Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31)

The Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program, also known as Chapter 31, provides beneficiaries with tuition, fees, books, and school supplies through payments made directly to the school. You might also receive a monthly stipend.

You’re eligible to apply for VR&E benefits and services if:

If you are a Veteran:

All of these must be true:

  • You didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge, and
  • You have a service-connected disability rating of at least 10% from VA

If you are still on Active Duty:

At least one of these must be true:

  • You have a 20% or higher pre-discharge disability rating (memorandum rating) and will soon leave the military or
  • You’re waiting to be discharged because of a severe illness or injury that occurred while you were on active duty

If you think you qualify for aid through Chapter 31, apply on VA.gov.

The process for Chapter 31:

The process for CH 31 at UMW:

  • The CH 31 Vocational Readiness Counselor (VRC) will meet with you to design a program tailored to your employment needs.
  • Often, this involves completing a college degree program.
  • If the student-veteran is approved for higher education, the VRC will need a degree plan outlining their course of study.
  • You must submit a UMW Request for Veterans Benefits Form (RFB) before each term and after registering for classes.

Your VRC will submit a series of Purchase Orders (POs) via a third-party vendor system called Tungsten. VR&E-using students at UMW will need two separate PO numbers.

  • Tuition & Fees and a Semester Parking Pass on the same PO, but as two separate line items. The Parking Pass must be an approved Line Item from your VRC.
  • The UMW eCampus Bookstore to purchase books and school supplies.

Email Contact: rhasting@umw.edu
School Tax ID #: 546001757
Facility Code: Fredericksburg Campus – 11901846

Vendor: A Book Company LLC dba ecampus.com
TIN #36-4454941
eCampus Facility Code: 11516315
Vendor Email: umw@ecampus.com

  • Once received, the UMW Online Bookstore Team will get an alert and post the credit balance. Tungsten typically takes 1-3 hours to update our account. After loading the voucher, it becomes ready instantly, and our system sends an award notification.
  • To order their books, the student will visit the bookstore and select Login/Sign Up in the upper-right corner. Select Sign In via Your School Account.
  • The student will select ‘Shop by Schedule.’ The ‘Shop by Schedule’ will sync the books they need based on the classes they are enrolled in. The VA covers all ‘Required’ materials; no ‘Optional/Recommended’ items.
  • Once they have selected their preference between new, used, textbook rental, or eBook, they add the books to their cart.
  • Next, they are directed to checkout. When it’s time to use the voucher, the student won’t need to enter any information. The charge balance will automatically appear on their account and be available at checkout.
  • All UMW students receive free shipping to the campus store. Delivery takes 1-3 business days, and all in-stock orders placed before 2 PM ship the same day. Once the package arrives at the campus store, the student will receive an email and a text message notifying them that their order is ready for pickup.
  • The VA will cover only ground shipping. If you rent a textbook, you must provide credit card information to secure the rental. Your card will be charged if you do not return the rental.

Veterans with active cases experiencing response issues should reach out to their assigned VRC at EVA@va.gov. This email updates the electronic case file directly, ensuring VR&E is informed even if the counselor changes. Sending emails to the counselor’s government address might cause VR&E to miss the message if the counselor has left or been replaced.

The main Veteran Readiness and Employment office for most UMW Chapter 31 students is the:

National Capital Regional Benefits Office
1722 I Street NW
Washington, DC 20421

There are two Supervisory Veterans Readiness Counselors (VRCs) in the NCRBO Office:

Glenn Cassis

  • Glenn.Cassis@va.gov
  • (202) 530-9262 ext. 23138

Astrid McDermott

  • Astrid.McDermott@va.gov
  • (202) 530-9262 ext. 23104

NCRBO VRE Front Desk – (202) 530-9162