The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs continues to process education benefit claims for military students despite the United States government shutdown, but if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling, funding for military students could soon be stalled across the country.
North Carolina’s regional Veterans Benefit Administration office issued a “Veterans Field Guide to Government Shutdown” on Monday, listing all services impacted by the shutdown as well as those that have not been affected. Based in Winston-Salem, the regional office serves as an intermediary between the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and VA offices in North Carolina.
Along with the field guide, the regional office also issued a “VA Contingency Plan,” designating the agency’s operational procedures in case of a “short-term government shutdown.” The plan includes emergency funds and a schedule of nonessential operations that will be postponed in case of a shutdown. VBA Education Call Center operations have already been suspended until further notice.
The plan does not include appropriations for a long-term government shutdown, stating “a long-term shutdown will require further analysis and development.”
“Claims processing and payments in the compensation, pension, education and vocational rehabilitation programs are anticipated to continue through late October,” the field guide said. “However, in the event of a prolonged shutdown, claims processing and payments in these programs would be suspended when available funding is exhausted.”
William Doey Jr., a veterans education certifying official at N.C. State, said benefit checks have been coming out as scheduled since the shutdown, but he also stressed the importance of timing in regards to military students receiving funding for education.
“If this had taken place in the middle of August, or beginning of September, then all of these checks for tuition and fees that come in to N.C. State, as well as the monthly checks that go out to the students, would’ve been impacted right off the bat.”
Since the shutdown occurred during the middle of the semester there have already been several cycles of payments sent to military students.
Doey is said he is unsure of future military student benefits for the rest of the year, mainly after the next budget deadline on Oct. 17.
“We can’t predict what will happen though, that’s for sure,” Doey said. “That would be like me saying ‘I understand what’s taking place in Washington, D.C. at this point in time.’”
Civilian students receiving federal benefits from the government have not been affected by the shutdown, according to the N.C. State Office ofs Scholarships and Financial Aid.
