VA Student Checklist

1. Apply to Whitworth University.

   Educational benefits cannot be used prior to being fully admitted into degree or certificate program.

2. Apply for educational benefits with Veterans Affairs.

   Apply online. Once your application is approved by VA, you will receive a Certificate of Eligibility by mail.
   If you need to update the number of transferred months, have your sponsor (family member) login to milConnect and submit a transfer request.

3. Submit your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to Whitworth's VA certifying official.

   You can email your COE to Alicia Ordaz (aordaz@whitworth.edu) or drop it off at our Military & Veterans Resource Center (MAVRC), building 63 (see map).

4. Submit all prior military or transfer credits.

   Request all official transcripts are mailed directly to:
   
   Whitworth University
   300 W. Hawthorne Road
   Spokane, WA 99251
   Request JST transcripts

5. Register for classes.

   Register for all courses before requesting certification of your benefits. Utilize your advisor to determine if your classes fit within your degree program. If your classes are not required courses for your program evaluation, contact Whitworth's VA certifying official to ask if those classes will be certifiable.
   Note: Audit and waitlisted courses are not certifiable.

6. Complete the online VA Enrollment Certification Request form. 

   Click here to complete the form before each term. Email Whitworth's VA certifying official (aordaz@whitworth.edu) notifying six weeks before the beginning of term that your schedule is set for the term and you are requesting certification.
   Note: Any changes to your schedule must be reported. If you know you will be changing your schedule as the term starts, please wait to request certification until your schedule is finalized, but let us know your intentions.

7. Submit your monthly requirement while utilizing your benefits.
   (Not required for Chapters 31 & 35)

   Chapter 33/Post 9/11: Enrollment Verification

   Visit the Enrollment Verification website for information on what your requirement will be each month while utilizing your Chapter 33 benefits.

   Chapter 30 & 1606: Self-Verify

   Each month, verify your attendance for payment to be issued. Visit Web Automated Verification of Enrollment (WAVE) and verify your enrollment, or call 1.877.823.2378 to verify by telephone.

8. Declare a major.

   According to VA certification rules, if you have not declared a major by the end of sophomore year, courses cannot be certified for payment. Due to Whitworth policies, access to class registration will be denied if you have not declared a major at the appropriate time. The declaration deadline policies apply as follows:
   • Students with A.A./A.S. degrees and transfers – second semester of attending Whitworth
   • First-year students – by end of spring semester of their second year