Veterans Services
Welcome And Thank You For Your Service
MWCC Veteran Services was established specifically to address the unique academic, financial, physical, and social needs of veterans transitioning from soldier to student. Staff are committed to providing Military Service Members, Veterans and their families with quality assistance and guidance throughout their academic career at MWCC. Feel free to visit the Director of Veteran Services located on the Gardner campus in room H150 for support, resources, and information.
We offer assistance with:
- Enrolling & registering for classes
- Reviewing Military Transcripts
- Veterans benefits and financial aid
- Textbook loan program
- Referrals to on and off-campus service providers
- Peer tutoring/peer mentoring
The 8 Keys To Veterans’ Success
Mount Wachusett Community College officially subscribes to the US Dept of Education’s 8 Keys to Veteran Success.
- Create a culture of trust and connectedness across the campus community to promote well-being and success for veterans.
- Ensure consistent and sustained support for veterans from campus leadership.
- Implement an early alert system to ensure all veterans receive academic, career, and financial advice before challenges become overwhelming.
- Coordinate and centralize campus efforts for all veterans, together with the creation of a designated space (even if limited in size).
- Collaborate with local communities and organizations, including government agencies, to align and coordinate various services for veterans.
- Utilize a uniform set of data tools to collect and track information on veterans, including demographics, retention and degree completion.
- Provide comprehensive professional development for faculty and staff on issues and challenges unique to veterans.
- Develop systems that ensure sustainability of effective practices for veterans.
Veteran Resources
Military Friendly Institution
Mount Wachusett Community College complies with Public Law 117-68 (regarding in-state tuition) for public IHL’s. MWCC also complies with Section 103, PL115-407 and the requirements of 38 USC 3679(e).
Mount Wachusett Community College complies with Public Law 116-315, Section 1020 and does not engage in aggressive or deceptive marketing to Veterans, Veteran dependents or Active Duty Service Members.
The Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 requires educational institutions to make certain disclosures to students using federal military and/or VA educational benefits. You can find this and other financial information at NCES College Navigator site.
Semester Requirements For Chapter 33 And Chapter 31 Veterans Due Prior To The Start Of Classes
- Ch33 and Ch31 veterans must give us a current version of your DD214.
- Ch33 veterans (and dependents using CH33 benefits) must bring us a copy of your Certificate of Eligibility from the VA. A print-out of your e-Benefits statement is acceptable.
- Ch31 veterans must provide us a copy of VAF 22-1905 or electronic equivalent from their case manager.
- Ch33 students with less than 100% benefits are responsible for whatever portion of tuition and fees their benefits do not cover. Applying for financial aid is encouraged.
- CH33 and Ch31 students must bring Veteran Services a copy of their schedule for evaluation and to initiate the certification process. If certification is not requested, be sure to bring us the student schedule with a note requesting us not to certify. When signing up for classes, be sure to choose classes that apply to the student’s major. GI Bill® benefits can only be used for classes that apply to a specific program/major the student is enrolled in. GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
- Massachusetts veterans should fill out and sign a Mass Tuition Waiver. If the form is not completed, $25 for every credit taken will be applied to the student’s invoice, i.e. 3-credit course: $75.
- All students must fill out Health Insurance Waiver, unless you already have this current school year. If the student does not, approximately $3600- will be added to the student’s invoice for college health insurance.
If the above steps are accomplished prior to the start of classes for the semester, Ch33 and Ch31 students will be able to attend classes for the term. Moreover, Ch33 and Ch31 students will not incur any penalty, including the assessment of late fees, the denial of access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities, or the requirement that a covered individual borrow additional funds, on any covered individual because of the individual’s inability to meet his or her financial obligations to the institution due to the delayed disbursement funding from VA under chapter 31 or 33.
Veteran students are given priority registration status and will be permitted to register as soon as enrollment opens.
Frequently Asked Questions
GI Bill® payments, particularly monthly housing payments, can sometimes be a mystery. You may hear about people receiving a smaller than expected monthly housing payment or not getting one at all when they think they should.
GI Bill® housing allowance is paid after the fact. So if you start school on September 1, the earliest you could be paid under the best of circumstances is October 1. In addition, the VA will issue partial housing allowance if you were not in school the entire month.
It’s a monthly benefit paid via direct deposit to students while attending school under the Post-9/11 GI Bill® and is equal to the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) of an E-5 with dependents. It is based on the zip code of the school (a chart of BAH rates by ZIP code). Active duty members and spouses of active-duty members using transferred entitlement cannot receive the benefit, but Veterans, their spouses, and dependents can receive the benefit.
Payments are issued at the beginning of each month for training that occurred during the previous month. For example, assuming timely certification of enrollment by the school and timely processing by VA, payments for training taken in January will be issued by VA in February. The school must submit a student’s enrollment information to VA in order to start the payments.
The most common reason for a smaller than expected BAH payment is due to the payment being pro-rated based on the number of days in the month that a student is enrolled. Payments are made in arrears and only for the days actually attended, so if the term starts in the middle of January, the payment received in the beginning of February will be pro-rated accordingly. The first full payment will be issued in March for the month of February.
For example, suppose you are attending school full-time and your housing rate is $800 per month. The term starts on January 19 and goes until May 14. All months are based on 30 day periods, so months that have more or less days do not impact the benefit amount. Therefore, the payment in this case for the month of January will be for 12 out of 30 days (19–30), in the amount of $320, and it will be received in February. The payments for February, March, and April will be $800 each month, and the payment for May will be $373.33 (pro-rated from the 1 through the 14).
Also, a student must attend more than half-time to receive the housing allowance payment. Benefits for attendance at less than full-time are pro-rated to the nearest multiple of ten. For example, if 12 credits are required for full-time attendance and the student is taking 8 credits, the student will receive 70 percent of the housing allowance (8 divided by 12 equals .66, which is rounded up to 70 percent).
Lastly, lower than expected payments may also be caused by over payments. Over payments are usually caused by students reducing the number of credit hours for which they are enrolled during the middle of a term, which can cause payments to be made based on the incorrect number of credit hours. When this occurs, the amount of the over payment is deducted out of future benefit payments until the account is corrected.
Other Housing Payment Issues:
The monthly housing allowance payment rate for those enrolled solely in distance learning is half the national average of the BAH rates payable for an E-5 with dependents in the continental U.S. ($800 per month for the current academic year). A student can receive the full housing rate by attending one “brick and mortar’’ class where he or she physically attends.
Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) Rates | Veterans Affairs
Please contact the financial aid office with any questions.
MWCC Veterans Success Center In The News
