2015 Atlanta Regional Processing Office Conference Department of

2015 Atlanta Regional Processing Office Conference Department of Veterans Affairs Education Service Updates March 26, 2015 Robert M. Worley II Director, Education Service Veterans Benefits Administration

Overview • my. VA • FY 11 -FY 14 Trainees/Dollars Paid • Long Term Solution Automation Summary • FY 2014 Claims Processing Highlights • Education Call Center Highlights • Executive Order 13607 and Principles of Excellence • Veterans Outcome Measures • GI Bill Comparison Tool • GI Bill Feedback System • GI Bill Registered Trademark • Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 - PL 113 -146 • Section 701 Section 702 Pending Legislation benefits. va. gov/gibill

my. VA Organizational Realignment What is my. VA about? 1. Putting the Veteran’s interest first 2. Empowering employees and helping them deliver excellent customer service to improve the Veteran experience 3. Improving or eliminating processes that impede good customer service 4. Rethinking our internal structures and processes to become more Veteran-centric and productive benefits. va. gov/gibill

my. VA Organizational Realignment my. VA realignment creates a new 5 region construct to serve as Veteran experience integration points. VBA’s Education Regional Processing Offices will establish relationships within the 5 regions. The single regional framework will: • simplify internal coordination • facilitate partnering • enhance customer service • allow Veterans to more easily navigate VA benefits. va. gov/gibill

FY 2011 – FY 2014 Trainees/Dollars Paid Benefit FY 11 Trainees Dollars Paid Education Programs Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB)-AD Chapter 32 Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) *Chapter 33 Chapter 35 FY 12 Trainees Dollars Paid FY 13 Trainees Dollars Paid FY 14 Trainees Dollars Paid 185, 220 / $1. 4 B 118, 549 / $932 M 99, 755 / $775 M 77, 389 / $512 M 112 / $1. 3 M 76 / $682 K 29 / $496 K 8 / $359 K Post-9/11 GI Bill 555, 329 / $7. 7 B 646, 302 / $8. 5 B 754, 229 / $10. 2 B 790, 408 / $10. 8 B Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program (DEA) 90, 657 / $463 M 87, 707 / $455 M 89, 160 / $483 M 90, 789 / $514 M Chapter 1606 Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (MGIB-SR) 65, 216 / $201 M 60, 393 / $157 M 62, 656 / $156 M 63, 745/ $150 M Chapter 1607 Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) 27, 302 / $95 M 19, 774 / $77 M 17, 297 / $70 M 13, 784/ $56 M N/A 12, 251 / $6. 1 M 67, 918 / $428 M 52, 288 / $413 M 923, 836 / $9. 8 B 945, 052 / $10. 1 B 1, 091, 044 / $12. 1 B 1, 088, 411 / $12. 4 B Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) Total Note: Dollars may not add due to rounding As of March 23, 2015, VA issued $50. 5 billion in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments to 1, 372, 086 individuals since program inception (August 2009) benefits. va. gov/gibill

Long Term Solution Ch. 33 Only Supplemental Automation Summary Totals: FY 14 Claims Received : Fully Automated : Partially Automated : % Fully Automated : % Partially Automated : benefits. va. gov/gibill 2, 965, 980 1, 524, 570 1, 048, 709 51. 4% 33. 1% Totals: FY 15 To Date Claims Received : Fully Automated : Partially Automated : % Fully Automated: % Partially Automated: 1, 344, 886 711, 185 523, 678 52. 9% 38. 9%

Claims Processing Highlights Claims Inventory FY 13 FY 14 FY 15 Claims Processed (All Benefit Types) 4. 5 M 4. 3 M 1. 8 M Original Claims Timeliness (Average Days to Complete) 26. 2 16. 7 16. 9 Supplemental Claims Timeliness (Average Days to Complete) 9. 7 5. 9 6. 1 Payment Accuracy 98. 7% 99. 3% Processing Targets for FY 2015 Claims Processed Original Supplemental Jan 2015 28, 395 400, 718 Feb 2015 30, 900 347, 939 benefits. va. gov/gibill • • • Process 4. 5 million claims Continue to improve average days to complete original and supplemental claims Maintain 98% (or better) payment processing accuracy

Claims Processing Highlights benefits. va. gov/gibill

Education Call Center Highlights • VA exceeds the government benchmark of 731 • VA exceeds the service industry benchmark of 811 benefits. va. gov/gibill 11

Education Call Center Highlights February 2015 Courtesy of Representative 9. 0 Representative’s Concern 8. 4 Knowledge of Representative – 8. 4 February 2015 Overall Quality 97. 92% Technical Quality 98. 90% Courtesy/Professionalism 96. 93% benefits. va. gov/gibill 11

Executive Order 13607 – Principles of Excellence Background: Established for Educational Institutions Serving Servicemembers, Veterans, Spouses, and Other Family Members • The Principles of Excellence (Po. E): Ensure our Servicemembers, Veterans, spouses, and other family members have the information they need to make informed decisions concerning their well-earned Federal military and veterans educational benefits Strengthen oversight, enforcement, and accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Post-9/11 GI Bill and Department of Defense’s (Do. D) Tuition Assistance Programs for educational institutions serving Veterans, Servicemembers, and dependents who receive funding from Federal veteran and military educational benefit programs benefits. va. gov/gibill

Executive Order 13607 – Principles of Excellence • Po. E will: Provide information about the financial cost and quality of educational institutions Prevent abuse and deceptive recruiting practices, and Ensure educational institutions provide high-quality academic and student support • Implementation has been a joint effort between the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Consumer Financial Protection Board, and Department of Justice. • VA has successfully launched the Feedback System and the Comparison Tool • VA has been conducting Risk-Based Compliance Surveys since March 2014 benefits. va. gov/gibill

Veterans Student Outcome Measures Executive Order 13607 • • Requires development and publication of outcome measures, which will support Veterans, Servicemembers, and their family members in making the most informed educational decisions VA has actively collaborated with ED and Do. D to develop and publish outcome measures that will provide information on available educational programs http: //nces. ed. gov/statprog/outcomemeasures Outcome Measures • • • Retention and persistence rate Transfer rate Graduation rate Certificate completion rate Number of years to complete degree/certificate Number of institutions attended to complete degree Outcome Measures Progress • • • November 25, 2014 – Missive to schools and other key stakeholders December 3, 2014 – School Certifying Official webinar December 23 -24, 2014 – VA sent data to the schools March 1, 2015 – Data response due from schools March 31, 2015 – VA extracts final dataset to publish TBD – Expected publication of outcome measures benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Comparison Tool http: //department-of-veterans-affairs. github. io/gi-bill-comparison-tool/ Comparison Tool was launched on February 4, 2014, in response to Executive Order 13607 to implement and promote “Principles of Excellence. ” Two additional releases were launched in 2014. As of March 23, 2015, the Comparison Tool had over 1 Million Page Views, 1 Million School Searches and 871 K unique visitors The Tool: Streamlines information into an easy-to-use online tool Combines resources from more than 17 different web pages and three Federal Agencies Provides information to calculate benefits and research approved programs Compares multiple schools Displays school-level complaint data from the Feedback System Future Releases: Enhance Print Functionality School Certifying Official Contact Information Detailed Accreditation Information Major/Program Type In-State Tuition Policies Veteran Outcome Measures Feedback Rating benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Comparison Tool – How to Provide Feedback VBA welcomes feedback on the Comparison Tool and encourages all visitors to submit feedback by clicking on the ‘Feedback’ link located at the bottom of the tool’s page Feedback If you experience technical issues or have feedback on how we can improve the GI Bill Comparison Tool, please send us an email at 223 D. VBACO@va. gov with “Comparison Tool” in the subject line. Base on your feedback, we will be making quarterly updates to the GI Bill Comparison Tool Please note this email is only for website-related issues, all questions regarding GI Bill benefits should be directed to the “Ask a Question” section of our website: www. benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Feedback System Overview • Launched on January 30, 2014 • Provides a mechanism for receiving, processing, and referring complaints about educational institutions within VA and to other federal agencies • Empowers individuals to report their experiences with educational institutions • Beneficiaries eligible for or receiving VA educational benefits may submit their experience on behalf of someone else, or anonymously Fraud Use of deceptive and misleading practices Failing to follow the “Principles of Excellence” • The Feedback System will be used by VA personnel (VACO, ELRs, ECSSs) and SAA personnel to track and manage cases submitted by individuals, coordinate with educational institutions, and provide feedback throughout the process with the complainant benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Feedback System – Complaint Processing • Routine complaints are reviewed and sent to schools to resolve and provide a written response back to VA • Complaints are shared with the complainant to measure their satisfaction with the resolution • Egregious or flagrant complaints will be directed to the Regional Processing Offices (RPOs) to conduct a targeted, risk-based review • Complaints are submitted to a central repository at Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network where they are accessible by Federal agencies State agencies Law enforcement Department of Justice Consumer Financial Protection Bureau benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Feedback System and School Involvement • Schools should adhere to the “Principles of Excellence” to provide highquality student support and services for Veterans, Servicemembers, and their eligible family members eligible for or receiving VA education benefits. Sign up for POE at principles. excellence@va. gov • VA requests schools: Review the complaint Provide a response to the complainant, as soon as, possible but no later than within 60 days of this notice via email to PROCESS. VBAVACO@va. gov using the following guidelines: benefits. va. gov/gibill Respond to the complainant Use school letterhead Respond with a proposed resolution Reference the complaint case number Forward to VA within 60 days of the message

GI Bill Feedback System Complaints by Issue On January 30, 2014, VA launched the Feedback System to intake student complaints concerning noncompliant POE schools • Total POE complaints received as of March 23, 2015: 2, 768 (66%) – – Pending: 2 (<1%) Active: 842 (46%) Completed: 985 (54%) Non-POE received as of March 23, 2014: 941 (34%) • 46 Risk-Based Reviews conducted as of March 23, 2015 – 6 withdrawals benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Feedback System Total POE complaints received as of March 23, 2015 2, 768 Active Any POE complaints received, processed, and managed by a VA Complaint Case Manager benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Registered Trademark • GI Bill® is a Federally registered trademark owned by VA • As part of the Principles of Excellence, VA trademarked the term to stop deceptive and misleading promotional efforts targeting GI Bill educational benefits Authorized to use the trademark • • Education/training institutions eligible to receive GI Bill benefits State Approving Agencies Recognized Veterans Service Organizations Must use the trademark symbol in the most prominent place and give attribution (wording on http: //www. benefits. va. gov/gibill along with full instructions on Terms of Use) Third-party users • Cannot use the term in company names, internet domain names or logos • Can only use the term to promote VA benefit programs benefits. va. gov/gibill

GI Bill Registered Trademark No one may • • Use the GI Bill trademark to imply a relationship, affiliation, or association with VA that does not exist Misrepresent VA services through use of the mark or by the use of confusingly similar wording Enforcement • Report suspected violations by email to GI-Bill. Trademark@va. gov Potential Violations Under Investigation • Other organizations under investigation for potential terms of use violations Resolved Issues • • Use of “GI Bill” without trademark symbol “®” in content on website; cease and desist letter sent to a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation (Service School) in December 2014 One Facebook page (GI Bill Asia) removed due to trademark violations along with a letter from the Director sent to the owner in January 2015 benefits. va. gov/gibill

Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 - PL 113 -146 Section 701: Extends eligibility for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits under Fry Scholarship to the spouses of active duty Servicemembers who die in the line of duty Section 701 Progress October 20, 2014 – Section 701 eligibility expansion was announced via VA press release October 22, 2014 – Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity sent email announcing the expanded benefit; began promoting via social media; posted fact sheet to GI Bill website and Choice Act website October 23, 2014 – VA Form 22 -5490 (Dependents’ Application for VA Education Benefits) published on VA’s internet site November 3, 2014 – RPOs began accepting applications November 5, 2014 – Mailed over 6, 800 letters to potential beneficiaries March 20, 2015 – RPOs have received 908 applications benefits. va. gov/gibill

Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 - PL 113 -146 Section 702: Requires VA to disapprove programs of education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty at public institutions of higher learning if the school charges qualifying Veterans and dependents tuition and fees in excess of the rate for resident students for terms beginning after July 1, 2015 Section 702 Progress October 29, 2014 – VA’s Under Secretary for Benefits sent letter and compliance guide to state governors November 3, 2014 – Fact Sheet posted on GI Bill website; email sent to provide info about the new law November 28, 2014 – Requested deadline for state responses to the letter from VA December 5, 2014 - Education Service began hosting weekly Choice Act webinars/conference calls. VA invites all identified state POCs/designees, state Veterans’ Directors, State Approving Agencies, and National Council of State Legislators January 2, 2015 - VA sent guidance to all public schools to certify $0 tuition and fees until states become compliant benefits. va. gov/gibill

Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 - PL 113 -146 States’ Compliance Status as of March 23, 2015 • Category 1 States – “Compliant” – (7) States that are compliant with section 702 and were confirmed by Education Service and Office of General Counsel. – GA, KY, NE, ND, NY, TX, WY • Category 2 States – “Up for Vote” – (9) States that are actively pursuing legislative, regulatory, or policy changes; the draft language has been reviewed and approved by VA; and has been submitted to the State legislature or Board for a vote. – AZ, IL, NJ, SC, SD, TN, UT, WA, WV • Category 3 States –“Legislation/Policy Drafted” – (2) States that are actively pursuing legislative, regulatory, or policy changes; the draft language has been reviewed and approved by VA; but not yet introduced to the State legislature or Board for a vote. – MS, RI benefits. va. gov/gibill

Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 - PL 113 -146 States’ Compliance Status as of March 23, 2015 • Category 4 States – “Technical Assistance Provided” – (25) States and/or territories that have started on path to compliance, VA has provided technical assistance and the state is working on amending language; also includes states that have introduced legislation but will not make them compliant if adopted. – AK, AR, CA, CO, DE, DC, ID, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MO, MN, MP, MT, NC, NH, NV, NM, OH, OK, OR, PA, WI • Category 5 States and Territories – “Initial Response Received” – (13) States and/or territories from which VA has received an initial formal/informal response, but for which VA has not received a plan for compliance. – AL, AS, CT, FL, GU, HI, IA, IN, LA, PR, VI, VA, VT benefits. va. gov/gibill

H. R. 475 - GI Bill Processing Improvement Act of 2015 • Provides a $30 M appropriation for VA to automate original and supplemental chapter 33 claims to the maximum extent possible during FY 2015 and FY 2016 • Delays the effective date of section 702 of the Choice Act of 2014 (requiring that “covered individuals” be charged resident rates in order for continued program approval) for one year, until July 1, 2016 • Modifies the definition of a “covered individual” in section 702 to remove the 3 year, 90 day, and discharge requirements for dependents • Adds the relinquished benefit and election requirements in Public Law 110 -252 to chapter 33. Would authorize VA to make an alternative election if in the applicant’s best interest and allow the individual 30 days to disagree with VA’s decision • Defines the term “educational institution” to include a group, district, or consortium of educational institutions to allow for the centralized reporting of enrollments • Requires VA to make information on the amount of benefits a Veteran or other individual is entitled to available to IHLs through a website benefits. va. gov/gibill

H. R. 476 - GI Bill Education Quality Act of 2015 • Authorizes SAAs to determine programs meet the requirements in order to be “deemed approved” under 38 U. S. C. 3672(b)(2)(A) • Amends 38 U. S. C. 3675 to include approval of non-degree programs at public and private non-profit IHLs. Would also grant SAAs primary approval authority for accredited programs not “deemed approved. ” • Requires VA to determine if additional SAA criteria used to approve non-accredited courses are necessary and treat public, private, and private for-profit educational institutions equitably • Caps the amount of tuition and fees payable for degree programs that require flight training at public IHLs to the same amount per academic year applicable to programs at private or foreign IHLs. Would also prohibit the payment of fees associated with non-required (i. e. , elective) flight training • Amends compliance survey requirements to require annual reviews of programs with 20 or more beneficiaries enrolled and for all programs at least every 2 years, although the requirement can be waived. Also, VA and SAAs would determine the survey parameters and list of schools to review for the upcoming fiscal year by September 1 of each year benefits. va. gov/gibill

Contact Us WEBSITE: www. benefits. va. gov/gibill FACEBOOK: www. facebook. com/gibill. Education TELEPHONE: 1 -888 -GIBILL-1 (1 -888 -442 -4551) benefits. va. gov/gibill