Military Affairs

Military Affairs

Patriots’ Casa, Room 202 | (210)784-1397

The office of Military Affairs (OMA) at Texas A&M University-San Antonio assists student veterans, active-duty service members, guardsman, reservist, and their families with the utilization of U.S Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) federal education benefits, state of Texas VA education benefit (Hazlewood Act), and Military Tuition Assistance Programs. We strive to provide quality services to military-affiliated students to assist in their academic success. The University’s Military Embracing™ culture focuses on providing community programming.  

Federal Education Benefits 

Staff in the Office of Military affairs serve as a liaison to the VA and are available to assist students with benefit requests for the following Federal VA Education Benefit Programs: 

  • Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill®  

  • Chapter 30 Montgomery GI Bill® Active Duty  

  • Chapter 1606 Montgomery GI Bill® Selected Reserve  

  • Chapter 35 Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA) 

  • Chapter 31 Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) 

 

Students who need to apply for VA Education Benefits should visit the official VA Website, va.gov, and file an electronic application, the Veteran Affairs Regional Office (VARO) will make the eligibility decision. Once an eligibility decision has been determined, students will receive a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Students are encouraged to apply for benefits as early as possible to ensure that required documentation is received by the TAMUSA Office of Military Affairs prior to the payment deadline. 

VA Benefits Request Process 

To submit your benefits request, visit the Military Affairs website, and fill out and submit our online form. Students using benefits for the first time at TAMUSA will be required to upload a certificate of eligibility, along with other required documentation.  

To get a list of all documents required to process your education benefits, please see our website, click on the New Benefit User, then select the benefit that is applicable. Incomplete benefit requests will not be accepted and will result in a delay of benefits.  

Important Note: Although the Office of Military Affairs submits the request, the VA Regional Processing Office is the final authority on disbursement of funds. 

Hazlewood Act Exemption 

The Hazlewood Act is a State of Texas benefit that provides qualified veterans, spouses, and dependent children with an education benefit of up to 150 hours of tuition exemption, including most fee charges, at public institutions of higher education in Texas. This does NOT include living expenses, books, student services fees, or supply fees. 

Hazlewood Exemption request should be submitted, via the OMA website online form, for each semester that the student would like to utilize the exemption. To learn more about eligibility requirements visit https://www.tvc.texas.gov/education/hazlewood/. 

Joint Service Transcripts 

The Office of Military Affairs encourages Military and Veteran students to submit their Joint Service Transcript/Community College of The Air Force Transcripts to A&M San Antonio when applying for admission so that their prior experience can be considered for academic credit. For additional assistance please visit the Office of Admissions. (Link to admissions catalog) 

Tuition Assistance 

Service members receiving DOD Tuition Assistance (TA) should request TA through their respective branch portal and submit an online benefit request to the office of Military Affairs.  The online benefit request form can be found on the Military Affairs website.  

Veterans Semester Hour Classification (Graduate Students)

The  semester hour classification scale below is used to determine graduate training time. Therefore, the number of semester hours enrolled at this university will be reported to the VA Regional Office at the time of certification.

Full or part-time status for graduate students in the fall/spring semesters (16 week courses) is determined by the following:

· 9 credit hours is full-time

 · 6-8 credit hours is 1/2-time

 · 5 credit hours or less is less than ½ time

For summer and short terms enrollment requirements, please contact our office. For students using Chapter 33, the rate of pursuit is used to determine a student’s payment, not the above scales.

Pending Payment Compliance

In accordance with Title 38 US Code 3679(e), Texas A&M University-San Antonio adopts the following additional provisions for any students using U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Post-9/11 G.I. Bill® (Ch. 33) or Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (Ch. 31) benefits, while payment to the institution is pending from VA.  Texas A&M University-San Antonio will not:

  • Prevent the student’s enrollment;
  • Assess a late penalty fee to the student;
  • Require the student to secure alternative or additional funding;
  • Deny the student access to any resources (access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities) available to other students who have satisfied their tuition and fee bills to the institution.

However, to qualify for this provision, such students may be required to:

  • Produce the VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE) by the first day of class
  •  Request to be certified
  • Provide additional information needed to properly certify the enrollment as described in other institutional policies

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).