MILITARY/VETERANS CENTER
U.S. military veterans, active duty, members of the Selected Reserve, National Guard, and some family members may be eligible to receive education benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The HPU Military/Veterans Center, located at the downtown campus (Pioneer Plaza, 2nd floor), is available to assist students with VA benefit information, paperwork, and enrollment certification.
MILITARY CAMPUS PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
College of Professional Studies (CPS), home of Military Campus Programs, maintains a full-time student services staff and offers courses as well as programs on all major O‘ahu military installations. Staff are also available by telephone and email to support the needs of students located off-island who are taking courses though CPS’s distance learning programs. Further information is available in the College of Professional Studies section of the catalog and on the HPU website at https://www.hpu.edu/military-and-veterans/index.html.
VETERAN’S BENEFITS
Students planning to utilize VA education benefits while attending HPU must first apply for benefits through the Veterans On-Line Application (VONAPP) website: https://www.va.gov/. Disabled veterans seeking enrollment under the VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program should contact their local VA Regional Office for more information.
Once eligibility is confirmed by the VA, the student will receive a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and is now ready to register for courses. Students may register for courses at any Hawai‘i Pacific University registration center. Students must notify their advisor at the time of registration that they intend to use their VA education benefits. Students must also contact the Military/Veterans Center for guidance on the processing of their course certifications. Staying in contact with the Military/Veterans Center will facilitate the course certification process for the student, the school, and the VA. Late and adjusted certifications will result in a delay of all benefit payments, so it is incumbent upon the student to ensure accurate processing of program certifications.
All recipients of veteran’s benefits must meet satisfactory progress standards in order to continue receiving benefits. These requirements vary with course load, length of the academic session, and the degree program of study. Federal law prohibits the certification of courses that do not meet specific degree program requirements. Degree-seeking students must declare an appropriate program of study and are eligible to receive VA education benefits. Non-degree-seeking students (Special Status) are generally ineligible for VA education benefits. However, degree-seeking students from other appropriately accredited and approved institutions may take courses with Hawai‘i Pacific University for transfer to their home institution, provided the HPU Military/Veterans Center has documentation verifying the course will meet the student’s degree requirements.
Students are required to immediately notify the HPU VA Coordinator of any changes to registration, tuition, or fees, for certification adjustments. Likewise, if a student fails to complete a certified course, either by drop or non-attendance, the student is required to immediately notify the HPU VA Coordinator. Students are responsible for any debts owed to the VA or the university resulting from schedule changes, drops or withdrawals, non-attendance, failure to maintain academic progress, or less-than-anticipated eligibility or ineligibility of veteran benefits regardless of original method of payment.
Students utilizing chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) are covered individuals when the authorization into a program approved by VR&E has been received by the School Certifying Official.
Students utilizing chapter 33 veteran’s education benefits are covered individuals when they submit a “certificate of eligibility’ or “statement of benefits” obtained from the Department of Veterans Affairs website to the School Certifying Official (SCO).
Covered individuals are permitted to attend or participate in the course of education beginning on the date on which the student provides to HPU the documents described in the previous paragraph. No imposition of penalties such as late fees, denial of access to classes, libraries or other institutional facilities will be imposed on the student. The covered individual will not be required to borrow additional funds to meet the financial obligations to HPU due to the delayed disbursement of funding from the VA under chapter 31 or chapter 33.
The covered individuals are required to submit their “request for enrollment certification” to the SCO so that the enrolled training periods are certified and the SCO enter the payments into the student account expected to be disbursed from the VA.
Questions regarding eligibility, payments, or benefits should be directed to the VA at https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/ or (888) GI-Bill-1. To contact the HPU VA Certifying Official, please contact va@hpu.edu or (808) 356-5222. Refer to Appendix A for Graduate Level Enrollment Status information.
ROTC
Interested and qualified HPU students may participate in the Military Science and Aerospace Studies (Army and Air Force ROTC) programs located nearby at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa campus. Through this program, full-time students pursue a commission in the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, or the Hawai‘i Army National Guard. Students register and attend most of their courses at Hawai‘i Pacific University with additional training and lecture sessions at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa campus. For more information, students should contact the HPU Military/Veteran Center or the Air Force or Army program representatives at (808) 956-7734 (Air Force ROTC) or (808) 956-7766 (Army ROTC).