Attendance & Enrollment Changes

Changes to your enrollment — dropping a course, withdrawing from a term, or stopping attendance — are reported to the VA and can reduce or eliminate your benefit payment for that term. Depending on the timing, they can also create a debt you owe to APSU, the VA, or both.

Before making any changes to your enrollment, contact the APSU Veterans Education Benefits office. We can explain how a specific change will affect your benefit before it happens.

Attendance Requirements

In order to receive VA education benefits for pursuit of a program of education, an individual must maintain satisfactory attendance and progress. VA will discontinue educational assistance if you do not maintain satisfactory attendance and progress. Attendance is unsatisfactory if the student does not attend according to the regularly prescribed standards of the educational institution in which he or she is enrolled (38 U.S.C. 3034, 3474).

Attendance reporting is federally mandated for the purpose of monitoring enrollment and ensuring the accuracy of enrollment certification by the Veterans Education Benefits office. APSU fulfills this requirement through the FN and FA grades.

FN and FA Grades

FN and FA are punitive grades and are reported to the VA immediately.

FN Grade — Never Attended

The FN grade is awarded for courses when a student never attends the course.

Must be reported within the first 14 days of the course
Treated as an unofficial withdrawal from the course
May reduce your enrollment status, which can result in a debt with the VA and a bill from APSU

FA Grade — Stopped Attending

The FA grade is assigned as of the date on which the faculty member has determined the student has stopped attending the course and is no longer receiving instruction.

Must be reported within 14 days of the last date of attendance
Must include the last date of attendance
May reduce your enrollment status, which can result in a debt with the VA and a bill from APSU

Removing an FN or FA Grade

If a faculty member later agrees to allow the student back into the course, the FA grade must be removed and the faculty member must notify the Veterans Education Benefits office in writing of the grade change and verify the student's attendance.

Important: A grade change to an F alone does not confirm attendance and will not allow the course to be certified to the VA. The instructor must also separately verify that the student attended the course.

Enrollment Changes

Adding or Dropping Courses

Reductions and increases in enrollment may impact your VA education benefits. Contact the Veterans Education Benefits office before making any course adjustments.

Withdrawals

VA will not pay education benefits to an individual for a course from which the individual withdraws or receives a non-punitive grade (W) which is not used in computing the requirements for graduation (38 U.S.C. 3680 and §21.4136).

When you drop a course or withdraw from the term, our office is required to report the change to the VA. The VA determines any overpayment amount and will send an overpayment letter with instructions on how to resolve it.

Financial Consequences

How debt is created

When your enrollment decreases after VA benefits have already been paid, the VA charges a debt to either APSU or directly to you depending on your benefit chapter:

Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Ch. 33) and VR&E (Ch. 31): Tuition is paid directly to APSU, so when a debt is created the VA charges APSU. APSU then refunds the VA and bills you for what it refunded.
Chapters 30, 32, 35, 1606, and Fry Scholarship: Benefits are paid directly to you as a monthly stipend. Overpayments result in a debt directly between you and the VA.

Important rules

If you have an outstanding balance on your APSU account, a hold may be placed on your account — preventing future registration, grade access, or transcript release.
If a balance remains unpaid for 90 days after the end of the term, your account may be referred to a collection agency.

Federal legislative note

The Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-315) changed how the VA handles overpayments and debts related to tuition and fees. The scenarios below reflect the current process under this law.

Scenarios: What You May Owe

The examples below illustrate how debt is calculated for Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Ch. 33) students, where tuition is paid directly to APSU. Dollar amounts are illustrative only — actual figures depend on your current tuition and fees and are determined by the VA.

Assumptions for all scenarios: Student was certified for 12 credit hours at $4,151.50 in tuition and fees.

Dropping One Course

Before the first day of classes

Student Account Services applies a 100% fee adjustment
VA charges APSU the full dropped course amount; APSU refunds the VA
You owe nothing to APSU

During drop/no record period (within the first 14 days)

Student Account Services typically applies a 75% fee adjustment
VA charges APSU the full dropped course amount; APSU refunds the VA
You owe APSU the difference between what the VA charged and what the fee adjustment covered

During the W period (after 14 days, before term ends)

No fee adjustment applies
VA charges APSU the full dropped course amount; APSU refunds the VA
You owe APSU the full tuition and fees for the dropped course

Retroactive withdrawal (end of term or after)

Same as W period — you owe APSU the full tuition and fees for the course

FN or FA Grade (Non-Attendance)

FN grade (never attended)

VA charges APSU the full tuition and fees for that course; APSU refunds the VA
You owe APSU the full tuition and fees for the course

FA grade (stopped attending)

VA may charge APSU up to the full tuition and fees for that course
You owe APSU up to the full tuition and fees for that course

Withdrawing from the Full Term