Health, Wellness & Accessibility
The systems here catch you before a hard week becomes a lost semester. Set them up while things are going well: the worst time to learn how tutoring works is the week before finals.
ⓘ In crisis, or worried about someone who is? Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1, text 838255, or use confidential online chat. 24/7 and confidential. You do not have to be enrolled in VA care to use it. www.veteranscrisisline.net
Health & Wellness
Enroll in VA Healthcare
Who it's for: every veteran, including those with no rating and no current health problem.
You do not need a service-connected rating to enroll. VHA enrollment also satisfies the ACA insurance requirement. Transfer your care to the Waco area if you enrolled elsewhere.
Enroll in VA Healthcare → | Already enrolled? Go to VA Central Texas Health Care →
VA Whole Health
Who it's for: anyone whose health goals are bigger than treating a single diagnosis.
The VA's approach built around what matters to you rather than what is the matter with you. You work with a coach or peer partner to build a Personal Health Plan, with access to health coaching, nutrition, movement classes, mindfulness, acupuncture, and chiropractic care. Free with VA enrollment, and your spouse or family can attend the introductory sessions with you. Ask your care team for a Whole Health consult.
Baylor Counseling Center FREE*
Who it's for: anyone dealing with stress, sleep, relationships, grief, PTS, or a semester gone heavy.
Free and confidential. Counseling staff have completed Green Zone training, so you won't start from zero explaining military context.
Visit the Baylor Counseling Center →
Accessibility & Accommodations
ⓘ OALA owns this decision, not Baylor VETS: accommodation requests, documentation, and approvals go directly through OALA. Baylor VETS can point you there, but can't make or speed up an accommodation decision on its own.
Office of Access & Learning Accommodation (OALA)
Who it's for: anyone with a service-connected condition, including TBI, hearing loss, PTS, chronic pain, or ADHD.
The office that approves testing, classroom, and housing accommodations. Identify yourself as a veteran when you make contact: there is a streamlined path for translating a VA service-connected condition into academic accommodations, and it saves considerable time. Accommodations can be added or adjusted any semester, not just your first.
Location: Sid Richardson Building.
Contact the Office of Access & Learning Accommodation →
Academic Success
TRIO Student Support Services (SSS)
Who it's for: first-generation students, low-income students, and students with a documented disability.
A federally funded program that wraps advising, tutoring, mentoring, financial literacy, and graduate school prep into one team that follows you from your first semester to graduation. Most student veterans at Baylor meet at least one eligibility criterion (roughly a third are first-generation), and most never find out. Apply once; the support lasts your whole degree.
Location: Sid Richardson Building.
Apply to TRIO Student Support Services →
Tutoring Center FREE
Who it's for: anyone in a hard course, especially returning to math or science after years away.
Individual and group tutoring across most core courses. Check each semester: the course list changes, and departmental tutoring covers subjects the main center doesn't.
Personalized Academic Assistance
Who it's for: anyone rebuilding study habits after years out of a classroom, at any GPA.
Academic coaching, academic mentoring, and the Study Skills Center. Built for rebuilding study habits, not for remediation: useful whether you're struggling or trying to move a 3.2 to a 3.7.
Get Personalized Academic Assistance →
Supplemental Instruction FREE
Who it's for: anyone in a historically difficult course. Go from week one, not week ten.
Regularly scheduled study sessions attached to hard courses, led by a student who already passed it. Free, no signup, and the course list is published each term.
Find Supplemental Instruction →
Academic Direction
Major Exploration & Success Advising (MESA)
Who it's for: anyone undecided, considering a change, or unsure the degree still fits the goal.
For choosing a major, changing one, or figuring out whether the degree still matches the career you're actually heading toward. Plenty of veterans change direction mid-degree.
Looking beyond your major toward a career? Find Your Direction & Opportunities →
VA & Claims Support
Campus VA Services: the VITAL Program
Who it's for: anyone unsure whether to call the VA, the VETS Program, or a Baylor office.
The VA's own Veterans Health Administration runs a Veterans Integration To Academic Leadership (VITAL) program with a dedicated coordinator on campus, separate from Baylor VETS. VITAL can help with registering for VA healthcare, mental health support, and general integration into college life.
Service-Connected Claims Help
Who it's for: anyone filing a first claim, adding a condition, or appealing a rating, at any point in the process.
Filing an initial claim, adding a condition, or appealing a rating. Not a referral to a website: a person who does this. Kevin has filed these for years.
Which Resource Fits My Situation?
| Your situation | Go to... |
|---|---|
| I haven't enrolled in VA healthcare yet. | Enroll in VA Healthcare |
| I want a health plan built around more than one diagnosis. | VA Whole Health |
| I'm dealing with stress, grief, or a hard semester. | Baylor Counseling Center |
| I have a service-connected condition affecting class or housing. | Office of Access & Learning Accommodation |
| I'm first-generation, low-income, or have a documented disability. | TRIO Student Support Services |
| I'm struggling in a specific course. | Tutoring Center or Supplemental Instruction |
| My study habits need rebuilding after time away from school. | Personalized Academic Assistance |
| I'm not sure my major still fits where I'm headed. | MESA |
| I don't know which office, VA or Baylor, handles my question. | Campus VA Services |
| I need to file or appeal a VA claim. | Service-Connected Claims Help |