ONU is committed to helping you transition from active duty, to life as student, to ultimately, a successful career. We highly value your qualities of leadership, maturity, persistence, dedication and responsibility that enhance our campus community!
See below for various benefit options.
This benefit was implemented on Aug. 1, 2009, and provides educational assistance to individuals who have served on active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Persons eligible for Chapter 30 or REAP benefits may elect to receive benefits under this new Post-9/11 GI Bill®.
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 WEBSITE AT HTTPS://WWW.BENEFITS.VA.GOV/GIBILL/.
As part of the Yellow Ribbon Program, Ohio Northern University will cover 50 percent of any tuition and fees that remain after Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits and any awarded scholarships, grants and awards have been used by an eligible service member. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will then match Ohio Northern’s contribution, which means eligible military veterans can attend ONU tuition-free.
Veterans who entered Active Duty after June 30, 1985, are eligible. They must have completed at least two years of continuous active service, received a high school diploma or GED, and received an honorable discharge.
Eligibility given to any person who enlists, re-enlists or extends an enlistment in the Selective Reserve for not less than six years, in addition to any other period of obligation after June 30, 1985, and completed high school or GED, IADT, and 180 days of service in the selective reserve, and is satisfactorily participating in required training in the selective reserve.
This portion of 38 U.S.C. authorizes educational benefits to dependents and survivors of certain veterans who have serious disabilities as the result of their service (100 percent disabled), who have died of a service-connected cause, who were prisoners of war or who are missing in action.
Veterans who have been declared disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs due to service-related injury are eligible for this entitlement. For more information on Vocational Rehabilitation, contact the VA representative in your community.
Begin an application for benefits online or contact the VA regional office directly:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Regional Office
1240 East Ninth St.
Cleveland, Ohio 44199
Students that are eligible to use VA benefits should send the Office of Financial Aid a copy of their Certificate of Eligibility (COE). The COE can be uploaded to our secure portal at https://forms.onu.edu/Forms/FinAid_Upload. If a COE is not available, please email financial-aid@onu.edu to notify us of eligibility. Certifying officials will clarify which forms are needed before your appointment. The Office of Financial Aid can be reached at 419-772-2272 or financial-aid@onu.edu.
To discuss further benefits that may be available.
If a student is drafted or called to military training or duty during an academic semester, a full refund of tuition, fees, and financial aid will be made. No refunds will be made in those cases where the student earns academic credit for the semester.
If a student is drafted or called to military training or duty for service to occur during a future term, the student must decide if the length of training or service will allow for them to remain registered for the subsequent term. If the student decides to withdraw before the term begins, a full refund will be given. If the student decides to begin the term and later decides to withdraw while the term is in session, a prorated refund of tuition, fees and financial aid will be calculated.
In the case of a student being called for military duty due to a national emergency (e.g. natural disaster and war) and the student is unable to meet with a university official in person, the university official on behalf of the student can withdraw the student and complete the necessary paperwork. The student would just need to call or email a university official.
In the case of the student being drafted or receiving military training or duty orders after the tenth week of the semester, the student may at the discretion of the dean of the college in which the subjects are taught make arrangements to take final examinations or otherwise complete the work for the semester.
It is always the responsibility of the student to provide a copy of the military training or duty orders to the VA Certifying Official in the Office of Financial Aid.
If the military training or duty orders are served to the student in advance, the student should make contact with each of the following ONU Offices/Personnel:
Dean of the Student’s College
• Discuss plans upon return including re-registration.
• Discuss timetable for communication.
• Initiate processing for withdrawal from the university.
Financial Aid Office
• Students are not required to make loan payments while deployed.
• Lenders must postpone the student loan payments of these borrowers.
• Students who have not begun the repayment period on their loans continue to receive the benefit of a grace period (generally six months) before repaying their loans. ONU Student Handbook – 15
• Students must be given a reasonable period of time to resume school before lenders request student loan payments.
• A lender may grant a discretionary, administrative forbearance for up to three months to students who are affected by military mobilization.
• If a borrower is in default on a loan, the lender must cease all collection activities for the expected period of the borrower’s military service.
Military course work, as documented on the DD214, JST transcript, and the Community College of the Air Force, may be transferred based on the American Council on Education (ACE) recommendations. Ohio Northern University will accept up to 12 semester hours of military credit as transfer work toward degree requirements. Following review by applicable deans, directors, and/or department chairs, credits may be awarded as equivalent to ONU courses or as general hours. The same military credit cannot be used to satisfy more than one course equivalent or degree requirement.
Nursing students’ military transfer work will be awarded based on the nursing department’s military transfer policy and only as approved by the nursing program.
ONU is committed to providing assistance to military members and their eligible dependents/ spouses in taking full advantage of their educational benefits to the extent possible under current regulations. GI Bill®️ benefit recipients should provide a copy of their Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to the Financial Aid Office in order to be certified. ONU is also a member of the Yellow Ribbon Program.
ONU offers priority registration to our Veterans, Service Members, and their dependents. This is an automated process based on information provided by the student. Priority registration helps ensure that Student Veterans can graduate before their educational benefits run out, as well as work around other obligations that make it more difficult to find classes to fit their schedules. Please contact the Office of the Registrar for more information.
Shannon Phlegar
Assistant Director of Financial Aid
s-phlegar@onu.edu
419-772-2241
If you are a current student, please contact the representative listed above for your academic college. If you are a prospective student, please contact Dean Altstaetter, assistant director of admissions, at d-altstaetter@onu.edu or 419-772-2274.
