‘Pay File’ Glitch Leaves Student Veterans Without Their GI Bill Housing Stipend

Rep. Derrick Van Orden asks questions during a meeting of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in Washington, on Feb. 7, 2023. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times via screenshot of live video

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said on March 30 that it has resolved issues that led to delayed payments of monthly housing stipends to hundreds of students who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces (and their dependents).

Housing payments via the GI Bill didn’t show up in their bank accounts when due on March 31. The VA didn’t say how many were affected by the delay, which resulted from an electronic processing “pay file” glitch and failure.

Those who receive the allowance electronically should have had the money deposited into their accounts on April 3, while paper checks were sent out that day, the VA said.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) Rep. Mike Bost

Many student veterans live on tight budgets, often paycheck to paycheck, and the housing allowance—a benefit of the Post-9/11 GI Bill —showing up on time is what allows them to make rent and mortgage payments on time.

Many tenants whose rent was due on April 1 may have had to have had one of those conversations with their landlords that they prefer not to have.

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), a Marine Corps veteran, and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and a retired Navy SEAL whose service record includes five combat deployments, voiced their displeasure with the delinquency.

“We were disappointed to find out late last night that hundreds of student veterans are waking up this morning without their monthly housing allowance in their account,” Bost and Van Orden said in a March 21 statement.

‘Absolutely No Excuse’

“Congress has invested tens of millions of dollars in updating this system, which leaves no excuse for delays in payments to occur. Particularly when we have seen this happen before.

“There is also absolutely no excuse for the unreasonable delay in informing affected student veterans of this situation.

“The recipients of these education benefits are adults who have served our country and at the very least deserve adequate time to make arrangements to deal with the slew of problems that can arise from not having the money to pay your bills on time.

“Veterans come first and foremost, and the Biden administration owes them transparency they can trust.”

Depending on many factors, including the location of the campus of the school a student attends, the monthly housing allowance can range from a few hundred dollars to close to $3,000; although the average is $1,833 a month.

In a statement, the VA said: “We are mindful of the stress this may create for our student veterans and their families.

“VA is preparing electronic communications to inform veterans and provide them with a letter, which they can share with their creditors in the event this delay impacts their ability to meet personal financial obligations.”