(This article originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Military Officer magazine.)

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is a wing of the VA that administers and delivers benefits and services to veterans as well as to their dependents and their survivors.

Annually, the VBA releases a report that summarizes its benefits programs and details how it spends its congressionally appropriated funds. This information can help veterans and their families understand how the VA supports their service.

According to its FY 2025 report, the VBA executed about $225.5 billion in benefi ts during that fiscal year. The vast majority (nearly $189 billion) was in the form of disability compensation and pension.

[READ THE REPORT]

Here is a breakdown of those VBA benefits:

Compensation and Pension

Compensation provides tax-free monthly benefits in recognition of the effects of disabilities caused by or aggravated through active military service. The VA pension program is a needs-based benefit designed to provide wartime veterans and their survivors with a minimum level of income that raises their standard of living.

In FY 2025, the VBA adjudicated 476,802 new disability compensation claims and 55,700 survivor claims, totaling an annual outlay of nearly $9.5 billion.

Overall, about 6.3 million veterans and nearly 550,000 survivors — about 6.9 million total recipients — were receiving approximately $186 billion in compensation benefits, and 211,114 pension beneficiaries receiving about $2.8 billion in total.

[LEARN MORE: VA Compensation | VA Pension Benefits]

Education

The VA education program provides educational resources to supplement opportunities missed because of military service to veterans, servicemembers, reservists, and certain family members of veterans.

Although administered by the VA, this program is an essential tool for retention and recruitment in our military services.

About $13.7 billion in education benefits went to 933,555 people. Of that, 606,635 used the Post-9/11 GI Bill and 265,505 used the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program.

[LEARN MORE: VA Education and Training Benefits]

Home Loan Guarantee

The VA home loan guarantee program aids eligible veterans, active duty personnel, members of the Reserve and National Guard, and surviving spouses in purchasing, retaining, and adapting homes.

VA “guarantees” enable private lenders to provide low-interest, low or no-down-payment loans that beneficiaries might not otherwise be able to attain.

According to the report, the department processed 528,340 loans in FY 2025 totaling $206.1 billion.

[RELATED: New VA Program Designed to Help Veterans Fend Off Foreclosure]

Insurance

In FY 2025, this benefit provided affordable term life insurance for nearly 2.2 million servicemembers (through Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance); about 2.5 million spouses and children (via Family Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance); and 454,931 veterans (through Veterans’ Group Life Insurance).

The VA insured approximately 5.5 million individuals in total during that fiscal year, with combined policies valued at about $1.5 trillion. Insurance payouts during that period totaled about $1.7 billion.

[RELATED: VA Life Insurance | MOAA Insurance Plans]

Veteran Readiness and Employment

Veterans with service-connected disabilities that limit their ability to work can access this program to receive comprehensive services and assistance to explore education and training opportunities that may lead to employment options. Dubbed VR&E, this program provided $2.8 billion in benefits to 154,989 veterans in FY 2025.