Durham University participates in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Educational Benefits programme, allowing eligible U.S. Veterans and their dependents to use VA funding toward both tuition fees and living expenses while studying with us.
The courses currently certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are listed in:
If you wish to study a programme that is not included on the approved list, you must inform us as early as possible. The VA approval process can take several months, and no benefits can be used until approval is granted.
Please note that Durham University does not participate in the Yellow Ribbon Programme.
Once the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirms your eligibility for Post‑9/11 GI Bill benefits, you should contact the University to verify whether the programme you wish to study is already registered with the VA.
VA Educational Benefits can only be used for in‑residence training. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide funding for distance‑learning programmes, and benefits cannot be paid for courses delivered wholly online.
If you wish to apply to use your veteran benefits, please contact us at: us.loans@durham.ac.uk
The University must confirm your attendance before any VA Educational Benefits can be released. To complete this certification, you will need to provide your Social Security Number (SSN). The University cannot certify enrolment earlier than 120 days before the start of the academic session, in line with VA regulations.
Once your certification has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, you will receive a notification confirming that this has been completed.
You can find the most up‑to‑date VA Payment Rates for the 2025/26 academic year on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. US Department of Veterans Affairs
Tuition payments are made directly to the University once your enrolment has been confirmed. Housing stipends are paid monthly to you by the VA.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is currently unable to provide a specific timeframe for when students will receive their funds after enrollment certification has been submitted. For updates on the status of your benefits, you will need to contact the VA directly.
Further guidance is available in our Frequently Asked Questions section.
Disclaimer:
For the avoidance of doubt, Durham University cannot provide any financial advice or make any recommendation in relation to any of these loan providers. Durham University is not a party to any Agreement you may enter into with your chosen loan provider and as such you agree that Durham University will not be held liable for any issues that may arise out of that contractual relationship. We therefore strongly suggest you carefully read any terms and conditions including but not limited to any data protection provisions provided to you by your chosen loan provider before you sign.
However, please note that In order to put into effect any loan you receive from your loan provider, Durham University may have to enter into a data sharing Agreement with your chosen loan provider. This is in order for there to be the relevant exchange of personal data solely regarding the loans being processed and any other relevant information to be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Please note that if you decide to use any service listed on this webpage your personal details will be held outside of the UK and EEA , in the U.S and may be passed to other third parties companies as required by the provider in order to deliver the service. We strongly suggest you read the lenders privacy policy and their terms and conditions before signing up to ensure that you are content to do so.
For the avoidance of doubt, Durham University accepts no responsibility or liability for any damage caused to you, your property (computer based or otherwise), software or data caused as a result of using this service. However, if at any point after signing up, you find any unwelcome or strange activity occurring in your email account, or notice any suspected unauthorised usage of your data that you have provided to [Name of Service], then please report this immediately to fraud.support@durham.ac.uk
Durham University is a degree-awarding institution, and it only awards degrees (undergraduate, postgraduate, including both Master's and Doctoral qualifications). Therefore, reporting requirements under Gainful Employment legislation are not required.
Durham University makes every effort to ensure that the information published on this page is accurate. However, the University cannot guarantee the information may not be altered owing to circumstances beyond the University's reasonable control. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to) change in Government policy, or change of law. Any changes will be incorporated into the University's website as early as possible. Any person wishing to obtain confirmation of any particular item should contact the University via us.loans@durham.ac.uk.
