The Department of Veterans Affairs shall determine the entitlement charge for each payment in the same manner for all individuals regardless of whether they are on active duty. Unless the circumstances described in paragraph (i) of this section apply to a servicemember or veteran, VA will use paragraphs (a) through (h) of this section to determine an entitlement charge.

(a) General.

(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) through (i) of this section, VA will make a charge against entitlement as follows:

(i) The Department of Veterans Affairs will charge an individual who is a full-time student 1 month's entitlement for each monthly benefit paid to him or her.

(ii) The Department of Veterans Affairs will charge an individual who is other than a full-time student 1 month's entitlement for each sum of money paid equivalent to what the individual would have been paid had he or she been a full-time student for 1 month.

(2) When the computation results in a period of time other than a full month, the entitlement charge will be prorated.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3231)

(b) Secondary school program.

(1) The Department of Veterans Affairs will make no charge against the entitlement of an individual:

(i) Who is pursuing a course, courses or a program of education leading to a secondary school diploma or an equivalency certificate, and

(ii) Whose educational assistance allowance is the monthly rate of the tuition and fees being charged to him or her for the course.

(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs will make a charge (in the same manner as for any other residence training) against the entitlement of an individual who:

(i) Is pursuing a course, courses or a program of education leading to a secondary school diploma or an equivalency certificate, and

(ii) Elects to receive educational assistance allowance calculated according to §21.5136.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3241, 3491)

(c) Correspondence training courses.

(1) A charge against the period of entitlement for a program consisting exclusively of correspondence training will be made on the basis of 1 month for each sum of money paid equivalent to the dollar value of a month of entitlement as determined under §21.5138(a)(2)(viii), which is paid to the individual as an educational assistance allowance for this training. When computation results in a period of time other than a full month, the charge will be prorated.

(2) If the individual is contributing to the fund at the same time that benefits are being used or subsequently contributes a sum or sums, the entitlement charges will not be recomputed. Thus, if the monthly rate arrived at by applying the formula is determined to be $150 at the time a benefit program for correspondence training is computed, the individual will be charged 1 month of entitlement for each $150 paid. If a different monthly rate is computed at the time of a subsequent payment for such training, no adjustment will be made in the entitlement charged for the previous payment(s) even though the value of each month's entitlement may vary from payment to payment.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3231(c))

(d) Apprenticeship or other on-job training.

(1) The VA will determine the entitlement charge for a veteran in apprenticeship or other on-job training as stated in this paragraph.

(2) The entitlement charge will be—

(i) 75 percent of a month for those months for which the veteran's monthly payment is based upon 75 percent of the monthly benefit otherwise payable to him or her;

(ii) 55 percent of a month for those months for which the veteran's monthly payment is based upon 55 percent of the monthly benefit otherwise payable to him or her; and

(iii) 35 percent of a month for those months for which the veteran's monthly payment is based upon 35 percent of the monthly benefit otherwise payable to him or her.

(3) The charge against the veteran's entitlement will be prorated if—

(i) The veteran's enrollment period ends in the middle of a month,

(ii) The veteran's monthly rate is reduced in the middle of a month, or

(iii) The veteran's monthly payment is reduced because he or she worked less than 120 hours during the month. In this instance the number of hours worked will be rounded to the nearest multiple of eight, and the entitlement charge will be reduced proportionately.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3233(c); Pub. L. 99-576)

(e) Cooperative training. VA will make a charge against entitlement of 80 percent of a month for each month for which a veteran is paid educational assistance allowance at the cooperative training rate as provided in §21.5138(a). If the veteran is paid for a partial month of training, the entitlement charge will be prorated.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3231(d); Pub. L. 100-689)

(f) Training while the veteran is incarcerated. If the veteran must be paid educational assistance allowance at a reduced rate because he or she is incarcerated as provided in §21.5139 of this part, VA will make a charge against entitlement of one month for each amount of educational assistance allowance paid to the veteran which is the equivalent of one month's benefits as provided in §21.5138 of this part for the appropriate type of training pursued.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3231(e); Pub. L. 100-689)

(g) Tutorial assistance. If an individual is paid tutorial assistance as provided in §21.5141 of this part, the following provisions will apply.

(1) There will be no charge to entitlement for the first $600 of tutorial assistance paid to an individual.

(2) VA will make a charge against the period of entitlement for each amount of tutorial assistance paid to the individual in excess of $600 that is equal to the amount of monthly educational assistance the individual is otherwise eligible to receive for full-time pursuit of a residence course as provided in §21.5138(c) of this part. When the amount of tutorial assistance paid to the individual in excess of $600 is less than the amount of monthly educational assistance the individual is otherwise eligible to receive, the entitlement charge will be prorated.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3234; Pub. L. 100-689)

(h) Flight training courses.

(1) A charge against the period of entitlement for pursuit of a flight training course will be one month for each sum of money paid equivalent to the dollar value of a month of entitlement as determined under §21.5138(a)(5)(viii). When this computation results in a period of time other than a full month, the charge will be prorated.

(2) If the individual is contributing to the fund at the same time that benefits are being used or subsequently contributes a sum or sums, the entitlement charges will not be recomputed. Thus, if the monthly rate arrived at under §21.5138(a)(5)(viii) is $150 at the time educational assistance allowance is paid for a period of flight training, the individual will be charged one month of entitlement for each $150 paid. If a different monthly rate is computed at the time of a subsequent payment for such training, no adjustment will be made in the entitlement charged for the previous payment(s) even though the value of each month's entitlement may vary from payment to payment.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3231(f); Pub. L. 102-16)(Apr. 1, 1991)

(i) Entitlement charge may be omitted for course discontinuance due to orders to, or changing, active duty in certain instances. VA will make no charge against the entitlement of a servicemember or veteran for a payment of educational assistance when—

(1)

(i) A veteran not serving on active duty had to discontinue course pursuit as a result of being ordered, in connection with the Persian Gulf War by orders dated before September 11, 2001, to serve on active duty under 10 U.S.C. 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 12302, or 12304, or former 10 U.S.C. 672(a), 672(d), 672(g), 673, or 673b (redesignated effective December 1, 1994, as 10 U.S.C. 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 12302, and 12304, respectively); or

(ii) A veteran not serving on active duty had to discontinue course pursuit as a result of being ordered, by orders dated after September 10, 2001, to serve on active duty under 10 U.S.C. 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 12302, or 12304; or

(iii) A servicemember serving on active duty had to discontinue course pursuit as a result of being ordered, in connection with the Persian Gulf War by orders dated before September 11, 2001, to a new duty location or assignment or to perform an increased amount of work; or

(iv) A servicemember serving on active duty had to discontinue course pursuit as a result of being ordered, by orders dated after September 10, 2001, to a new duty location or assignment or to perform an increased amount of work; and

(2) The veteran or servicemember failed to receive credit or lost training time toward completion of his or her educational, professional, or vocational objective as a result of having to discontinue course pursuit as described in paragraph (i)(1) of this section.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3231(a)(5)(B)(i); sec. 2, Pub. L. 102-127, 105 Stat. 619-620; sec. 103, Pub. L. 107-103, 115 Stat. 979-980)

[45 FR 31, Jan. 2, 1980, as amended at 47 FR 51745, Nov. 17, 1982; 48 FR 50530, Nov. 2, 1983; 52 FR 3429, Feb. 4, 1987; 53 FR 34497, Sept. 7, 1988; 55 FR 31582, Aug. 3, 1990; 58 FR 31910, June 7, 1993; 58 FR 34369, June 25, 1993; 58 FR 34526, June 28, 1993; 73 FR 2426, Jan. 15, 2008]