Veteran Education Benefits’
Certification Factsheet
VA Education Benefits and Chapters (CH):
CH 30 – Montgomery GI Bill – Veteran Only
CH 31 – Vocational Rehabilitation – Veteran Only
CH 33 – Post 9/11 – Veterans and Dependents (if transferred)
CH 35 – Dependent Education Assistance – Dependents Only
CH 1606 – Reserve/National Guard – Veteran Only
CH 1607 – Reserve Education Assistance – Veteran Only
UNSURE of benefits? Call the School’s Certifying Official (SCO) at
520-494-5517 or visit at SPC in Room M-115A
Withdrawal Policy
Students MUST notify School Certifying Official (SCO) by
completing a Certification Change form and updated
Detail Schedule of ANY changes to class schedule as soon
as possible after the change(s).
If a student withdraws from a course, the SCO will decertify
the course in the VA system, which “could” result in an
overpayment/debt letter to the student for the adjustment
to credit hours affecting housing and monthly payments,
as well as responsibility for the cost of tuition and fees.
CH 33 ONLY– The monthly Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is NOT payable
for students pursuing training at half-time (6 credits) or less. NOTE: half-time (6
credits) is only applicable during a “regular” 16-week semester for which
classes enrolled in are full-length classes.
Students MUST have a rate of pursuit of at LEAST 51%, or 7 credits to receive the
housing allowance. Again, this is only during “regular” 16-week semesters, NOT
the summer semester when class lengths are shorter; 5-week, 8-week, or 10 weeks in
length.
To receive the full monthly BAH, students must be enrolled every day in a
minimum of 12 credits and take at least one class face-to-face. * See the policy on
“What constitutes a face-to-face to be certified a resident class”.
Example of full-time for maximum BAH - student is enrolled in 12 credit hours and
all classes are full-semester (16 weeks in length) and at least one of the classes
meets the VA face-to-face/resident requirement.
Example of not full-time - student is enrolled in 9 credit hours and classes are fullsemester (16 weeks in length) and in a 3-credit course that is only 8 weeks long in
the first half of the semester. The student IS full-time during the first half of the
semester, HOWEVER, when the 8-week course ends, the student will drop down
to only 9 credit hours, and thus is no longer registered in a at least 12 credit hours.
Remedial/Developmental Chapters
**Applicable to ALL Benefits/Chapters**
All courses numbered below 100 (for example: MAT082, ENG090, RDG094, etc.)
must be taken face-to-face to be certified by VA. A student can take a fully online
remedial course, but must acknowledge personal responsibility to party for the
course. If the course is not certified by the VA, the credit hours associate with the
course are not considered by the VA to determine book stipend, housing or
monthly payments.
Online Classes:
Only CH33 (Post 911) benefit requires students to take at least one faceto-face/resident class to be eligible for the maximum monthly housing
allowance. This is NOT the case with the other VA education benefits,
however, all remedial courses, regardless of benefit MUST be taken faceto-face “if the student wants the VA to certify/pay for the course.”
For CH33, if the student is not concerned about receiving the full
housing allowance, the student can take all online courses, which can
be certified by the VA, except remedial/developmental classes, as
previously mentioned and emphasized.
All courses must apply to students’ degree or certificate
program to be certified “or” working up to a required
course (i.e. MAT086, MAT092, MAT118) for AA, ABUS or AS
degrees. If a student is pursuing two degrees/certificates,
a Dual-Objective form must be completed with an advisor.
What Constitutes a Face-to-Face to be
Certified as a Resident Class?
Yes: A 3-credit course over 16 weeks that meets/is scheduled for a total of
48 hours or more of class sessions and meets at least every other week.
No: A hybrid 3-credit course over 16 weeks that meets once per week for 1
hour and 15 min. The meeting time is 1 and ½ classroom hours multiplied
by 16 weeks, totaling 24 hours, which is well short of the 48 hours required,
as illustrated above.
Yes: A 3-credit hybrid course that meets 2 days per week for 1 hour and 15
minutes each constitutes as a face-to-face/resident class.
The Formula: Number of classroom hours (50 minutes of instruction per
hour) must equal or be greater than the number of credit hours awarded
for the course multiplied by the number of weeks in the term. For example:
3 credits times 16 weeks equals 48 hours; this is the number of hours the
class must meet over the course of the semester.
Dual-Objective
*Another way to calculate the number of hours for a class that meets
weekly to be certified as face-to-face/resident is as follows: The minutes the
class meets per week (2 days for 1 Hr, 15 min = 75 min*2 = 150 min) must
equal or exceed credit hours (3) times 50 min (3 CR*50 = 150 Minutes).
Typical use: Nursing and AA or AA and AAS for HIT, etc. – courses that
apply to more than one degree at a time can be certified by BA. A
dual-objective form must accompany the two degrees and/or
certificates. It must be updated by the advisor and reflect course
applicability.
Physical Activity
Rounding-Out
The VA allows students the opportunity to take courses NOT applicable to
their degree or certificate during the student’s last semester before
completing the program. THIS CAN ONLY BE USED ONCE. For example, a
student is pursuing an Associate of Arts degree and only has MAT141 and a
3-credit Humanities course left to complete the degree. “If the student
wants to be considered a full-time student, he/she may take whatever other
courses, regardless if they apply to the degree or “any” program. They can
simply be for fun or interest.
Veterans MUST submit official military transcripts to CAC. The student will
receive between 1 and 3 credits for Physical Activity (PAC), so the student
should NOT take a PAC class until the transcript is evaluated. It will
depend on the degree program whether any more PAC classes are
applicable or needed. Duplicating credit or repeating course work previously
taken can result in a debt to the VA.