By Rick Maze –Military Times– The Veterans Affairs Department is thanking colleges and universities for being patient about waiting for tuition payments for people using the Post-9/11 GI Bill, warning that it could take another six to eight weeks to completely catch up.

In the meantime, schools and veterans will continue to wait on their payments.

“I realize the learning curve has been steep for us all, and assure you we continue to work to make the process smoother and quicker,” VA Undersecretary Patrick Dunne, a retired Navy rear admiral, said in a letter sent out Sept. 11. “Thank you for your understanding and you support of our nation’s veterans.”

The new education benefits program, in which tuition and fee payments go directly to institutions of higher learning while allowances for books and living expenses go directly to students, took effect Aug. 1. About 260,000 students have applied for payments, but tuition payments have been made for only about 12,000 eligible beneficiaries, while about 8,000 have received living stipends.

Dunne’s letter said a complicated two-step approval process is causing the delay. The process involves first certifying eligibility and then enrollment.

“Claims processing times traditionally spike temporarily during September and October with fall enrollment, and we expect our processing time to reduce after the initial surge,” he said. “Although we anticipate claims processing times to gradually increase, we are requesting that you continue to submit enrollment certifications in a timely manner.”

Dunne assured school officials that full payments will be made, with the expectation that Oct. 1 payments for most veterans will include living expenses for August and September.

GI Bill users and veterans groups have their doubts that living expenses will be paid by then.

Army officer Allen Kiefer, who asked that his rank and unit not be used, is one of those frustrated by delays. Kiefer, who has an undergraduate and two master’s degrees, didn’t need the Post-9/11 GI Bill for himself but wanted to transfer benefits to his son, a college senior.

“When I heard about this program, I knew it was going to be the best benefit I have ever gotten in the Army. I still believe that, but I sure would like to be paid,” said Kiefer.

He said he was among the first to apply to transfer benefits in a process that started four months ago, and he has no idea when his son’s college will get paid.

“If you call the VA’s GI Bill help line, their pre-recorded message states that there is a 6- to 8-week wait for processing due to the unprecedented volume of applications. When I finally reached a person at VA, I was told the processing of my son’s application for benefits will not be completed by VA until the end of September,” he said.

“The real question is, ‘Are the veterans satisfied with the VA’s processing?’ I say no,” Kiefer said.

Isaac Pacheco, an Iraq war veteran who works for a major veterans service organization, AmVets, and is using the GI Bill to attend graduate school, said pleading for schools to have patience doesn’t resolve all the problems facing veterans as a result of delayed claims processing.

“I was among the first to apply,” said Pacheco, who left the Marine Corps in 2006 after an Iraq deployment. “I know my university has been paid but I have not received by book allowance and, like others, am waiting for my first living stipend. Schools may accept a late payment from the VA without a veteran being hurt, but landlords and creditors are not waiting. They want to be paid now.

“I don’t know how VA can say on one hand that it is taking 28 days to process a claim and on the other be telling everyone it will be six to eight weeks for payments,” he said. “There is either a lot of misdirection going on or VA officials don’t understand what is going on in their own department. My hope is this is classic trouble implementing a new policy and that everything will be fine soon.”

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