How can being in a Resident Assistant position cause me to lose GI Bill full-paid tuition?

2022-03-21T03:13:44-04:00

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ,
This is more of an issue than a question.

I was enrolled at 100% Eligibility under. the post 9/11 Gi Bill and was Full-time undergrad at the Yellow Ribbon school , Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte campus. However the program of study I was interested in was only offered at the Miami campus. With no place to live in Miami I applied to be a Resident Assistant, one of the benefits being that RA's didn't have to pay room & board to live on campus. I was accepted and hired on as a RA and spent The summer going into my second year in Resident assistant summer training at the Miami Campus. All was going as planned until I received an unpaid balance notice for the fall term. Accustomed to GI-bill + Yellow ribbon taking care of 100% tuition I was blind sided by the sudden unpaid balance and registration hold just weeks before my required term abroad was supposed to start.

According to financial advisor , my waived room and board benefit I received from being a RA, is reported to the VA as funds paid toward tuition, thus reducing the amount paid by GI Bill drastically. So much so, I was forced to take out financial aid loans to pay the difference for the entire year.

Had I known the free room & board received by RAs would have such an adverse affect on my GI bill I would have taken some other approach. The RA position was supposed to save me money not end up forcing me to take out thousands in Student loans when Im supposed to be receiving %100 Post Gi Bill.

Thinking It must be a technicality of an unprecedented and unique situation and I spent the next year going back and forth with the university administration in attempts to reverse or change my accounts payments and charges for that year so that it would correctly reflect every previous terms billing statements as being %100 Gi bill paid.

In the end, the university's was unwilling or unable to address and resolve this issue. Isn't tuition fees and payment amounts supposed to be clearly outlined and agreed upon between university and student before the upcoming school term begins? I was not afforded this, and feel that my financial and academic advisors neglected to inform me in due time leaving me no other choice than to apply for loans.

Can the school get away with this? Now my GI Bill has been exhausted and Im only two terms from graduating and no way to pay for the last stretch.

Please Advise

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Thank You

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Mar 21 at 2022 12:30 PM

2022-03-21T12:30:14-04:00

Do I understand you correctly? You are on what is basically a workship for room and board, but the college charged it to your GI Bill as Tuition? If that's the case, I would hire a lawyer and then see if the school responds. Threats of lawsuits often take care of Corporate or University stupidity.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Mar 21 at 2022 1:25 PM

2022-03-21T13:25:44-04:00

It is not a VA problem- they have to go by what the school is saying- your problem is with what the school reported to the VA. Get an advocate and see what can be done.