Just three weeks after announcing its plan to switch to a new enrollment management system, and following considerable pushback on the timing of the move, the Department of Veterans Affairs said this week it would delay the transition from VA-ONCE to Enrollment Manager to March 2023. 

Making the transition in March will give School Certifying Officials (SCOs) the ability to register, enroll, and certify GI Bill beneficiaries for the spring 2023 term without interruption, and will allow for ample time for SCOs to obtain training on the new platform and troubleshoot any issues without putting veterans’ benefits at risk. 

When the VA announced it was planning to turn off VA-ONCE in mid-January, the higher education community quickly galvanized to request that implementation be delayed to a less intense time of year for veteran students and SCOs.  Thanks to the understanding of the academic calendar by the congressional committees who joined the call for an implementation delay, and direct communications with VA Education Service, the transition was put off until March.

The transition will require VA-ONCE to be turned off with about a week of no access to any enrollment platform. If the transition had occurred in January, it would have landed at the same time veterans were enrolling for spring classes, and SCOs were certifying GI Bill benefit use. Any lapse in that work could have caused veterans to have their education-based housing allowance delayed, which is a critical part of veteran benefits while in college.