Veterans' Information
All regulations, policies, and procedures regarding eligibility, application, admission, registration, enrollment, and college standards and rules will apply to the veteran in the same manner as other students. In addition, the veteran is required to satisfy the requirements prescribed by the VA.
The following policies and procedures pertain to all individuals receiving benefits of any kind from the Veterans Administration.
The veteran is responsible to send VA Form 22-1990, first-time application for educational benefits, or VA Form 22-1995 for change of school or change of program to the VA Regional Office in Muskogee, Oklahoma, (the servicing VA agency for Oklahoma) and a copy of DD Form 214 (discharge form). The Academic Dean/Registrar’s Office will be available to assist in this task to insure the veteran is eligible for benefits.
A copy of all forms sent to the VA and approval documents from the VA should be provided to the ADRO so a proper file may be established and maintained.
The Academic Dean/Registrar has been designated the VA Certifying Official for the college and is the responsible agency for certifying attendance and monitoring the academic progress of the veteran; therefore, communication with the Academic Dean is essential for proper administration of the veteran’s file.
The Academic Dean is ready to assist the veteran with their enrollment in the VA program and the drawing of appropriate benefits and is available to advise or answer questions/concerns dealing with their course of study.
The student handbook contains the rules, policies, and regulations governing conduct at Heartland and pertains to all students both married and unmarried.
As with all students, veterans are expected to be faithful in attendance and accomplish all assigned work for each class enrolled in. According to VA regulations, the veteran must attend a minimum of 85% of the class periods for each class; however, the veteran must be aware of the allowable absences policy established by the college. The Academic Dean will provide the counseling necessary to insure educational benefits are not interrupted because of poor attendance. Counseling will be required when the veteran reaches the allowable number of absences.
Absences and tardies will be reported to the VA Regional office. Before a veteran is dropped from a class for excessive absences, the Academic Dean will evaluate the situation to see if any mitigating circumstances exist such as documented illness, hospitalization, death in the family, court appointments, military duty, etc.
Those selected to receive VA educational benefits will have a supplemental file established in the Registrar’s Office to maintain the records necessary to properly keep the VA informed of academic progress and status of enrollment and attendance.
The refund policy that is applied to a veteran who fails to enter a course, withdraws, or is discontinued from a class is as follows: “The school will refund the pro-rata unused portion of tuition under Title 38 within 40 days.”
Transfer of credit for work previously done applies to the veteran in the same manner as other students at Heartland. Transcripts of work at previous colleges must be provided to the Academic Dean/Registrar’s Office as soon after the application process is started as possible. This will allow time to evaluate the transcript, determine the transferable credits, and respond to the veteran within 30 days after enrollment as required by VA.
Once the veteran is enrolled, an enrollment certification form will be completed by the ADRO and sent to the VA.
The VA will inform the veterans of the amount of benefit to be received. VA checks will be deposited directly into the veteran’s bank account. The veteran in turn will be responsible to make the necessary school bill payments.
Veterans will be paid on a clock hour basis. A total of 18 clock hours is required to be paid the full-time rate.
Payments will be retroactive to the beginning of the semester. A verification by the student is required each month prior to payment.