Transient Students Using Veteran Benefits
Certification for First Time Transient Students Using VA Benefits
If this is your first time using benefits at Valencia College, you will be required to complete the Florida Shines Application and the initial certification process.
First, consult the Florida Virtual Campus website for more information about taking courses as a Transient student.
- Apply to the Department of Veterans Affairs for your Educational Benefits.
- Note: You can save your confirmation page populated at the end of your application and submit the document using the Financial Aid Office's Secure Document Upload Form, in place of your official Certificate of Eligibility, which can take 30 days to receive in the mail from the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Collect the Required Documents according to your chapter benefits and student Category (First Time using benefits, Transfer, Transient) - Please make sure all documents are sent in a PDF format, all SSN's have been blacked out, and send documents to Financial Aid Office's Secure Document Upload Form.
- (After you enroll in courses) Complete your initial certification process for VA education benefits by scheduling an appointment. To schedule your appointment, click on the appointment link below:
If Valencia Is Your Home Institution
If Valencia is your home institution and you are planning on taking a course at another school you will need to get a letter from Valencia's VA School Certifying Official, Denise Asselta. Please email her a copy of your Florida Virtual Campus approval email if you are going to another Florida public school. If you are going to a Private School or a school outside the state of Florida please fill out a Valencia Transient Form and submit it via email to Denise Asselta. The VA office will then provide a Transient/ Parent School letter to both you and your secondary School's VA Certifying Official via email.
If Valencia Is Your Secondary Institution
If Valencia is your secondary institution, please provide the VA office with a Parent School Letter/Transient Form that is signed off by your home school's VA School Certifying Official. They will typically ask for the Florida Virtual Campus approval or need to internally approve you to take the course(s) before supplying this to you. It is your responsibility to make sure that approval is turned into your VA office with your certification request either in person or electronically. The Valencia VA Office will notify you by Atlas email if we are missing this documentation and remind you that it is needed to process your certification request.