From the Director of Military and Veteran Student Success
Winter Break Message
I want to wish you and yours a holiday season filled with good cheer among family, friends, and loved ones. This time of year, is a great opportunity to unplug for a bit and take some time to enjoy the results of your hard work this year.
Somewhere in the midst of all that celebrating, find time to reflect on the year. What you have accomplished, what derailed your plans this semester, and what new goals and pivots you want to make when the break ends. What are you grateful for? What was the biggest frustration? What could be better? Find an hour or two to envision the next year, set some goals, jot them down and focus on where you want to be in the New Year.
Happy Holidays
GO KNIGHTS!!!
Stay updated with MVSS and join our community on Campus ESP .
Michael Kepner, MS.
Director, MVSS
michael.kepner@ucf.edu
School Certifying Official Corner
Chapter 35: Dependent Education Assistance Update!
From the Department of Veteran Affairs:
At the end of January 2026, Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) beneficiaries will be required to verify their enrollment each month to receive their benefit payments. Please note that a beneficiary must verify their enrollment for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to begin processing the monthly benefit. Once verified, payment processing can take five to seven calendar days.
To verify enrollment, the following options are available:
Text: To verify via text, beneficiaries can opt-in when they begin using their benefits to receive a monthly text message from VA to confirm their enrollment. This is the fastest way for students to verify their enrollment and receive their payments.
Email: If beneficiaries choose not to opt into text verification, they will receive monthly enrollment verification messages by email.
Online: Chapter 35 beneficiaries can verify their enrollment through our online tool.
Ask VA: Beneficiaries can verify through Ask VA by sending a message with their enrollment dates via Ask VA. This is a manual process. Therefore, payment will be five to seven days once the message is formally reviewed, not from when the beneficiary submits the Ask VA message.
If a beneficiary had previously opted out and would like to change their enrollment verification method to text or email, they can call the Education Call Center (ECC) at 888-442-4551, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday.
IMPORTANT FINANCIAL AID DATES AND DEADLINES
SPRING 2026 SEMESTER:
- Classes begin: January 12, 2026
- Add/Drop deadline: January 16, 2026
- Tuition and Fee Payment Deadline: March 27, 2026
- ***You must certify by this date to guarantee your deferral***
- VA/GI Bill Deferral payment deadline: April 27, 2026
- Last Day to Remove Incomplete: April 27, 2026
- Last day of classes: April 27, 2026
- Final Exams: April 26 – May 5, 2026
- Commencement: May 7 – May 9, 2026
Please visit the UCF Academic Calendar for updated university dates and deadlines
