Veteran Benefits

Committed to academic and personal success

Dog tags on the American flag

Bay College is approved to train veterans and others who qualify under the educational benefits programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs by the Michigan State Approving Agency. Bay College is committed to offering veteran students necessary information and helpful resources to support academic and personal success.

Bay College Veteran Assisted Programs

After the application is processed, the VA will issue a Certificate of Eligibility (COR) for individuals who qualify for benefits. The COE will include information about your number of months of entitlement, period of eligibility and benefit level. This process can take up to six weeks.

Chapter 30

Montgomery GI Bill® Active Duty Program—For active duty members who enroll and pay $100 per month for 12 months and are then entitled to receive a monthly education benefit once they have completed a minimum service obligation.

Chapter 31

Vocational Readiness and Employment (VR&E)—This program provides educational benefits to eligible disabled veterans.

Chapter 33

Post September 11 GI Bill® —This program is for students who have served on active duty after September 10, 2001 for a minimum of 90 aggregate days (excluding entry level and skill training) and at least 30 continuous days if discharged for a service-connected disability.

Chapter 35

Survivors’ & Dependent’s Educational Assistance—This program provides educational benefits to children between the ages of 18 and 26, spouses, and widows/widowers of totally disabled or deceased veterans.>

Fry Scholarship

The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship is available for children and spouses of service members who died in the line of duty after September 10, 2001. 

Chapter 1606

Montgomery GI Bill® Selected Reserves—This program provides educational benefits to persons who entered a six-year selected reserve obligation after July 1, 1985 and completed Active Duty Training. This includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Reserves, as well as the Army National Guard and the Air Guard.

Federal/State Tuition Assistance or MYCAA

Students planning to use Federal or State Tuition Assistance (TA) must first consult their respective branch/unit Education Services Officer (ESO) or education counselor for program approval prior to requesting TA through the respective service portal.

APPLY FOR VETERAN AFFAIRS BENEFITS

‘‘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."

Affiliations

The Bay College Director of Financial Aid is the VA Certifying Official and point of contact and will assist veterans, service persons, and their spouses and dependents with the process of applying for VA Education Benefits. The Certifying Official certifies enrollments of eligible students within the VA system, monitors the Standards of Progress for VA Education Benefits, and assists in finding resources to meet student veteran needs.

Consortium of Michigan Veteran Educators

Bay College is a member of the Consortium of Michigan Veteran Educators. This network is comprised of twenty-eight community colleges and fifteen four-year public universities. Its mission is to improve the support available to student veterans and their family members, to increase the number of individuals who take advantage of their educational benefits, and to provide staff with professional development opportunities to better support student veterans.

Department of Defense Memorandum of Understanding

Bay de Noc Community College’s application for participation to the Department of Defense Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was approved on July 1, 2014. In accordance with the MOU, eligible service members at Bay may receive funds from the Department of Defense Tuition Assistance (TA) Program.

Policies

The law requires veterans and other eligible persons receiving educational assistance benefits make satisfactory progress toward completion of his or her training objective.

It is the policy of Bay College that students must make satisfactory academic progress toward completion of their degree or certificate. A 2.0 grade point average is required for graduation. Students are considered to be making satisfactory academic progress if, after completing at least 12 credit hours at Bay College, they maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or higher.

  • Satisfactory Academic Progress will be reviewed at the end of each fall and winter semester.
  • The first time a student’s cumulative GPA falls below 2.0, they will be placed on veteran’s probation. A student on veteran probation will have two semesters of enrollment to bring their cumulative grade point average up to 2.0 or above.
  • Failure to bring the cumulative GPA up to a 2.0 or better within two semesters of enrollment will result in suspension of veteran educational benefits and will no longer be certified for veteran’s educational benefits and the College will inform the U.S, Department of Veterans Affairs that the student is terminated from receiving educational benefits.
  • A student will be recertified for educational benefits once they have attained the minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA.
  • A student has the right to appeal the termination of educational benefits to the Director of Financial Aid. The appeal must be in writing and provide reasons why satisfactory academic progress was not maintained. Supportive documentation may be required of the student. The Director will review the appeal and inform the student in writing of the decision.

Educational costs at Bay College are shared by students, the taxpayers of Delta and Dickinson counties, and the state of Michigan.  Because property taxes paid by residents of Delta and Dickinson counties supplement student tuition and state aid, tuition charged legal residents of Delta or Dickinson counties is lower and tuition charged to out-of-state students is the highest.
 
Bay College Board of Trustees Policy 4002 includes a residency policy for military persons as follows:

  1. A student currently serving in the military or who has been discharged within one year of the start of the semester will be classified by their residence at time of enrollment.
  2. The following individuals will be charged the in-state tuition unless he/she qualifies as a Delta or Dickinson County resident as described above:

Any individual using educational assistance under either Chapter 30 (Montgomery GI Bill®--Active Duty Program), Chapter 31 (Vocational 4002 STUDENT RESIDENCY POLICY Policy Origin Date(s): 03/11/1981 Procedure Origin Date: 03/11/1981 Policy Revision Date(s): 01/20/2002 Procedure Revision Date(s): 01/20/2002 02/15/2012 02/15/2012 05/20/2015 05/20/2015 02/20/2019 M:\Board Policies and Procedures\CURRENT Board Policies and Procedures\Student Services\4002 Student Residency Policy.docx Edited for Accessibility 12.5.18 Rehabilitation, Chapter 35 (Survivors’ and Dependents Educational Assistance Program), Chapter 1606 of Title 10 U.S.C. (Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve), Chapter 33 (Post-9/11 GI Bill®), of title 38 United States Code, and/or the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (38 U.S.C. § 311(b)(9)) who lives in the State of Michigan while attending Bay de Noc Community College (regardless of his/her formal state of residence).

All veterans having a certified DD Form 214 on file in the Admissions Office will automatically be given credit for two semester hours of physical education. Official copies of a veteran’s Joint Service Transcript (JST) or Community College of the Air Force Transcript as well as official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended will be evaluated by the Registrar based on the American Council on Education (ACE) credit recommendations.

Students are responsible for initiating their withdrawal from a class; this does not happen automatically. For more information on how to properly withdraw from a coursego to www.baycollege.edu and select myBay>Current Students>Registration>Withdrawing from a Course. It is the student’s responsibility to request the withdraw. Failure to follow this procedure will result in the student receiving an “F” for the class.

There is no penalty due to withdrawal for military personnel who are deployed. Transcripts will be marked “Military Deployment.” Student Services will work with military students and veterans to assist them with completion of courses and degrees or certificates.

If at any point a student drops credit hours or withdraws from class(es), the Certifying Official must inform the VA. If, by dropping credit hours, a veteran changes his/her enrollment status, the result may be an overpayment that the veteran will be required to repay to the VA unless there are mitigating circumstances such as prolonged illness, severe illness or death in the immediate family, or an unscheduled change in your employment or work schedule. If mitigating circumstances exist, the veteran will need to contact the VA to establish, in writing, that he/she withdrew for a reason that was beyond his/her control.

Eligible students can receive their VA education benefits only when the college certifies their enrollment to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Eligible students that wish to receive their benefits must submit a VA Registration Certification Form (myBay login required) to the Director of Financial Aid/VA Certifying Official every term. Students will receive their educational benefits only for the terms for which they request certification. This form is available in the Bay College Financial Aid Office or online.

A veteran can receive benefits only for courses that are required for graduation. The Certifying Official cannot submit for certification a repeated a course in which the veteran has previously earned a satisfactory grade.

Resources

Bay College offers Academic Support Services for students including Tutoring, Office of Accessibility (Accommodations), Supplemental Instruction, TRiO, and more.

A Veterans Lounge is available on both campuses for a quiet place to study, there are computers, comfortable seating, microwave, and other resources for our military students to use. 

Escanaba Campus: Room 516A

Iron Mountain Campus: Room 111

Bay College offers students on both campuses counseling services with a licensed counselor. All counseling services are provided on a confidential basis and are free to enrolled students. Personal mental health counseling, prevention, and intervention are available.

Buddy-to-Buddy is a peer-to-peer outreach program that trains veterans to provide peer support and linkage to needed resources for Michigan service members and veterans.

BUDDY-TO-BUDDY

Escanaba Veterans Center
3500 Ludington Street, Suite #110
Escanaba, MI 49829
(906) 233-0244
800-215-8262

The Escanaba Veterans Center offers readjustment counseling services free of charge to eligible veterans, their families, and significant others.

The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency serves as the central coordinating point for Michigan veterans, connecting those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, and their families, to services and benefits throughout the state. MVAA was created by Executive Order 2013-2 and began operations on March 20, 2013, the 10th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

MVAA is a state government agency and is housed within Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The agency works to identify and break down barriers veterans face in employment, education, health care and quality of life, making Michigan a great place for veterans and their families to call home. The agency aggregates veterans services currently found in 14 state agencies as well as hundreds of community-based veteran programs to create a ‘no wrong door’ access to benefits and services.

Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency
Phoenix Building
5th Floor
222 N Washington Square
PO Box 30104
Lansing, MI 48909
800-642-4838

MICHIGAN VETERANS AFFAIRS AGENCY

OGJVAMC is a primary and secondary level care facility with 17 acute care, general medicine beds. The main facility has an Urgent Care Center, and collaborates with larger VA Medical Centers in Milwaukee and Madison, WI, as well as local community health facilities to provide higher-level emergency and specialty care services. OGJVAMC also provides rehabilitation and extended care, including palliative and hospice care, in its 40-bed Community Living Center.

OGJVAMC also offers a Veteran Peer Support Program designed to improve social functioning and quality of life, increase access to resources outside the VA, improve employment outcomes, provide comfort and support, improve recovery skills, and advocate for the homeless veteran.

Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center
325 E H Street
Iron Mountain, MI 49801
(906) 774-3300 ext. 32541

VISIT IRONMOUNTAIN.VA.GOV

It shall be the policy of the Bay de Noc Community College Board of Trustees to assure the provisions of equal opportunity and equal access in educational acts. These provisions apply in all areas of employment, student services, and instructional programs. Discrimination because of any legally protected status, which includes but is not limited to, race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, political affiliation, age, height, weight, disability, marital or veteran status is prohibited.

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