General Veterans Benefits Information at UC San Diego

Contact the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-888-442-4551 (press zero to connect to a representative) to inquire about your eligibility for federal benefits like the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill® and the Chapter 35 Dependents Educational Assistance program.

Federal benefits  can be activated online through the VA’s website: How to Apply for GI Bill and Related Benefits.

The state of California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) offers the CalVet College Fee waiver to dependents of disabled veterans. Contact your local California County Veterans Services Office (CVSO) for assistance in applying. 

The certificate of eligibility is issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs directly to the beneficiary and lists how many months of benefit you are entitled to. To use your benefit at UCSD, please email a PDF copy of your COE to vao@ucsd.edu and include your PID (student ID number). We will follow up with an instructional welcome email with information about initiating your benefits at UCSD. 

Students must make steady degree progress and maintain UCSD student academic progress standards to continue receiving VA benefits. Please consult your undergraduate College advising office, or your graduate program advising office for more information about maintaining satisfactory academic progress.

Per VA guidelines, students may only be issued the benefit for courses that help with degree progress (or factor into the GPA). Failing letter grades, such as 'D' or 'F' are acceptable as long as you attempted to complete all required coursework (assignments and midterms/final exams). 

Non-punitive grades (NP, U, and W) must be reported to the VA as a reduction in units, which could result in you owing money back to the VA and/or UCSD. Non-punitive grades are failing grades that are not factored into the GPA and therefore do not count as degree progress. For example, if you are an undergraduate student enrolled in 12 units and you receive a non-punitive grade for 4 units, we would have to report the grade to the VA as a reduction in units on your certification for the quarter (resulting in 8 units certified instead of 12, and prorated payments/ possible debt). However, if you are an undergraduate student enrolled in 16 units and receive a non-punitive grade for 4 units, a reduction down to 12 units would not affect your benefit since you remain at full-time status.

VA policy states: The law requires that educational assistance benefits to Veterans and other eligible persons be discontinued when the student ceases to make satisfactory progress toward completion of his or her training objective. It is reasonable to expect that an institution will report a termination due to unsatisfactory progress if a student remains on academic probation beyond two terms, quarters, or semesters.

Yes! The CalVet College Fee waiver can cover your summer tuition charge (Summer Sessions is at the end of the academic year; Summer 2024 is covered under your 2023-2024 approval letter, for instance).

Federal Benefits like the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill® and the Chapter 35 DEA benefit can also be used for summer sessions. Please see below for the full-time equivalencies* for each session (each session is viewed independently by the VA):

• Summer Session 1 (Summer1 on the VA-eForm) – 5 units to be considered full-time by the VA  (approximately 30 days of entitlement would be used)
• Summer Session 2 (Summer2) – 5 units to be considered full-time by the VA (approximately 30 days of entitlement would be used)
• Special Summer Session 3 (Summer3) – Course length varies - full-time equivalency depends on the specific dates of the particular course you enroll in. If you have a particular Summer 3 course in mind, inquire with vao@ucsd.edu about the specific course title so we can look it up.

Please note that any Special Session 3 courses that overlap with Session 1 or Session 2 can contribute to VA full-time status in Session 1 or Session 2 (but only for the specific dates that overlap).

*The above summer full-time equivalencies apply to undergraduate and standard academic graduate degrees only. Self-supporting programs must be completed according to a specific timeline, and therefore full-time equivalencies are set by that particular program office.

Once you're a matriculated student, you may contact the Student Veteran Resource Center to see if they're currently hiring students for VA Work Study positions. Normally, this occurs once annually.

Keep in mind that VA work study positions may be available at other VA-approved locations, such as the VA hospital. We recommend the VA Education and Training hotline for information on possible locations.

Our degree programs are not eligible for the Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP). VRRAP can, however, be used at UCSD Extended Studies, a separate educational institution. Please reach out to them with all inquiries related to benefits for certificate programs.

If your question is not answered on our website, please contact the Veteran’s Benefits team members at the Office of the Registrar. They work separately from the Student Veteran Resource Center and can be found on the second floor of the Student Services building. Email us at vao@ucsd.edu.