Veteran Educational Benefits
Northwest University Thanks You For Your Service To Our Country
Thank you for all you have done in service to our country. We are pleased at the opportunity to serve you as you pursue your education.
Notice:
GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official US government website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
A veteran’s educational benefit is a contract between the veteran and the Veteran’s Administration. Colleges can only accurately address academic issues such as enrollment, degree progress, course grades, and academic advising. It cannot and should not attempt to explain a veteran’s benefits, entitlements, or financial allotments – these can only be explained by contacting the appropriate Veteran’s Administration Office, linked below.
A Great Tribute to Our Troops
(This PowerPoint media file takes a minute to load.)
How using your benefits works here at NU
Once you get set up following our new and perspective students information on the right hand side, and you are registered for courses, you have a student account. Every student on campus has one. This account is where your tuition is charged and where your VA funds will post as well as your financial aid. If you have worked with VA previously, you know their timeline is different than most anyone’s. Since we are aware of that we do not charge VA students late fees (if you see a late fee ever just email us and we will have it removed).
Because you have one account that everything applies to, the balance will be a little funky throughout the semester. If you do decide to receive aid from the university, it will always be applied to your student account before some or all of your VA funds. It does not mean that you will not get that money back if it is owed to you. Once you see that financial aid money applied, there is a form on the current students tab that triggers an account review that will allow the School Certifying Official (SCO) to send your refund email to accounting. The SCO is the only one who can let accounting know because they know what VA is expected to send.
Northwest University Catalog – Northwest Perspective
Northwest University is a regionally-accredited, Christian coeducational institution awarding associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees. The University is operated under the control of the Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Northwest, Southern Idaho, and Wyoming districts of the Assemblies of God. All these districts are represented on the University’s Board of Directors.
Northwest University is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (regional). The University is endorsed by the Commission on Christian Higher Education of the Assemblies of God and the Association of Christian Schools International.
The University is approved by the Federal and State Governments for student aid programs and for the training of international students. It is also approved by the State Approving Agency for the training of veterans under the U.S. Code, Title 38, Chapters 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, and Title 10, Chapter 1606 and by Washington State for training in Vocational Rehabilitation. It is listed in the current bulletin, “Accredited Higher Education Institutions,” published by the U.S. Office of Education.
Certification of Courses
The Veteran’s Administration relies upon the Certification Officer of Northwest University to certify the courses taken by veterans as a basis for determining payment of benefits. Certification for traditional students (*College of Adult & Professional Studies students see below) is based on the following levels:
- Full Time = 12 or more credits/semester
- 3/4 Time = 9 to 11 credits/semester
- 1/2 Time = 6 to 8 credits/semester
- Less than 1/2 time = 1 to 5 credits/semester — will receive payment towards tuition and required fees only.
Special Notes – All Academic Programs
Students eligible for VA Educational Benefits must have all documents and transcripts pertaining to prior civilian or military training sent directly to the Admissions Office before a certification of eligibility can be sent to the VA.
The Code of Federal Regulations requires a transfer evaluation of prior credit be completed and sent to the student and to the VA within one semester after admission to the University. Failure to adhere to this regulation will result in the termination of educational benefits.
Students receiving VA Educational Benefits who have been placed on academic probation must raise their cumulative GPA to a 2.0 within one semester. Students who remain on probation for a second semester will have their educational benefits terminated until they are taken off probation.
Students receiving VA Educational Benefits must be enrolled only in courses that lead to their declared educational objective (BA, BS, BFA, MA, Credential, etc.).
*Special Notes – College of Adult & Professional Studies Students
Students in the College of Adult & Professional Studies are enrolled in sequentially-offered courses through their term, rather than the traditional format of four to five courses over a 10 or 15 week period. Because of this difference, and the possibility that some students would have a five-week course and then a five-week gap where no course is taken, and then might have two courses that overlap each other, the VA requests that College of Adult & Professional Studies VA students’ courses are certified on a weekly-basis, where each course for the complete term must be explained showing beginning date, ending date, and credit value.
Because of the longer length of the terms (six months), and because students enroll for a normal load of 12-17 credits, the VA considers most Adult & Professional Studies students enrolled at only 3/4 time, although Northwest considers them as full-time students. At any time of a term in which VA students are enroll for additional courses, such as “Bridge” courses, their enrollment level is increased to full-time. This makes verification that Adult & Professional Studies VA students are receiving their correct benefit very difficult, and be clarified only by speaking directly with the VA itself.