Bushnell University respects our nation’s veterans, embracing and nurturing with Christ’s love and compassion. From all of us at Bushnell, we want to thank you for your dedication and service to our nation. We appreciate everything you’ve done to serve and protect our freedoms, and now it’s our turn to serve you!

Veteran Benefits

Getting Started

As a Christ-centered campus, Bushnell University is dedicated to providing military & veteran students with an exceptional educational experience in a caring environment. We offer a variety of program formats to meet you exactly where you’re at. Choose to complete your degree in our traditional daytime classes or in our evening and online format. Either way, you’ll receive the individual attention you deserve with our 12:1 student to faculty ratio and our average class size of just 14.

Bushnell is approved by the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs State Approving Agency (ODVA/SAA) to administer Veteran Affair’s (VA) education benefits for eligible beneficiaries. Essentially, that means you can begin receiving your veteran educational benefits in just a few, simple steps, and we’re here to help each step of the way.

Step 1

Apply for admission at Bushnell University.

Step 2

If you have never used veteran educational benefits before, submit directly to the VA Form 22-1990 Application for Education Benefits through the VA Education Benefits page. They will process your application with either a denial or a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Bushnell University requires you to be approved from the VA to use Educational Benefits in order to certify your semester.

If you have used educational benefits from the VA before, reapplication is not necessary unless you are switching between chapters, then VA Form 22-1995 Change of School or Program is required, which can also be found on the VA Education Benefits page.

Step 3

For first time Bushnell Students: fill out the Enrollment forms during the admissions process and select the option to use your veteran educational benefits at Bushnell University. You will receive an email from registrar@bushnell.edu with information about using your benefit here, as well as contact information in case you have questions.

For continuing students: download and complete Bushnell University’s Request for Veteran Benefits Form (PDF). Once completed, email a copy in to the School Certifying Official at registrar@bushnell.edu.

That’s it! As soon as we receive your request form and your official registration, we will electronically certify you with the VA for the semester and all following semesters unless otherwise requested.

 

Contact Information

All School Certifying Officials work in the Office of the Registrar. To most expediently answer your questions, please email registrar@bushnell.edu or call 541-684-7217.

Mary Jo Goosmann, Registrar & School Certifying Official

Brittany Brockbank, Assistant Registrar & School Certifying Official (in training)

Education Programs

The following program descriptions are up-to-date, thumbnail descriptions. Detailed descriptions are available at the Education Benefits and Services Homepage. From the menu in the left frame of the page, click “Education Benefit Programs” to view a general description of each program.

NOTE: All students who feel they may be eligible for education benefits should submit an application. Even if someone appears ineligible, VA should review their application and officially grant or deny benefits.

Chapter 30: Montgomery G.I. Bill® – Active Duty (MGIB-AD)

(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.)

The MGIB program provides up to 36 months of education benefits. This benefit may be used for degree and certificate programs, flight training, apprenticeship/on-the-job training, and correspondence courses. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances. Generally, benefits are payable for ten years following your release from active duty.

  • Kickers and Additional Contributions Higher monthly benefits are paid to Chapter 30 participants with “kickers” and to Chapter 30 participants who make additional Chapter 30 payments. The higher benefit rates are paid automatically when benefits are paid. If veterans don’t receive the benefit they believe they are entitled to receive, they should call VA about the discrepancy so that VA can resolve the discrepancy with the Department of Defense. A kicker is part of the enlistment contract. It’s often referred to by it’s Madision Avenue name: Army College Fund, Navy Sea College Fund, or whatever the newest recruitment ads call it. If a contract has a $12,000 kicker, than the monthly kicker is $333.33 ($12,000 over 36 months).
  • Tuition Assistance “Top-Up” On October 30, 2000, the President signed into law an amendment to the Montgomery GI Bill® – Active Duty education program that permits VA to pay a Tuition Assistance Top-up benefit. The amount of the benefit can be equal to the difference between the total cost of a college course and the amount of tuition assistance that is paid by the military for the course.

Chapter 1606: Montgomery G.I. Bill® – Selected Reserve

Educational program for active members of the Selected Reserve. Selected Reserve components of the Ready Reserve include the Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, and Air National Guard. Chapter 1606 eligibility is determined by the Department of Defense of by the Department of Transportation (Coast Guard), not by VA. Basic eligibility requires a six-year oblication to serve in the Selected Reserve and satisfactory participation in required Selected Reserve training.

  • Kickers An additional amount, called a kicker, may be added to the benefit of some Chapter 1606 students. A Chapter 1606 Kicker may be a part of the original enlistment contract or part of a re-enlistment contract.

Chapter 32: Veterans Education Assistance Program (VEAP)

VEAP is available if you first entered active duty between January 1, 1977 and June 30, 1985 and you elected to make contributions from your military pay to participate in this education benefit program. Your contributions are matched on a $2-for-$1 basis by the Government. This benefit may be used for degree and certificate programs, flight training, apprenticeship/on-the-job training, and correspondence courses. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances.

Chapter 33: Post-9/11 GI Bill®

The Post-9/11 GI Bill® provides financial support for education and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service after September 10, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill®.

Tutorial Assistance Program

Tutorial assistance is available if you are receiving VA education assistance at the half-time or more rate and have a deficiency in a subject making tutoring necessary. If you have questions on this program please contact the VA Education assistance office at 1-888-442-4551 (toll-free).

*  “GI Bill” is a trademark owned by VA and registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as of October 16, 2012.

Enrollment Information

Standard Semesters:

A standard semester is 15-to-19 weeks in length with courses beginning the first week and ending the last week.

Daytime Undergraduate:

  • 12 or more credits is full-time
  • 9-11 credits is 3/4-time
  • 6-8 credits is 1/2-time
  • 4-5 credits is less than 1/2-time
  • 1-3 credits is 1/4-time or less

Online Undergraduate Program:

The Online Undergraduate Program doesn’t follow a standard semester format. BA Accounting, BA Business Administration, BA Interdisciplinary Studies, and BA Psychology and are the programs offered through the Online Undergraduate Program.

Non-standard semester training time isn’t measured like standard semester training time. VA converts undergraduate, non-standard credit to credit equivalents. VA makes the conversion, not Bushnell University. The conversion formula is: Credit x 18 / weeks = credit equivalents. The number of weeks is the number of days in the course divided by seven, rounding down a remainder of three days or less and rounding up a remainder of four days or more.

Using the conversion formula, a three-credit course is 1/2-time if eight weeks (6 credit equivalents).

Graduate Programs:

Graduate programs don’t follow a standard semester format. Graduate programs include M.Ed Masters of Education, MBA Masters of Business Administration, MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and MA School Counseling. Courses are taken sequentially, and the programs usually are completed within five to seven semesters, depending on the program.

Course Applicability:

Only credits that apply toward completion of the student’s degree can be certified for VA purposes. If 12 credits are certified, all 12 must apply. If a student enrolls in 12 credits, but only nine satisfy a degree requirement, then the student is certified for nine credits.

There are two exceptions to the rule about course applicability:

  • The last semester before graduation, all credit taken can be certified if one or more of the credits satisfy a graduation requirement.
  • If the university allows substitutions for program requirements, we will allow course substitutions if they are approved by the university and documented in the student’s file.

Repeating Courses:

Courses that are failed or for which the grade does not meet the minimum requirements for graduation may be certified for VA purposes if they are repeated. Courses that are successfully completed may not be certified for VA purposes if they are repeated. If students must take additional courses in order to raise their GPA to graduate, the courses must be courses that have not already been successfully completed by the student.

Advance Payment Advance Pay may be paid if:

  • The student requests advance pay, and
  • There is more than 30 days between terms and interval pay won’t be paid, and
  • The student is enrolled at least half-time.

Advance pay requests should be submitted 30-to-120 days before the begin date. The check will be sent to the school, payable to the student. A separate Certification of Delivery (VA Form 22-1999V) will be sent to the school. Schools must handle advance pay checks securely and give the advance pay check to the student when he or she registers (or not more than 30 days before the beginning of school if registration is earlier).

An advance will pay the first and second month. The first month may be a partial month, with payment pro rated for the number of days attended that month. For example, advance pay for a student enrolled 9/28/12 through 6/1/13 would pay 9/28/12 through 10/31/12. Since VA normally pays after a month is completed, the student wouldn’t receive another check until December, when payment for November is made.

Supplemental and Concurrent Enrollment:

A student may take courses at more than one school that apply to his or her degree. The school that will grant the degree is the student’s “parent” school. All other schools are “secondary” schools.

VA can pay benefits for courses taken at secondary schools. If the student is enrolled at the secondary school, VA will pay for the credit taken at the secondary. If the student is enrolled at the parent and the secondary school at the same time (“concurrent”), VA will pay for the combined credit, taking overlapping enrollment dates into account.

Chapter 35: Survivors’ and Dependents’ Education Assistance Program

DEA provides education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of veterans who are permanently and totally disabled due to a service-related condition, or who died while on active duty or as a result of a service related condition. This program offers up to 45 months of education benefits. These benefits may be used for degree and certificate programs, apprenticeship, and on-the-job training. If you are a spouse, you make take a correspondence course. Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances. Persons who may be eligible are:

  • A child (between ages 18 and 26, with some exceptions) of a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled due to a service-related condition, or who died in service, or who died of a service-connected disability, or who died while evaluated as having total and permanant service-connecty disability, or who is listed as a POW or MIA.
  • The surviving spouse of a veteran who died of a service-connected disability, or died in service, or died while evaluated as having total and permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability. Surviving spouses whose benefits stopped when they remarried can receive DEA benefits again if their remarraige ends by death or divorce, or they cease to live with the person to whom they presented themselves in public as married.
  • A spouse of a veteran or serviceperson who has a total and permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability, or who is listed as a POW or MIA.

Enrollment Verification

Chapter 30, Chapter 33, Chapter 1606, and Chapter 1607 students must verify their enrollment monthly by Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or by Web Automated Verification of Enrollment (WAVE). When these students are awarded benefits, the award letter they receive describes IVR and WAVE verification of enrollment.

  • IVR allows students to “phone in” their monthly verifications to 1-877-823-2378 (toll-free).
  • WAVE allows students to verify their enrollment on the internet at the Education Services website. Click the link to WAVE under Information for Benefit Recipients in the left hand column. Students must be currently enrolled in an approved education program and must have a current benefit award to use WAVE.

Statement of Compliance with 38 USC 3679

In accordance with Title 38 US Code 3679 subsection (e) (opens .pdf in new tab), this school adopts the following additional provisions for any students using U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs {VA} Post 9/11 G.I. Bill® (Ch. 33) or Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Ch. 31) benefits, while payment to the institution is pending from the VA. This school will not:

  • Prevent the student’s enrollment;
  • Assess a late penalty fee to;
  • Require student secure alternative or additional funding;
  • Deny their 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:

  • Provide Chapter 33 Certificate of Eligibility (or its equivalent) or for Chapter 31, VA VR&E’s contract with the school on VA Form 28-1905 by the first day of class.

Contact Veteran Affairs

All applications for federal VA educational benefits and enrollment certifications are processed by:

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION REGIONAL OFFICE
P O BOX 888
MUSKOGEE, OK 74402-8888

Muskogee Education Benefits Newsletter is available at: the VA website.

Call: 1-888-442-4551 or 1-888-GI BILL® 1 (Muskogee Regional Office) for information regarding eligibility for benefits and/or for any information regarding processing of VA paperwork and/or payment problems.

*  “GI Bill” is a trademark owned by VA and registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as of October 16, 2012.

Military Transcripts

Request an official transcript from the appropriate agency below and get college credit for your military education and training. Transcripts should be sent to:

Bushnell Admissions
828 E. 11th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401

Order Transcripts

AIR FORCE
Community College of the Air Force
CCAF/DESS
100 South Turner Blvd Gunter Annex AL 36114-3011
1-800-646-1858

ARMY and NATIONAL GUARD
Joint Service Transcript (JST) Order transcripts online
Email: usarmy.knox.hrc.mbx.tagd-jst@mail.mil
1-888-276-9472

COAST GUARD
Joint Service Transcript (JST)Order transcripts online
Email: CGI-PF-ed_transcripts@uscg.mil
Fax: 405-954-7249

MARINES
Joint Service Transcript (JST) Order transcripts online
Email: jst@doded.mil
Fax: 850-452-1909

NAVY
Joint Service Transcript (JST) Order transcripts online
Email: vec@navy.mil
1-877-838-1659

ORDERING A DD-214 MILITARY SERVICE RECORD
Military personnel records can be used for proving military service, or as a valuable tool in genealogical research. Most veterans and their next-of-kin can obtain free copies of their DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) and other military and medical records.

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