Military & Veterans

Helpful Information & Services

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Academic and Personal Support Services
Tutorial Assistance
Reimbursement for Licensing & Certifications
Requesting Military Transcripts
Transferring Previously Earned Credits and SOC Program
WAVE Information (Chapters 30, 1606 & 1607)
Housing & Child Care Options in the Area
Transferring GI Bill Benefits

U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs

http://www.va.gov/
GI Bill hotline: 1-888-442-4551
Submit a Question to the VA

Academic and personal support services

We recognize that transitioning from the military life to the life of a college student can present new challenges. We are committed to helping you meet these challenges and to succeed at RIT. RIT offers a wide array of excellent academic and personal support services that can be accessed directly. Students looking to use VA benefits for tutorial services or VA work study will be well advised to check with our office first.

Academic Support Services:

Whether you need help with the content of a class, or you need help figuring out the best ways to take notes, study, or manage your time to get all your work well done, RIT has people dedicated to helping you. You can receive help individually, in groups, one time only, or all semester long. There are multiple options! Here are some of the places where you may find the help you need:

The Academic Support Center offers help to students in content areas (such as math) and with the general skills needed to be a successful student. To learn more about these services, please visit its website at: http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/asc/.
The Sol Heumann Study Center offers academic help to students in their first year. For more information, please visit its website at: http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/aim/shsc-index.php.
RIT also offers student support via the Federal TRIO programs, for students whose parents do not hold a college degree, or come from an impoverished environment, or are 100% disabled. To learn more about these services, please visit the following website: http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/triosss/about.php.

Personal Counseling and Support Services:

RIT’s Counseling Center provides personal counseling, career counseling, group counseling, and psychological and vocational assessments. Although there is no limit on the number of sessions a student may have through the Center, it recognizes that student veterans can experience difficulties resulting from their military life, which can fall outside its expertise. RIT’s Counseling Center is able to refer student veterans to local agencies specializing in veterans’ issues:

The Veterans Outreach Center, which is not affiliated with the VA: http://www.veteransoutreachcenter.org
The Rochester Vet Center: http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?ID=465
Rochester VA Outpatient Clinic: http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?ID=24

Because women’s needs can be different than men’s needs, The Women’s Center at RIT strives to foster an educational environment in which women can be personally, academically and professionally successful. For more information, please visit: http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/womenscenter/.

Tutorial Assistance

Tutorial assistance helps the student pay for necessary tutoring and is a supplement to the student’s regular education benefit. Tutorial assistance is available if you are receiving VA educational assistance at the half-time or greater rate and have a deficiency in a subject making tutoring necessary. For additional information, including an overview and application form, please review VA - Tutorial Assistance.

Reimbursement for Licensing & Certifications

To learn more about using your GI Bill benefits to cover the cost of exams, approved exams, and the process to submit a reimbursement request review VA – Licensing & Certification .

Requesting Military Transcripts

The following links can be utilized to request military transcripts be sent to RIT.

American Council on Education (ACE)
U.S. Air Force: Community College for the Air Force (CCAF)
U.S. Army: (AARTS)
U.S. Coast Guard: Coast Guard Institute (CGI)
U.S. Marine Corps: Marine Corps University (MCU) - (SMART Transcript)
U.S. Navy: Navy College Program - (SMART Transcript)

Transferring previously earned credits and SOC Program

RIT is a great place to transfer to! RIT has a long history of accepting credits earned at other colleges and universities. As a member of the SOC Consortium, RIT has a liberal transfer credit policy, accepting military training and experience as well as credit by examination.

The most important factor in whether previously earned credits and military training and experience will transfer depends on the academic program you choose. Requirements vary between programs and it may be that more credits could be accepted in this program as opposed to that program. For example, multi-disciplinary degrees such as the Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Arts & Sciences and the Master’s of Science in Professional Studies maximize credit transfer. It is most important that you connect with one of our academic advisors early!
Previously earned college and university credits, as well as military training and experience you would like to have recognized will need to be evaluated by the academic school or department to which you are applying to and also by the College of Liberal Arts. All these documents will be evaluated as part of the admission process. Official transcripts from each college or university previously attended, as well as any other documentation of experience and placement tests must be submitted along with your application to an RIT program.

SOC Consortium

The SOC Consortium is approximately 1,800 appropriately accredited colleges and universities providing associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees for service members and their adult dependent family members. These Military-friendly institutions with flexible policies allow mobile service members and their families to complete degrees rather than just accumulate course credits.

As part of SOC, RIT follows the following SOC principles and criteria:

Reasonable Transfer of Credit: To avoid excessive loss of previously earned credits and to avoid coursework duplication.
Reduced Academic Residency: Limited to no more than 25% of degree requirements with no final year or semester in residence (may require 30% for undergraduate degrees offered 100% online).
Credit for Military Training and Experience: To Recognize and use ACE Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services in evaluating and awarding academic credit for military training and experience.
Credit for Nationally-Recognized Testing Programs: Award credit for at least one nationally-recognized testing program such as College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) General and Subject Exams, (DANTES) Subject Standardized Tests (DSST), Excelsior College Examinations (ECE).

WAVE Information (Chapters 30, 1606 & 1607)

All veterans using chapters 30, 1606, or 1607 must verify their enrollment each month to the VA in order to receive payment for that month. This monthly verification can be done by one of the two following ways:

Phone: 1-877-823-2378
Internet: Log into the program called WAVE (Web Automated Verification of Enrollment): https://www.gibill.va.gov/wave/index.do

Housing & Child Care options in the area

RIT offers many different housing options to student veterans both on and off campus. In addition, Margaret’s House, a Child Care Center, is located right on the RIT campus.

On campus housing: For information on housing on RIT’s campus, please go to our Center for Residential Life’s website, at: http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/reslife/

Off campus housing: There are a lot of options near RIT. For help regarding off-campus housing, visit: http://finweb.rit.edu/housing/offcampushousing.html.

Daycare: Children between the ages of 8 weeks and kindergarten can attend Margaret’s House Child Care Center on campus ( http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/margaretshouse/). Financial aid is available. Children in kindergarten through grade three can also attend Margaret’s House after school hours, on their days off, and in the summer.

School District: RIT is located in the Rush-Henrietta School District, which provides bus transportation. Its excellent high school is rated in the top 1,000 high schools in the U.S. by Newsweek Magazine (2008).

Transferring GI Bill Benefits

If you are a parent or spouse wanting to transfer your military benefits, utilize the following VA and DoD links to learn more about the process.

VA - Transfer of Post-9/11 GI-Bill Benefits to Dependents (TEB)

DoD - GI Bill Transferability