(a) In residence.

(1) The Department of Veterans Affairs will measure a nonaccredited graduate or advanced professional course (other than a law course) as provided in §21.4272. The Department of Veterans Affairs will measure a nonaccredited law course as stated in §21.4274.

(2) An accredited graduate or advanced professional course, including law as specified in §21.4274, pursued in residence at an institution of higher learning will be measured in accordance with §21.4272 unless it is the established policy of the school to consider less than 14 semester hours or the equivalent as full-time enrollment, or the course includes research, thesis preparation, or a comparable prescribed activity beyond that normally required for the preparation of ordinary classroom assignments. In either case a responsible official of the school will certify that the veteran or eligible person is pursuing the course full, three-quarter, one-half, less than one-half but more than one-quarter, or one quarter or less time.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3688(b))

(b) In absentia. A responsible official of the school will certify a program of research pursued by a veteran or eligible person in absentia as full, three-fourths, one-half, less than one-half but more than one-quarter, or one-quarter or less time, and the activity will be assessed by the Department of Veterans Affairs accordingly when:

(1) The research activity is defined and organized so as to enable the certifying official to evaluate the time required for its successful pursuit, and

(2) The time certified for the research activity is independent of the time devoted to any employment situation in which the veteran or eligible person might be engaged.

(c) Undergraduate or combination. If a graduate student is enrolled in both graduate and undergraduate courses concurrently, or solely in undergraduate courses, VA will measure such an enrollment using the provisions of §21.4272 or the graduate school's assessment of training time, whichever will result in a higher monthly rate for the veteran.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3668(b); Pub. L. 102-568)

[31 FR 6774, May 6, 1966, as amended at 31 FR 8293, June 14, 1966; 32 FR 4411, Mar. 23, 1967; 50 FR 21606, May 28, 1985; 61 FR 28755, June 6, 1996]