Veterans, Servicemembers, and their qualified family members have options when it comes to using their benefits to pay for post secondary education, whether that be training and/or college tuition.
For those who want to become First Responders, TEEX Fire and Emergency Services offers several training programs that can utilize Veterans’ benefits such as the Face-to-Face Traditional Recruit Fire Academy, Combined Basic & Advanced Marine Firefighting, several Hazardous Materials courses, as well as the Emergency Medical Technician/Paramedic training courses. There are other courses throughout all of TEEX that are also eligible including the Lineman Academy, and the Central Texas Police Academy.
TEEX began working with the Veteran’s Affairs programs 12 years ago, and since that time, has ensured that Veteran students who use their VA educational benefits entitlement at TEEX are getting the most for that benefit.
“We serve those who served us,” said Steven Robinson, TEEX Program Coordinator for Veterans Services. “TEEX does not charge an out of state tuition, no parking or lab fees, or out of district fees like colleges and universities. This allows the Veteran to save their benefits to be used for other TEEX training programs. With the quality training that TEEX offers, this is a win-win situation for the Veteran and TEEX.”
Since 2008, TEEX helped approximately 1,100 Veterans utilize their VA educational benefits with training throughout the agency. These participants were part of 1,400 programs total, which means many chose to take multiple courses with TEEX.
Robinson also shared a story of a student who chose to use his benefits by enrolling in the TEEX EMT-Basic program.
“He had looked at going to a local community college to attend their Emergency Medical Technician-Basic program and wanted to know what TEEX could offer him in comparison to the local community college’s program,” said Robinson. “The final point that made his decision to come to TEEX was that the TEEX EMT-Basic program was only 4 to 6 weeks long where the college’s program was 4 months long and the cost was about $300.00 more. The student ended up taking the TEEX program after gathering information from both schools and making an informed decision.”
Anyone wanting to use their VA benefits must complete the following before enrolling in approved courses.
- Submit VA form 22-1995 (change of program/school)
- DD214 (member 4 page)
- Obtain and submit Certificate of Eligibility of Education Benefits (recent) by calling (888) 442-4551
- Submit Military Transcripts
- Navy/Marines
- Army
- Air Force
- Coast Guard
- Submit all college transcripts (do not need to be certified)
To speak to Steven Robinson, or another TEEX Veterans Benefits liaison, email [email protected] or call (979) 458-7796. For a list of all VA benefit eligible TEEX courses, visit https://teexonline.org/program/veterans-benefits/.