Pst 9/11 GI Bill Experiences

[JanusthePhoenix]

Just spoke with the fine folks at the GI Bill hotline again this morning. I'm on week 14 of waiting for my letter of eligibility. They told me this time that Buffalo is 16 weeks behind on claims. She almost told me that there was nothing I could do, caught herself, then told me that perhaps my claim was on the back burner because they did not have an enrollment certification from Excelsior yet. "Wait, what?" I said. She says it would 'kick them into action' maybe if I had Excelsior send my enrollment certification now instead of later when I actually put in a claim for money. "That would have been nice to know," I say silently to myself.

I call Excelsior directly, and they proceed to tell me, "Why yes! You should have put in your claim for reimbursement with us when you initially applied for the GI Bill." "That would also have been nice to know," I say not so silently this time. Excelsior did not tell me this when I called them several months ago about this very thing.

I'm posting this both to rant, and as a helpful tip to anyone using the GI Bill through Excelsior. Now I wait some more, as week 14 slowly transitions to 15.