Cover Photo Image

The JMU VA School Certifying Officials assist with the GI Bill® process and serve as liaisons between: the student and Veterans Affairs; Veterans Affairs and JMU; JMU and the student; and the State Approving Agency (SAA) in Virginia and JMU.

Summer 2023 Office Hours (May 15 - August 11): Monday-Thursday 8:00am - 5:00pm; Friday 8:00am - 11:30am

Regular Semester Office Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm. Please call or stop by 4:30pm for assistance.

JMU is closed the following dates and we will not be in the office:

  • July 4, 2023: Independence Day

Visit our Announcement page for information released by VA.


Summer 2023 Benefits:

  • Current benefit users for Summer 2023: The Summer 2023 request forms will be sent to students on April 4th from auto_notification@jmu.edu. We emailed students about the process on March 23rd from veteran@jmu.edu. If you need a new form, please email veteran@jmu.edu with your student ID number for a new form. Important: the form can only be sent to the student's dukes email account. It cannot be sent to the parent or a non-JMU email account and the student must be enrolled in at least 1 course to receive the form.  
  • VMSDEP Users: You must request for the Summer 2023 semester in the VMSDEP portal in addition to submitting the required JMU Request Form. Instructions found on the VMSDEP website. The Summer 2023 term opens in the VMSDEP portal on 4/1/2023. Student's name must be on the Summer 2023 vmsdep roster by 8/11/2023 in order to use it for the Summer 2023 semester.
    • Using VMSDEP in the summer will use 1 of the 8 total terms with the benefit, regardless of if you take 1 class or 5 classes. 
    • It is your responsibility to determine the best use of the benefit

Fall 2023 Semester Benefits 

  • Incoming students for Fall 2023: follow the instructions and steps found on our brochure/website or in the email we sent you.
    • Attention: you will need to pay your admissions deposit to secure your spot at JMU.
    • Keep in mind - if you are using Post 9/11 or VMSDEP, the tuition portion of the bill covered by your benefit will NOT be reflected on the fall bill when it is released on July 12th.
      • Post 9/11: We start to report semester enrollments in early August and add the expected VA tuition/fee payment to student bills at that time. You still need to cover full room/board and any remaining % of tuition/fees if not 100% eligible for Post 9/11 upfront by the UBO deadline.
      • VMSDEP: Financial Aid adds the vmsdep tuition/fee waiver as "anticipated aid" in late August and the waiver posts in early October. Full room/board must be covered upfront by UBO deadline.
  • Current benefit users for Fall 2023: We will email students about the process on April 6th from veteran@jmu.edu.The Fall 2023 request forms will be sent from auto_notification@jmu.edu on April 18th. If you need a new form after that date, please email veteran@jmu.edu with your student ID number. Important: the form can only be sent to the student's dukes email account. It cannot be sent to the parent or a non-JMU email account and the student must be enrolled in at least 1 course to receive the form.  
  • VMSDEP Users: You must request for the Fall 2023 semester in the VMSDEP portal in addition to submitting the required JMU Request Form. Instructions found on the VMSDEP website. The Fall 2023 term opens in the VMSDEP portal on 7/1/2023. Student's name must be on the Fall 2023 vmsdep roster by 12/15/2023 in order to use it for the Fall 2023 semester.

Important for students using Post-9/11 benefits: The JMU SCOs will submit an initial certification to the VA without reporting tuition and fees. This initial certification activates the book stipend and housing stipend. A pending line for the expected VA payment for tuition/fees will be placed on the student account. This pending line will hold the place of the VA funds and reduces the balance on the student account. After the end of the add/drop period, tuition and fee amounts will be submitted to the VA for payment to JMU.


This institution is approved to offer GI Bill® educational benefits by the Virginia State Approving Agency.

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.
JMU SCO Information

Ms. Kelly Hollembeak
540-568-4769
veteran@jmu.edu  

Ms. Lauren Houff
540-568-6569
veteran@jmu.edu  

Office of the Registrar
738 S Mason Street, MSC 3528
SSC Room 5300
Harrisonburg VA 22807

JMU Fax #: 540-568-5615
VA Toll Free #: 1-888-442-4551

Back to Top