saldanamoreno Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I'm in the middle of my application cycle and I already got a few rejection letters. I'm alright with it and remain positive. I recently finished the application for the Sophie Davis program which is my number one choice school. The deadline is March 15th so I will probably hear from them in April (which feels like forever from now) My concern is that I am service connected and they require my DD 214 which states the nature of my service connected disability. I m worried this will hurt my chances. Has anybody experienced any road blocks due to being service connected and trying to get into a PA program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazni Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 I have seen a lot of different things about VR&E on here, but here's what my counselor said. The chapter 33(9/11 GI Bill benefits) and Chapter 31(Vocational Rehab) come out of the same pot. When you use your time on the GI Bill it takes away from you if you switch to vocational rehab at a later time. With 9/11 GI Bill you have 36 months and with Vocational Rehab you can be extended to a total of 48 months. Remember that if you use months in the 9/11 GI Bill it will come out of your Vocational Rehab time. You still must have a service-connected disability of 30% or more, and must be evaluated by a counselor. If you are found eligible for Vocational Rehab from your counselor you must get 10 examples of job vacancies and evaluate your career path using outside resources. Following this you must sit down with you counselor and sign a plan towards employment. Then you will turn off your 9/11 GI Bill and you will begin using the Vocational Rehab Benefits. Your subsistence allowance will remain the same from the 9/11 GI Bill if you had it. You can start the process online at the VA ebenefits website after you have been confirmed with a 30% or more service connected disability. Remember that you must be already accepted to a PA program in order to get Vocational Rehab. Also, you must have enough months left out your 48 months to complete the program. If you don't have enough time left you can't use Vocaitonal Rehab. This is because they require the veteran to obtain employment as the goal. If you don't complete the program under thier watch they can't confirm you gained employement which is thier goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 You are right, but you need a min of 20%. When I went to my counselor in Philly I didn't have to bring the 10 job example. Just my my letter for PA school and transcripts. I heard other VSO do the 10 examples of job vacancies. I was approved in 5 mins. Note I never used my gi bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matchb0x Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Oh noes. I used my GI bill to get my BSN, all of it, which means from the 48 of the voc rehab i'd only have 12 mos left? Does this mean I could not use it for PA school since every program is at a min of 18 months ( more like 24) long? CRAP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazni Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Its possible matchbox, they had to extend me to get me to the end of the course. I got extended to 52 months. Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matchb0x Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Its possible matchbox, they had to extend me to get me to the end of the course. I got extended to 52 months. Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk Really? That'd be amazing, if I could get my PA loan free, well hell, that'd be amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlsiebe Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 a few years ago the VA lowered the Voc Rehab threshold to only 10%. I am currently in an MBA program but I am trying to switch to PA. I may be skating on pretty thin ice because I had to withdraw last fall to get treatment for my SC injury. I do have one thing going for me though, I am neighbors with the Dean of Admissions for the UG side. My only academic hurdle is the fact that I started college only two weeks after my 18th birthday and my grades on the first whack are far from stellar. I took chemistry four freakin times! Oh well I have to take all 26 of the pre-reqs since my UG degree is in business I do not have any of them. I meet with the VA on Thursday next week and an Admissions Coordinator on Monday to get the poop so to speak. Wish me luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 You can get it for 10%, but it is hard because you have to show serious handicap. I don't know how they figure that out. Normal going rate is 20% or above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.shannon77 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Does anybody know if there are any stipulations on public school vs. private school with what Voc Rehab will pay? Similar to the Post 9-11 covering all in-state tuition and fees for a public school but having a cap for private. If you have a source of reference can you provide a link? I've exhausted Google and can't find anything that gives me a cut and dry answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 There is none because this is a program to get you back in the work force. What happens is that once you are found eligible you and your counselor write a plan for you to obtain your goal in this case PA. It will say they will pay for all cost for schools, Pance, license or whatever, and give you dental benefits at the va. I would use that at your discretion. They chipped a tooth of mine and had to get it fix outside. Here is a link on the instruction for voc rehab. I really think it all depends on who your counselor is. I have a great one who answers all my questions. Some people don't get that. Also check chapter 31 on fb and join that group. http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title38/38cfr21_main_02.tpl This is a way better deal than the gi bill. If anything is required by your school and you have proof i.e. it's on the syllabus and says required then you can get it. If it says recommended then you can't unless the teacher writes you a email to your counselor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Another great thing people don't tell you about this program is that once you finish school they give you up to 2 months of bah. Thats great because that gives you some income because 1. you won't be taking the pance until 1 month after school has ended and 2. you won't start working until after 2 months after graduating if you already have a job set up before you graduation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlsiebe Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Major setback today! The local Voc. Rehab counselor told me that they will not change my program from MBA to PA school. She is worthless I have been calling and emailing since July 8 and finally heard from her today. My original counselor had twice as many veterans and I never waited a day before I heard from her. I have requested an appeal and contacted the counselor who initially set my plan up and hopefully I can get the program switched in the next four weeks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Has anyone in Voc rehab used or know about 38 CFR 21.372 - Interregional transfer at government expense? I ask because I have two rotations in South Dakota and one in Nj. The rest are in Philly. According to this regulation it makes it seem that voc rehab will pay for travel to the rotation site. I was pointed to this regulation on FB from a VRC. She said to contact my VRC to see if I can get it. http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/21.372 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 heres the link for all regulations for voc rehab. http://disabledveterans.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/140718-M28R-Updated-Paginated.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlsiebe Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 I think I lit a fire under my VR&E counselor. She told me via email that they could not support PA school and I asked her if I could appeal and she never responded. I sent an email to my old counselor who I had become friends with explaining the whole situation but she is not there any more. So who else but the department supervisor is getting those emails. So by accident my counselors supervisor found out that I had requested a meeting over a month ago and only got one email saying she could not help. Needless to say she called me back within a day and I finally get my meeting. I currently work in a medical office and the owner of the clinic is writing me a letter that she will hire me when I graduate! She is also writing one of my LORs. I think with my acceptance to school and a job offer the VA will have a hard time turning my transfer down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRGRFull Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 I have been using Voc Rehab to pay for tuition during undergrad and I still have a significant amount of GI bill benefits remaining as well. My question is once I use up the 12 months of Voc Rehab educational benefits (which covers 100% of tuition regardless of private or public school) and switch back to using the GI bill, will I have to pay some tuition and fees out of pocket seeing as the post 9/11 GI bill only covers the instate tuition rate? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLM8867 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) On 2/20/2020 at 12:36 PM, MRGRFull said: I have been using Voc Rehab to pay for tuition during undergrad and I still have a significant amount of GI bill benefits remaining as well. My question is once I use up the 12 months of Voc Rehab educational benefits (which covers 100% of tuition regardless of private or public school) and switch back to using the GI bill, will I have to pay some tuition and fees out of pocket seeing as the post 9/11 GI bill only covers the instate tuition rate? Thank you! Ch. 33 will only pay up to the highest public institution cost($23-ish,000)/yr. If the program, you attend, has a yellow ribbon program that may absorb the rest or some of the costs that aren’t fully met with ch.33 benefits. The VA website is a good source for learning more about the yellow ribbon participating programs and how much each school will contribute. If you’re going to a really expensive private school, I’d look more into it. Edited March 7, 2020 by BLM8867 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.