38 U.S.C. § 3482 : US Code - Section 3482: Computation of educational assistance allowances

Search 38 U.S.C. § 3482 : US Code - Section 3482: Computation of educational assistance allowances

(a)(1) Except as provided in subsection (b), (c), or (g) of this
section, or section 3687 of this title, while pursuing a program of
education under this chapter of half-time or more, each eligible
veteran shall be paid the monthly educational assistance allowance
set forth in column II, III, IV, or V (whichever is applicable as
determined by the veteran's dependency status) opposite the
applicable type of program as shown in column I:
Column I Column Column Column Column V
II III IV
Type of No One Two More than
program dependents dependent dependents two
dependents
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The amount in
column IV,
plus the
following for
each dependent
in excess of
two:
Institutional
training:
Full-time $376 $448 $510 $32
Three- 283 336 383 24
quarter ti
Half-time 188 224 255 17
Cooperativ 304 355 404 23
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(2) A "cooperative" program, other than a "farm cooperative"
program, means a full-time program of education which consists of
institutional courses and alternate phases of training in a
business or industrial establishment with the training in the
business or industrial establishment being strictly supplemental to
the institutional portion.
(b) The educational assistance allowance of an individual
pursuing a program of education -
(1) while on active duty, or
(2) on less than a half-time basis,
shall be computed at the rate of (A) the established charges for
tuition and fees which the institution requires similarly
circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the same program to pay, or
(B) $376 per month for a full-time course, whichever is the lesser.
An individual's entitlement shall be charged for institutional
courses on the basis of the applicable monthly training time rate
as determined under section 3688 of this title.
(c)(1) An eligible veteran who is enrolled in an educational
institution for a "farm cooperative" program consisting of
institutional agricultural courses prescheduled to fall within 44
weeks of any period of 12 consecutive months and who pursues such
program on -
(A) a full-time basis (a minimum of ten clock hours per week or
four hundred and forty clock hours in such year prescheduled to
provide not less than eighty clock hours in any three-month
period),
(B) a three-quarter-time basis (a minimum of 7 clock hours per
week), or
(C) a half-time basis (a minimum of 5 clock hours per week),
shall be eligible to receive an educational assistance allowance at
the appropriate rate provided in the table in paragraph (2) of this
subsection, if such eligible veteran is concurrently engaged in
agricultural employment which is relevant to such institutional
agricultural courses as determined under standards prescribed by
the Secretary. In computing the foregoing clock hour requirements
there shall be included the time involved in field trips and
individual and group instruction sponsored and conducted by the
educational institution through a duly authorized instructor of
such institution in which the veteran is enrolled.
(2) The monthly educational assistance allowance of an eligible
veteran pursuing a farm cooperative program under this chapter
shall be paid as set forth in column II, III, IV, or V (whichever
is applicable as determined by the veteran's dependency status)
opposite the basis shown in column I:
Column I Column Column Column Column V
II III IV
Basis No One Two More than
dependents dependent dependents two
dependents
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The amount in
column IV,
plus the
following for
each dependent
in excess of
two:
Full-time $304 $355 $404 $23
Three-quarter 228 266 303 18
time
Half-time 152 178 202 12
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(d)(1) Notwithstanding the prohibition in section 3471 of this
title prohibiting enrollment of an eligible veteran in a program of
education in which such veteran has "already qualified," a veteran
shall be allowed up to six months of educational assistance (or the
equivalent thereof in part-time assistance) for the pursuit of
refresher training to permit such veteran to update such veteran's
knowledge and skills and to be instructed in the technological
advances which have occurred in such veteran's field of employment
during and since the period of such veteran's active military
service.
(2) A veteran pursuing refresher training under this subsection
shall be paid an educational assistance allowance based upon the
rate prescribed in the table in subsection (a)(1) or in subsection
(c)(2) of this section, whichever is applicable.
(3) The educational assistance allowance paid under the authority
of this subsection shall be charged against the period of
entitlement the veteran has earned pursuant to section 3461(a) of
this title.
(e) The educational assistance allowance of an eligible veteran
pursuing an independent study program which leads to a standard
college degree shall be computed at the rate provided in subsection
(b) of this section. If the entire training is to be pursued by
independent study, the amount of such veteran's entitlement to
educational assistance under this chapter shall be charged in
accordance with the rate at which the veteran is pursuing the
independent study program but at not more than the rate at which
such entitlement is charged for pursuit of such program on less
than a half-time basis. In any case in which independent study is
combined with resident training, the educational assistance
allowance shall be paid at the applicable institutional rate based
on the total training time determined by adding the number of
semester hours (or the equivalent thereof) of resident training to
the number of semester hours (or the equivalent thereof) of
independent study that do not exceed the number of semester hours
(or the equivalent thereof) required for the less than half-time
institutional rate, as determined by the Secretary, for resident
training. A veteran's entitlement shall be charged for a
combination of independent study and resident training on the basis
of the applicable monthly training time rate as determined under
section 3688 of this title.
(f) The educational assistance allowance of an eligible veteran
pursuing a course by open circuit television shall be computed in
the same manner that such allowance is computed under subsection
(e) of this section for an independent study program.
(g)(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this
subsection, the amount of the educational assistance allowance paid
to an eligible veteran who is pursuing a program of education under
this chapter while incarcerated in a Federal, State, or local penal
institution for conviction of a felony may not exceed such amount
as the Secretary determines, in accordance with regulations which
the Secretary shall prescribe, is necessary to cover the cost of
established charges for tuition and fees required of similarly
circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the same program and to cover
the cost of necessary supplies, books, and equipment, or the
applicable monthly educational assistance allowance prescribed for
a veteran with no dependents in subsection (a)(1) or (c)(2) of this
section or section 3687(b)(1) of this title, whichever is the
lesser. The amount of the educational assistance allowance payable
to a veteran while so incarcerated shall be reduced to the extent
that the tuition and fees of the veteran for any course are paid
under any Federal program (other than a program administered by the
Secretary) or under any State or local program.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply in the case
of any veteran who is pursuing a program of education under this
chapter while residing in a halfway house or participating in a
work-release program in connection with such veteran's conviction
of a felony.
(h)(1) Subject to paragraph (3), the amount of educational
assistance payable under this chapter for a licensing or
certification test described in section 3452(b) of this title is
the lesser of $2,000 or the fee charged for the test.
(2) The number of months of entitlement charged in the case of
any individual for such licensing or certification test is equal to
the number (including any fraction) determined by dividing the
total amount paid to such individual for such test by the full-time
monthly institutional rate of the educational assistance allowance
which, except for paragraph (1), such individual would otherwise be
paid under this chapter.
(3) In no event shall payment of educational assistance under
this subsection for such a test exceed the amount of the
individual's available entitlement under this chapter.