Veterans Affairs

Policies Relating to Veterans

This institution is approved to offer GI Bill® educational benefits by the Mississippi State Approving Agency for all veterans under

• Chapter 30- Montgomery GI Bill® - Active Duty 

• Chapter 31- Veteran Readiness and Employment(VR&E)

• Chapter 33- Post 9/11 GI Bill®

• Chapter 35- Dependent Education Assistance(DEA) 

• Chapter 1606- Select Reserve GI Bill®

For GI Bill® educational benefits, the veteran must meet the requirements and adhere to the policies established by the Veterans Administration and the State Approving Agency. These policies are in compliance with directives outlined by the State Veterans Affairs Approving Agency, dated February 26, 1976, and further amended. The following requirements and policies apply to all veterans and eligible individuals who are entitled to GI Bill® educational benefits. They may differ somewhat from the policies established by Jones College; however, the veteran must adhere to the policies established for all Jones College students.

Institutional Policies

• The Veterans Affairs Office utilizes the JC Email System/address veteranaffairs@jcjc.edu as an official means of communication with the VA student population.

Student Conduct

•  Failure of the student to notify the Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official in writing within one week of the occurrence of any change in his/her status that will affect the veteran’s eligibility to receive VA education assistance in whole or in part may result in the termination of the student’s certification due to unsatisfactory conduct.
• The attendance policy for students utilizing GI Bill Educational Benefits will be the same as that required for all Jones College students. Attendance requirements are found in the current Jones College Catalog. The Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official is notified in writing when a student has accumulated excessive absences as reported by the student’s instructor. The achievement of excessive absences as reported by the student constitutes unsatisfactory conduct, and the student’s certification will be immediately be terminated unless the student appears before the Student Affairs Committee and is, with the approval of the Vice President of Student Affairs, allowed to continue enrollment for the semester or term. The Vice President of Student Affairs will notify in writing the Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official of the decision and that of the Student Affairs Committee.
•  When a veteran or eligible person fails to pay the fees owed to Jones College in the time that has been specified by the Vice President of Business Affairs, the veteran’s certification will be terminated due to unsatisfactory conduct. The Vice President of Business Affairs will notify the Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official in writing of the student’s nonpayment of fees, and the veteran’s certification will immediately be terminated.
•  When any student has been found to be guilty of any misconduct not here before mentioned, the Vice President of Student Affairs will notify in writing the Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official, who will immediately terminate the certification of the veteran due to unsatisfactory conduct.

Enrollment and Records

A written record will be maintained by Jones College and will indicate current and previous education and training of veterans or eligible persons. All school records and accounts pertaining to veterans and eligible persons will be readily available for examination by state and federal officials upon request.

Students utilizing GI Bill® educational benefits may enroll in a Career Certificate program, Associate in Applied Science degree program, or an Associate of Arts academic degree program. Students who enroll in any degree program must enroll in classes that follow the curriculum outlined in the general graduation requirements and/or degree program as outlined in the course catalog.

No student will be certified until entrance requirements established by Jones College have been met. Jones College will be responsible for ensuring that students have met the entrance requirements established by the institution.  The Department of Veterans Affairs requires Jones College to have on file an 

• Official high school/GED transcript, and/or

• Official transcript from each college/university that the student previously attended. 

Students meeting Jones College entrance requirements, but who do not have an official transcript for each previously attended college/university on file, may be certified to the Department of Veterans Affairs for two semesters. After two semesters, students who fail to provide an official transcript for each school previously attended may no longer be eligible to have classes certified to the VA.

When students are admitted to Jones College, they must declare their intended educational objectives with the Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official. For each semester VA students request education benefits, an electronic - Enrollment Certification Request (ECR) form must be submitted (Form link is located on the Veterans web-page of jcjc.edu). Once the ECR is received, the Veterans Affairs School Certifying Official (SCO) will certify to the Veterans Administration (VA) only those courses in which the student initially enrolls that are applicable to the student’s educational objective. Career students will not be certified for any cooperative education course.

A written record will be maintained by Jones College and will indicate the previous education and training of veterans or eligible persons.

Prior Credit Policy

Jones College will award credit to veterans after an evaluation by the Office of Admissions and Records. As an accredited institution and a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), Jones College is the final authority for assessing and transcribing credit for military training and experience. Jones College’s established policy for the assessment and transcription of credit for military training and experience supersedes ACE credit recommendations and those of any other organization.

Award of credit for military training and experience is based upon official documentation. Acceptable documents for assessment of military training and experience are: Army/American Council on Education Registry Transcript (AARTS), and Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript (SMART) system.

Note: The Community College of the Air Force is a SACSCOC accredited school and therefore is treated as college transfer work.

It is the student’s responsibility to obtain all records. Documentation becomes part of the student’s academic record and becomes the property of Jones College.  All documentation will be submitted to and evaluated by the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office will determine credit as being career, technical, or academic in nature as well as the number of credit hours awarded to the student. If a student plans on using credit toward the Associate of Applied Science degree, Technical Certificate, or Career Certificate, the student’s primary instructor must complete any appropriate course substitution forms. Credit will not be placed on the student’s transcripts until the student has completed 12 semester hours.

Attendance

The attendance policy for students utilizing GI Bill® educational benefits will be the same as that required for all Jones College students. Attendance requirements are found in the current Jones College Catalog. The Veteran’s Affairs Certifying Official will regularly review a student’s enrollment status.  Any changes to the student’s initial enrollment status will result in adjustments to the student’s VA eligibility.  

Violation of the attendance policy by the student constitutes unsatisfactory conduct, and the student’s certification could be terminated unless the student appears before the Student Affairs Committee and is, with the approval of the Vice President of Student Affairs, allowed to continue enrollment for the semester.  The VA Certifying Official will review the decisions made by the Student Affairs Committee to determine continued eligibility when certifying student enrollment. 

Academic Progress

A permanent record will be maintained to show the student’s progress or lack of progress for each semester attempted. Students utilizing GI Bill® educational benefits are required to make satisfactory progress toward degree requirements. Students who do not make satisfactory progress will be placed on scholastic probation or suspension, as defined per the regulations.

Academic Probation Regulations

1. Students whose term grade point average at the end of any semester is below a 1.75.
2. Students currently on probation whose term grade point average is below a 2.0 will remain on scholastic probation. Students placed on scholastic probation will be required to meet the Admissions Committee for academic counseling at the beginning of the subsequent semester. Probation may be lifted by achieving a 2.0 term GPA the subsequent semester.

Academic Suspension

Academic suspension is a penalty imposed after a student has been allowed every reasonable opportunity to make satisfactory progress. The scholastic suspension period will provide an opportunity for students to reconsider their approaches to a college career or to make necessary adjustments in attitudes concerning the academic demands of college life.

Academic Suspension Regulations

1. Students whose term grade point average is below 1.5 while they are on scholastic probation.
2. Students who remain on academic probation for three consecutive semesters.  

a.  A first suspension will be for one semester. (Does not include summer) 

b.  The second suspension will be for one calendar year.

Through the Academic policy’s period of probation or suspension, a Veteran or eligible person (who remains in a probationary status) may not continue to receive VA enrollment certification for an indefinite period of time. It is reasonable to expect that Jones College will report a termination of VA benefits due to unsatisfactory progress if a student remains on academic probation beyond two semesters. 

For more information regarding Jones College Academic Probation and Suspension policy, see Student Affairs https://www.jcjc.edu/policies/index.php#academicprobation/.

Tuition and Fees

Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018, section 3679 of title 38.

NOTE: A Covered Individual is any individual who is entitled to educational assistance under chapter 31, Veteran Readiness and Employment, or chapter 33, Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits.

Jones College must permit any covered individual to attend or participate in the course of education during the period beginning on the date on which the individual provides to Jones College a Certificate of Eligibility(COE) for entitlement to educational assistance under chapter 31 or chapter 33 (or a VAF 28-1905 form for chapter 31 authorization purposes) and ending on the earlier of the following dates:

1. The date of which payment from VA is made to the institution.

2. 90 days after the date the institution certified tuition and fees following the receipt of the certificate of eligibility. Jones College will not impose any penalty, including the assessment of late fees, denial of access to classes, libraries, or other institutional facilities, or require the student to borrow additional funds due to the inability to meet his or her financial obligation to Jones College as a result of delayed payments for education assistance under Chapter 31 or Chapter 33, unless the student is less than 100% covered.

3. If students receiving VA benefits are not seeking any other aid assistance from outside sources, students could be responsible for paying any outstanding charges at the end of each semester that the VA funding did not cover.  Failure to resolve any outstanding charges could impact future enrollment at Jones College as well as VA certification.

Grievance Policy

The grievance policy for students utilizing GI Bill® educational benefits will be the same as that required for all Jones College students. Grievance policy and reporting procedures are found in the current Jones College Catalog. The Mississippi State Approving Agency (SAA), is the approving authority of education and training programs for Mississippi.  Our office investigates complaints of GI Bill beneficiaries. While most complaints should initially follow the school grievance policy, if the situation cannot be resolved at the school, the beneficiary should contact our office via email at saa@msva.ms.gov.