Important Terminology

• Advance payment

• Award Letter is issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs when payment for your VA education benefits has been authorized.  This serves as a notification that your enrollment certification has been processed.

• Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs when your completed application has been reviewed.  It will include the benefit you are eligible for, delimiting date, and the amount of benefits you are entitled to.

• Change of major/minor/bulletin form is an APSU form used by students to officially declare or change their major, minor, or bulletin. 

• Deferment means that the APSU Office of Veterans Affairs will defer your tuition and fees because you are unable to pay your tuition and fees up front.  You must have proof of your VA benefit eligibility or have used your benefits before.  You must not have an overpayment with VA or a previous balance with APSU.  If you do not pay for the deferred term by the time allotted, you will not be able to register for future terms, obtain grades or transcripts, etc.

• Delimiting date is the expiration date of your VA education benefits.

• Matriculation means that all documents required to make a student degree-seeking has been received by the University.  This can include, but is not limited to, high school transcripts or GED scores, official college transcripts, DD form 214 member's 4 and/or military transcripts.

• Mitigating circumstances are what the U.S. Department of Veterans defines as "unanticipated and unavoidable events which interfere with the pursuit of a course".  A student may submit mitigating circumstances when requesting a waiver in the case of overpayment.  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Debt Management will adjudicate the matter and either waive the overpayment or require repayment of benefits.

• Overpayment is a debt which the student owes to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  Most commonly, the overpayment is the result of course adjustments or withdrawing from the University. 

• Prior credit evaluation (PC)

• Training time dictates a student's rate of payment.  For the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, training time is rate of pursuit (percentage).

• Transfer credit evaluation (TCE) is the document prepared by the Office of the Registrar and indicates which credits from previous training and colleges have been transferred and accepted by APSU. 

• Transient enrollment is when a student is requesting certification from a secondary school.  The primary institution (where the student is obtaining their degree) must validate the course(s) being taken at the secondary school in order to receive VA education benefits.

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) is the federal agency responsible for the processing and payment of VA education benefits in accordance with Title 38.  The personnel at the APSU Office of Veterans Affairs are not affiliated with or employed by VA.