The Government Accountability Office published a report in July detailing shortcomings in how the VA provides education benefit information to veterans with service-connected disabilities. (GAO.gov)
The Government Accountability Office published a recent report noting that many veterans with service-connected disabilities are unaware of all their VA education benefit options.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has two major programs in this area, the GI Bill and the Veteran Readiness & Employment, or VR&E, program. The GAO report notes that the GI Bill is by far the most popular choice, largely because many veterans with disabilities are unaware of the VR&E program’s extensive benefits, or that the program exists at all.
The GAO says, “many may not know that the VR&E program can help pay for education as part of its employment services, as well as provide assistive equipment and access to a career counselor.” For veterans who anticipate struggling with choosing their courses on their own, the VR&E program provides free access to a counselor who can help veterans with disabilities create career goals and identify relevant coursework or training that suits them best.
The GAO report says most veterans opt for the GI Bill instead because the VA generally does not supply enough information about the VR&E program’s benefits. In particular, the report says “on the agency website, VA.gov, few web pages devoted to VR&E explicitly mention that it can help pay for a college degree. In addition, the letters that VA sends to veterans when they receive their disability rating do not specifically mention that VR&E can cover education costs for a college degree.”
According to the report, six veterans service organizations, including The American Legion, were interviewed by the GAO and four testified before Congress in 2019. Between the six parties, the consensus was clear: veterans do not “have adequate information to make an informed choice about which program to use for their education benefits.”
VA Benefit Assistance
California veterans can reach out to The American Legion for help selecting and obtaining VA benefits. Email DSO@caLegion.org to be connected with a local veteran service officer.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.