The VET TEC program, set to start in April, focuses on high-tech skills that are in demand in today’s workplace, the VA says.

According to the VA, VET TEC will pay you a housing allowance and take care of tuition costs just like the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The difference is that you have to take classes in one of five areas:

1. Information science
2. Computer programming
3. Data processing
4. Media applications
5. Computer software

The primary difference between this program and the Post-9/11 GI Bill is that the classes are much shorter than regular college or vocational training, sometimes requiring only months or weeks to gain certification.  Anyone currently eligible to use their GI Bill, Montgomery or Post 9/11 is qualified for the program as long as they haven’t passed the time limit to use their benefits and have at least one day of benefits remaining.

Unlike most GI Bill programs, any training received as part of VET TEC will not decrease your GI Bill entitlement in any way. It is essentially free money.

VET TEC is designed to move veterans into the job force faster than a traditional college program. Acquiring essential skills in such a short time gives you the opportunity to advance your career sooner rather than later.

Many of the “coding boot camps” and other high-tech training will be included in this new program.

To combat fraud, waste and abuse, the VA will pay the training provider 25 percent of the course cost when you enroll. Another 25 percent will be paid when you complete the program. The remaining 50 percent of the cost of training will be paid to the provider only when you “secure meaningful employment in the field of study that you enrolled in.”

According to the VA, training providers can be listed as a “preferred provider” if they agree to return all money they got from the VA if you don’t find meaningful employment within 180 days.

How to Sign Up for VET TEC

The program has just been announced and, according to the VA, an online application will be available soon. The Gi Bill website will be updated with an application, as well as a listing of all approved places you can use the program.

Just like any other program, applying doesn’t mean you will be accepted. Schools may have certain qualifications or testing requirements you must meet before you can enroll.

By Debbie Gregory.

It looks like the IT system failures that resulted in 340,000 GI Bill students being shorted on their fall semester Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) has not been fixed. As of November 8th, the backlog was currently impacting at least 82,000 GI Bill students, it doest look like a fix will happen before the beginning of the spring semester.

Two sections of the Forever GI Bill, which extends or expands many benefits, change the way the VA pays a monthly housing stipend. Previously the stipend was based on the ZIP code of where the veteran lived — now it’s based on the ZIP code of where he or she goes to school.

This, apparently, upended the entire system, and left the VA with a huge backlog of claims to be processed.

According to John Lawrence, the undersecretary at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the VA is working on “fallbacks” for the likelihood that problems will continue past the start of the spring semester.

Based on testimony, Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said “we have no earthly idea” when veterans can expect the system will be functioning, or how much the fix will cost.

Many are frustrated that there is no solution in place. No cases as yet have been filed of veterans who have been unable to enroll because of the system failures.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert M. Worley II, the director of education services at the VBA,  noted that about 1,000 veterans had been waiting more than 60 days for housing allowance payments that could exceed $2,000 per month. He said about 11,000 had been waiting for at least 30 days.

Worley appeared to be first in line to take the fall for the VA’s failures. He is slated to be removed as director of education services and is being re-assigned within the VBA.

For the time being, benefits claims-processing employees are working mandatory overtime, and the agency has brought on an additional 202-person processing staff. The VA said it is processing an average of 16,000 claims per day, but expects that the backlog will continue through the rest of the year.