Office of Veterans Programs
The Office of Veterans Programs (OVP) at the University Park campus is organized as a comprehensive, direct service unit for military-affiliated students and Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) benefits recipients. The office is staffed by six full-time professionals and approximately twenty student veterans who work part-time under the provisions of DVA work-study. The staff and students provide services in the following areas: Outreach, Certification, Mentorship, and General Counseling. Follow the OVP directory links to learn more about our office and the services provided.
Mission
The mission of the Penn State Office of Veterans Programs is to provide accurate and expedient certification of veterans education benefits as well as comprehensive counseling, programming, advocacy and support to all military affiliated students, ensuring continuity and success throughout their Penn State experience.
Vision
The vision of the Penn State Office of Veterans Programs is to provide all military-affiliated students with unparalleled support, education and connections to university and community resources, resulting in engaged, successful students and citizens. In addition, we will promote awareness, education and support regarding the student veterans and dependent population to staff, faculty and the Penn State community to decrease the military/civilian divide and ensure the holistic support and success of our students.
IMPORTANT
The VA Enrollment Cert Request Form (formerly Certification Request Form) for students attending the summer and fall 2022 semester is available on LionPATH!
You can access the form by going to your Student Home Base, selecting the “My Information” icon, and then “VA Enrollment Cert Request” in the menu. This form must be completed each term you wish to use VA Education benefits. If this is your first semester using benefits, you will be able to upload your Certificate of Eligibility at that time. If you have a Military Affiliated Student Questionnaire in your To Do list, you will need to complete this before the VA Enrollment Request form. If you have any issues accessing the form, please reach out to a certifying official at your campus.
Post 9/11 VERIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENT:
Beginning with terms starting on or after December 17, 2021, if you are using your Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefit at an Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) facility, you are required to verify your enrollment at the end of each month to receive your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments. We want to help you meet this new requirement so you can continue your education without any interruption in benefits. By verifying that you are still enrolled in the same courses or training every month, you help avoid overpayments caused by changes to your training schedule and safeguard your GI Bill entitlement by preventing entitlement charges for training you did not attend.
How to Verify Your Enrollment: We encourage students to opt into text messaging, which is a simple, quick option for verifying monthly enrollment and ensuring you receive your MHA/kicker payments uninterrupted. All impacted students with a US mobile phone number on file should receive an opt-in text message after being certified by the university. You must respond to that text within 14 days. After opting in, you can simply reply to a VA text message each month to verify your enrollment.
If you opt out of text message verification or do not respond to the opt-in text, you will be automatically enrolled in email verification with the email address on file with VA.
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
Veterans First Year Seminar Announcement The Penn State College of Education in concert with the Office of Veterans Programs will be offering the 3-credit First Year Seminar entitled "Transition is the Mission" (EDUC 100) at University Park for Fall 2022. The course is open to student veterans in any year of study (you are not required to be a first year student to take the course). Among other topics, the course aims to help student veterans maximize their VA benefits, connect to campus and community resources, prepare for post-college employment, and adjust to life outside of the military. If you have any questions or are interested in taking this course, please contact the Office of Veterans Programs at ovp@psu.edu.”
Effective summer 2015, all eligible veterans regardless of benefit use, and military/veteran dependents actively using Chapter 33, Chapter 35 or Fry Scholarship benefits, will be eligible for in-state tuition regardless of residency. If you are a veteran and you are not using GI Bill® benefits, please contact your campus Certifying Official to determine requirements to establish eligibility for the in-state rate.
Office Information:
146 Ritenour Building
University Park, PA 16802
Office Phone: 814-863-0465
Office Fax: 814-865-3815
Email: ovp@psu.edu
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 website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
