For more than 120 years, Teachers College has educated nearly 100,000 people from around the world. With a tradition of innovation and insight, Teachers College embraces three fields of study: education, psychology, and health. But Teachers College is more than a school for teachers. Students prepare for careers in all aspects of understanding, managing, and enhancing human potential and performance.
Active-duty U.S. service members, reservists, and veterans will receive a waiver from both the Teachers College $65 Application Fee when applying for admission and the $300 nonrefundable deposit payment upon accepting an offer of admission. Please reach out to the Office of Admission for more information about this benefit.
Please complete and return a Veterans Benefits Enrollment Certification Form below to the Registrar's Office each term you wish to certify your enrollment with the VA. There is no deadline to submit the form, though it is recommended to submit early to ensure the VA submits payment in a timely manner. The Registrar's Office will start certifying enrollments no earlier than 90 days prior to the start of the term benefits are requested as long as registration has been completed. Please note that the Office of the Registrar will review registration the day after the add/drop period closes and submit an adjustment if registration has changed since the first submission. The electronically signed Adobe form is submitted to the Registrar's Office via email to registrar@tc.columbia.edu.
NOTE: The Office of the Registrar will communicate with all VA Education Benefit recipients each time we process your request for benefits within a term.
Veterans Benefits Enrollment Certification Form
Teachers College has been approved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program. In fact, all of the graduate and professional schools of Columbia University as well as the Undergraduate School of General Studies are proud participants in the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The Yellow Ribbon Program’s mission to promote educational access and equity closely parallels the Teachers College founding vision of bringing educational opportunities to all members of society. Supporting the academic goals of veterans by helping them accomplish their educational aspirations throughout the fields of education, psychology, and health is a welcomed and invaluable opportunity for Teachers College.
What is the Yellow Ribbon Program?
The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program is a provision of the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, and is a direct tuition assistance program. Approved by Congress during 2008, the Yellow Ribbon Program was created to provide a significant expansion of available financial aid for post-9/11 veterans.
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 Web site at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.
Under the Yellow Ribbon program, for student Veterans who are at the 100% level, Teachers College and the VA will match funds to cover tuition and fees up to a total $10,000 above the maximum Post-9/11 benefit in an academic year.
As of the Autumn 2022 academic year, active-duty service members and benefits transferred to their spouses qualify for Yellow Ribbon if the service member is at 100%.
In accordance with Title 38 US Code 3679 subsection (e), this school adopts the following additional provisions for any students using U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Post 9/11 G.I. Bill® (Ch. 33) or Veterans Readiness and Employment (Ch. 31) benefits, while payment to the institution is pending from the VA. This school will not:
However, to qualify for this provision, such students may be required to:
The 100% Post-9/11 benefit for academic year 2023-2024 is $27,120.05. With Yellow Ribbon for 100% participants, the total benefits are $37,120.05
Please Note: the VA will pay as much of the benefit in the first term of the academic year that you certify. Typically, this means a higher VA payment in the fall term and a smaller payment in the spring, until you reach your maximum eligible benefit.
For example, in 2023-2024, if a student receiving 100% of the benefit is charged $20,000 in tuition and fees in both the fall 2023 and spring 2024 terms, the VA will cover the full $20,000 in fall, but only $17,120.05 in the spring. This will leave a balance of $2,879.95 for the student to pay. Please budget for this accordingly.
What is not covered: Students who receive scholarships or grants that are tuition specific will receive a reduced amount from the VA as the scholarship or grant monies will be taken out of the total charges first. This will, however, allow for more VA money to be used throughout the academic year should a student not be covered by scholarship and/or grant funds in those terms.
Post 9/11 GI Bill® only covers the mandatory Health Fee should a student be full-time. If a student chooses to register for Health Insurance through TC, it will not be paid for by the Post 9/11 GI Bill®.
In addition, should a student reside in on-campus housing, this is also not covered by the Post 9/11 GI Bill®.
Due to changes in the Post 9/11 GI Bill®, if a service member transfers benefits to their spouse and is on active duty, the spouse may not receive the monthly housing allowance should they attend TC over half-time in any particular semester. Children may continue to do so.
NOTE: Beginning with the Spring 2022 academic term, students using their Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits will be required to verify their enrollment at the end of each month. Failure to verify for two consecutive months will impact their Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments. All impacted students with a US mobile phone number on file will receive an opt-in text as their next enrollment period approaches. Note: Students who do not have a US mobile phone number on file with VA will not be able to use text verification. They will be automatically enrolled into email verification.
You can find more information about monthly verification at this link.
In tandem with these verification requirements for students, VA implemented a two-certification requirement effective August 1, 2021. This means they are now required to submit an additional certification of enrollment after the course drop/add period.
US Veterans
Families of US Veterans
Based upon service requirements, veterans may be able to transfer their benefits to their family members (i.e., spouse, children, dependents). Spouses of active duty service members are now eligible for Yellow Ribbon benefits as of Autumn term 2022.
Please see the following link for more information about transferrability: https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill/post911_transfer.asp