CVCFW

 

1	New students or continuing students with new benefits: Watch the video guide -  "Intro to Cal Poly's Center for Military-Connected Students Services" (Coming soon)
2	New students or continuing students with new CVCFW benefits: Watch the video guide: "Using the Cal Vet College Fee Waiver" (Updated version for 2025-26 coming soon)
3	Newly admitted students who have accepted their offer of admission and continuing students with any new benefits: Fill out this form
4	New students or continuing students: Connect with us on Instagram @calpolyveterans to stay updated on important announcements and events
5	Applying Each Year - Gather these 5 documents: 1. Cal Vet College Fee Waiver Application 2. Students birth certificate (If the veteran is a step-parent or adoptive parent, also provide documentation substantiating the relationship) 3. Students tax information for the preceding calendar year: Students tax return or, if the student did not file taxes themselves: Statement of Non-Filing from the California Franchise Tax Board (preferred) or Individual Status Letter from the IRS) 4. Veteran's DD214 5. Veterans VA disability rating letter
6	Applying Each Year - Gather documents: Take the documents to your County Veterans Service Office (VSO) or to the SLO County VSO. This can take from 1 week to several months to complete depending on the level of impaction at your county VSO. Apply early in the Spring/Summer to avoid issues
7	Applying Each Year: The VSO will process the students application and if approved, VetPro will email the student a 16-digit approval code
8	Applying Each Year: Submit the approval code on the CMCS website. Parents/Supporters - Only Cal Poly students should be accessing the submission form. It requires their signature acknowledging understanding
9	We will email the student once we have retrieved the waiver and forwarded it to Student Accounts for further processing. After students register for classes each term, the Student Accounts office will write off any state tuition costs for that term. This is a manual process and sometimes takes a couple of weeks for the university to complete the 500+ waivers that must be applied each term. Students are able to view their Account Activity in their Money Matters tab to verify that their waiver has been applied. Please allow several days for this credit to be applied to your account each term. It will show as a credit labeled "UG Tuition Fee Wvr"
10	Each quarter, Cal Poly will write off only the cost of state tuition. Students will see the waiver applied and must make arrangements to pay the remaining balance for their class costs if they do not have financial aid (grants, scholarships and loans) in place to pay the remainder. Review the Cost of Attending Cal Poly
11	Questions? Click here to submit them to us, drop into the Virtual Center or schedule an appointment with Kari

 

*While parents/supporters are encouraged to participate in the benefits process, the student is the responsible party and must complete the above steps. 

  

• SUBMIT A CAL VET COLLEGE FEE WAIVER APPROVAL CODE HERE

• REQUEST A REFUND HERE

• QUESTIONS? - CLICK HERE

Cal Vet Fee Waiver POC

Kari Leslie Lead Coordinator leslie@calpoly.edu

 

Students must be classified as a resident of California. This is usually determined during the application cycle based upon where the student graduated high school. Residency for Tuition Purposes

Eligibility Information

 

• Cal Vet College Fee Waivers (CVCFW) are accepted at Cal Poly for all classes that charge state tuition. The CVCFW will waive the state tuition portion of academic costs. It does not cover university campus-based fees. Be prepared, when using the CVCFW, to pay a portion of the academic costs out of pocket. Review the Cost of Attending Cal Poly. 
• This program does not cover the expense of Extended Education or Self-Supported courses at Cal Poly. This includes Quarter Plus, and many Study Abroad programs. Explore qualified Study Abroad opportunities. Graduate Students - Cal Poly's Business Analytics, Fire Protection Engineering, Packaging Value Chain, Quantitative Economics, and Taxation programs are all self-supported.
• The Cal Vet College Fee Waiver covers the same costs as some Cal Grants, State University Grants, and Athletic Fee Awards. If you have any of these in your financial aid package, let us know. The CVCFW does not cover the expense of books, parking, or room and board.
• The fee waiver approval received from a county veteran service office must be submitted here every academic year.
• Waivers cannot be credited retroactively for previous academic years.
• Waivers should be submitted prior to the tuition due dates and can take several business days to process and be applied. If the waiver is not turned in at least 2 weeks before tuition and fees are due, students may be required to pay those costs and request reimbursement.
• This is not a VA program - it is a State of California benefit wherein Cal Poly writes off the student's state tuition costs each quarter. No money is provided to Cal Poly on the student's behalf. 
• Waivers sent by email or mail will not be applied.
• Each waiver can be accessed and used once. If a student intends on attending multiple colleges, request multiple approval codes from the VSO. 
• Unlike VA programs, students using the CVCFW do not have a minimum course load requirement. The waiver will be applied regardless of the number of units a student is taking. We do not report course load, classes taken or grades.