Military

We require the documentation listed below based on your applicable status:

Active duty military: a copy of your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) or recent copy of your orders

Veteran: A copy of your DD214 or Certificate of Eligibility Spouse: A copy of the veteran’s DD214 and copy of your marriage certificate

Dependent: A copy of the veteran’s DD214 and copy of your birth certificate **dependents whose parent is not attending Berklee Online must be age 26 or under to qualify for the discount.

No, students that are not eligible for education benefits or do not wish to use them will still be eligible for the military tuition discount.

Yes, all degree programs and certificate programs are eligible for usage of VA education benefits. The Veteran’s Readiness & Employment (previously Voc. Rehab) program must be approved by your individual VR&E Counselor in order to utilize your education benefits towards our programs.

A Certificate of Eligibility or Statement of Benefits is required for most types of benefits (with the exception of VR&E). You will submit this documentation via the New Military Student Intake Form. If you do not have a copy of this documentation, you should be able to access it via the VA website here.

For VR&E students, we will require a purchase order from your VR&E counselor to certify your benefits with the VA. You are welcome to send your VR&E counselor’s information to our office via email: military@online.berklee.edu and we will reach out to them directly to obtain the purchase order.

Yes. Completing this form allows us to collect important demographic and SSN information for students utilizing benefits.

We require the VA Certification Request Form to be submitted every semester once students have registered for classes. Completion of this form serves as proof that you authorize our office to certify your benefits with the VA. You only need to complete this form once every semester, regardless of schedule changes you make.

No. You must be enrolled in a certificate or degree granting program to utilize your VA education benefits. The VA will not remit payment for a la carte courses.

For new students, once we receive your Certificate of Eligibility, Statement of Benefits, or Purchase Order (for VR&E students) and have a recent VA Certification Request Form on file, we will apply your benefits and notify you once completed.

For continuing students, you will need to confirm that you want our office to certify your benefits for the upcoming semester. Current students must complete the VA Certification Request Form after registering for each semester if they intend to use their VA education benefits. After completion of the form, we will receive notification and will certify your benefits with the VA.

Berklee Online will only invoice VR&E for direct costs (tuition and fees). As an online school, we do not invoice for books and course technology supplies (computers, software, hardware). All books and course technology supplies must be purchased through third party vendors that we partner with and offer student discounts through our Student Support department. Our Student Support department determines all course requirements at Berklee Online. Once registered each semester please reach out to support@online.berklee.edu for a list of minimum course requirements. Please see below link for additional information. https://online.berklee.edu/military/va-education-benefits.

You will be required to pay out of pocket for the remainder of the program but will still be eligible to receive the 30% military tuition discount. Students enrolled in a degree program are welcome to apply for financial aid by completing the FAFSA on www.studentaid.gov. Questions about financial aid should be directed to onestop@berklee.edu. It is important to note that certificate programs do not qualify for federal student aid and typically no additional financial aid is offered for those programs.

Yes, however, each branch may have different requirements for which you can use your tuition assistance towards. It is important to speak with your education office through your branch to determine what is and is not covered by the tuition assistance. For more information about TA benefits, please visit our website by visiting here.

Yes. Students attending Berklee Online may be eligible for the online rate of housing allowance based on the number of credits taken in a single semester. For more information about this benefit and an estimate of entitlement please visit our VA Education Benefits webpage.

8 credits or more each semester is considered full time enrollment for undergraduate degree and certificate programs. 6 credits is considered full time enrollment for graduate degree and certificate programs.

Depending on the amount of credits you register for in a single semester, the VA will deduct days from your total entitlement (months & days). The approximate estimates are as follows:

Undergraduate Degree/Certificate Program Entitlement:

• 33 days for 3 credits (approximately)
• 63 days for 6 credits (approximately)
• 83 days for 9 credits (approximately)

Graduate Degree/Certificate Program Entitlement:

• 25 days 3 credits (approximately)
• 55 days for 6 credits (approximately)
• 83 days for 9 credits (approximately)

If you reduce credits or drop during the add/drop period (first 2 weeks of the semester), there will be no impact to your VA benefits. However, you may incur a debt with the VA for any housing/books stipend paid to you. If changes are made after this period and you withdraw from a course, you will incur a balance with Berklee Online for the tuition and fees and potentially also with the VA for any housing allowance/books & supplies stipends that were paid to you. If you add or drop classes after completing your VA Certification Request, please contact the Berklee Online Military Affairs team at military@online.berklee.edu or 617-747-2146, Extension 5, Option 2. The sooner you notify the Military Affairs team of any changes to your schedule, the sooner we can report the change and the possibility of debt with the Department of Veteran Affairs.

If you withdraw from your certificate or degree program without completing, your eligibility to utilize your VA education benefits in the future will not be impacted. Please note that if you withdraw from the program mid-semester, you will likely incur a debt with the VA and Berklee Online in which you will need to repay. If you withdraw from the program after the conclusion of a semester and prior to the start of the next, or during a semester’s “add/drop” period, your benefits will not be impacted and you will not incur a debt with the VA.

This is only allowed if you are in the last semester of your program under the VA’s “rounding-out” rule.

No, if you have a break in your enrollment your VA benefits will not be impacted. Your benefits cannot be certified for terms you are not attending, so your entitlement and eligibility will remain the same as it is the last semester you attend.

No, the VA will only remit payment for a certificate or degree program once. You are not allowed to repeat a completed program and utilize your benefits.

No, you must be pursuing one certificate at a time in order to utilize VA benefits. If you are enrolled in two active certificates, you must withdraw from one of the certificates or request that one be placed in an inactive status. This request should be made with the Berklee Online registrar's office.