Students who are members of any branch of the U.S. military and who are unable to complete a semester due to being called to active duty must to the extent possible be provided one of the following options:
- The student may be given a full refund of tuition. Students receiving financial aid who choose this option should be made aware that they may be liable for any required refunds of state or federal financial aid funds.
- The student may be given a grade of incomplete in a course and complete it upon release from active duty. Course completion may be accomplished by independent study or by retaking the course without payment of tuition. Under federal financial aid policies, a course that is retaken this way may not be counted towards a student’s enrollment load.
- If, in the instructor’s judgment, the student has completed sufficient course work to earn a grade of C or better, the student may be given credit for completion of the course.
Click here to see all Military-Friendly Policies.
If you are electing to drop courses, you should start the process by submitting a copy of your orders to the Admissions Office. The Admissions staff will provide you with the appropriate form for a drop due to being called to active duty service.
If you know you will be missing class at any time during the semester, you will need to immediately notify your instructor of the dates you will be missing and be prepared to show your military orders if requested. Your attendance will be excused during that time period, however, you will still be required to complete all assignments. You should make arrangements with your instructor on how to make up those assignments
SCTCC does not charge late fees for veterans or dependents who have applied for, but have not yet received benefit payments. You will not be dropped for nonpayment as long as you have communicated your intent to use military benefits to the college using the SCTCC Veterans Enrollment Certification Form. If you are unable to make payments on time, you must communicate with the business office that you are waiting on military benefits and make payment arrangements.
- There are several reasons why your GI Bill® payment may not arrive as expected. See below for common situations.
- You have not submitted a claim for education benefits
- Your claim has not yet been approved by the VA
- You have not verified enrollment ( Chapter 1606, Chapter 30, Chapter 33)
- VA processing delays
- You did not submit the SCTCC Veterans Enrollment Certification Form and the VA was not notified of your enrollment
- For new GI Bill® applications, it does take approximately 30 days for an approval, but this timeframe may vary depending on the VA’s workload at any given time. If it has been longer than 30 days, you may call 1-888-442-4551 to check on the status of your claim.
- For FTA payments, you must have an approval for each course. You should print the TA Authorization Form and submit to financial services. After verification, payments will be applied to your account.
The VA categorizes hybrid courses as online courses or on campus depending on the actual delivery of the course. This is important when using the Chapt. 33 GI Bill®, since your monthly housing allowance is significantly reduced when taking all online courses. Your monthly housing allowance is calculated based on the national average rather than the zip code of the college when you are taking all online courses. If you take at least one course physically on the campus, your housing allowance will be rated based on the zip code of the college. Please check with the campus VA Certifying Official (located in Financial Services) to determine if your class is on campus or online.