of travel restrictions amid the government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Forever GI Bill, which became law in 2017, required VA to change the way it calculates housing stipends in two ways. One mandated that VA alter stipends for new students to match what the Department of Defense pays its E-5s with dependents. The other instructed VA to calculate stipends based on the campus where students take most of their classes, rather than the school\u2019s main campus, which has traditionally been used to determine housing stipends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VA wasn\u2019t able to make either change by the initial deadline. But fixes are on the way, according to Wilkie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GI Bill users who were shorted as a result of the first of those problems will receive a check in the mail for the difference by the end of the month, Wilkie said. Any veterans who were overpaid will be allowed to keep the extra money.<\/p>\n\n\n\t