38 U.S.C. § 3231 — Entitlement; loan eligibility
submitted 50 years ago by Pub. L. 94-502 to r/title-38-VETERANS-BENEFITS · 1,351 words · no verdicts yet
This section sets the maximum education benefit, explains the monthly-payment formula, and provides special rules for correspondence study, incarceration, and flight training.
(a)(1) Subject to the overall limit in section 3695, a participant may receive at most 36 monthly benefit payments, or the part-time equivalent.
(a)(2) Unless the listed exceptions apply, calculate an eligible veteran’s monthly payment in four steps: add the veteran’s contributions to the fund; multiply that total by 3; add the Secretary* of Defense’s contributions for that veteran*; then divide the result by the smaller of 36 or the number of months in which the veteran contributed.
(a)(3) Benefits may be paid only while the eligible veteran* is actually enrolled in and pursuing an approved education program, and generally only after discharge or release* from active duty*. (a)(4) Payment may begin after the participant completes the first obligated period of active duty that began after December 31, 1976, or six years of such active duty, whichever is shorter.
(a)(5)(A) A payment covered by subparagraph (B) does not reduce the veteran’s entitlement and does not count toward the aggregate period in section 3695. (B) This applies when the Secretary finds that a veteran had to stop a course: if not on active duty, because ordered to active duty under one of the listed provisions of title 10; or if on active duty, because ordered to a new location or assignment or to do more work; and, in either case, the veteran lost course credit or training time toward the approved educational, professional, or vocational goal. (C) The excluded period cannot exceed the part of the enrollment period for which credit or training time was lost. (D) The fund must be restored as if the payment had not been made, and the Secretary of Defense must deposit the full payment amount for each affected veteran. (E) For the monthly-payment formula, treat both that deposit and the payment from the fund as if they had not been made.
(b) An enlisted Armed Forces* member in the program may enroll during the last six months of the first enlistment, and afterward, in education leading to a secondary-school diploma or equivalency certificate as authorized by section 3491(a).
(c) For correspondence education, charge one month of entitlement for each month of benefits paid, using the formula in subsection (a)(2).
(d)(1) For an eligible veteran convicted of a felony who is studying while incarcerated in a Federal, State*, local, or other penal or correctional facility, benefits cannot exceed the smaller of: the amount the Secretary determines regulations allow for tuition, required fees, necessary supplies, books, and equipment for similarly situated nonveterans in the same program; or the applicable monthly payment under this section or section 3233. Reduce the amount by tuition and fees paid under another Federal program (other than one administered by the Secretary), or under a State or local program. (d)(2) This limit does not apply while the veteran lives in a halfway house or participates in a work-release program connected with the felony conviction.
(e)(1) Subject to the 36-month limit, a person taking only approved flight training receives 60 percent of the established tuition and fees charged to similarly situated nonveterans in the same course. (e)(2) No monthly payment may be made until the Secretary receives from the person and the training institution a certification of the training received and the tuition and other fees charged. (e)(3) Charge entitlement at one month for each amount paid equal to the monthly benefit otherwise payable under the formula in subsection (a)(2). (e)(4) Paid solo-flying hours cannot exceed the minimum number required by the Federal Aviation Administration for the person’s target rating or certification.
Subject to the provisions of section 3695 of this title limiting the aggregate period for which any person may receive assistance under two or more programs of educational or vocational assistance administered by the Department* of Veterans Affairs, a participant shall be entitled to a maximum of 36 monthly benefit payments (or their equivalent in the event of part-time benefits).
Except as provided in paragraph (5)(E) of this subsection and in subsection (e) of this section and section 3233 of this title and subject to section 3241 of this title, the amount of the monthly payment to which any eligible veteran* is entitled shall be ascertained by (A) adding all contributions made to the fund by the eligible veteran*, (B) multiplying the sum by 3, (C) adding all contributions made to the fund for such veteran by the Secretary* of Defense, and (D) dividing the sum by the lesser of 36 or the number of months in which contributions were made by such veteran.
Payment of benefits under this chapter may be made only for periods of time during which an eligible veteran is actually enrolled in and pursuing an approved program of education* and, except as provided in paragraph (4), only after an eligible veteran has been discharged or released from active duty*.
Payment of benefits under this chapter may be made after a participant has completed his or her first obligated period of active duty (which began after December 31, 1976), or 6 years of active duty (which began after December 31, 1976), whichever period is less.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or chapter 36 of this title, any payment of an educational assistance allowance described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph—
shall not be charged against the entitlement of any eligible veteran under this chapter; and
shall not be counted toward the aggregate period for which section 3695 of this title limits an individual’s receipt of assistance.
The payment of an educational assistance allowance referred to in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph is any payment of a monthly benefit under this chapter to an eligible veteran for pursuit of a course or courses under this chapter if the Secretary finds that the eligible veteran—
in the case of a person not serving on active duty, had to discontinue such course pursuit as a result of being ordered to serve on active duty under section 688, 12301(a), 12301(d), 12301(g), 12302, or 12304 of title 10; or
in the case of a person serving on active duty, had to discontinue such course pursuit as a result of being ordered to a new duty location or assignment or to perform an increased amount of work; and
failed to receive credit or training time toward completion of the individual’s approved educational, professional, or vocational objective as a result of having to discontinue, as described in clause (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph, his or her course pursuit.
The period for which, by reason of this subsection, an educational assistance allowance is not charged against entitlement or counted toward the applicable aggregate period under section 3695 of this title shall not exceed the portion of the period of enrollment in the course or courses for which the individual failed to receive credit or with respect to which the individual lost training time, as determined under subparagraph (B)(iii) of this paragraph.
The amount in the fund for each eligible veteran who received a payment of an educational assistance allowance described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph shall be restored to the amount that would have been in the fund for the veteran if the payment had not been made. For purposes of carrying out the previous sentence, the Secretary of Defense shall deposit into the fund, on behalf of each such veteran, an amount equal to the entire amount of the payment made to the veteran.
In the case of a veteran who discontinues pursuit of a course or courses as described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the formula for ascertaining the amount of the monthly payment to which the veteran is entitled in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be implemented as if—
the payment made to the fund by the Secretary of Defense under subparagraph (D) of this paragraph, and
any payment for a course or courses described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph that was paid out of the fund,
had not been made or paid.
Any enlisted member of the Armed Forces* participating in the program shall be eligible to enroll in a course, courses, or program of education for the purpose of attaining a secondary school diploma (or an equivalency certificate), as authorized by section 3491(a) of this title, during the last six months of such member’s first enlistment and at any time thereafter.
When an eligible veteran is pursuing a program of education under this chapter by correspondence, such eligible veteran’s entitlement shall be charged at the rate of 1 month’s entitlement for each month of benefits paid to the eligible veteran (computed on the basis of the formula provided in subsection (a)(2) of this section).
Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, the amount of the educational assistance benefits paid to an eligible veteran who is pursuing a program of education under this chapter while incarcerated in a Federal, State*, local, or other penal institution or correctional facility for conviction of a felony may not exceed the lesser of (A) 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 the cost of necessary supplies, books, and equipment, or (B) the applicable monthly benefit payment otherwise prescribed in this section or section 3233 of this title. The amount of the educational assistance benefits 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.
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.
Subject to subsection (a)(1) of this section, each individual who is pursuing a program of education consisting exclusively of flight training approved as meeting the requirements of section 3241(b) of this title shall be paid educational assistance under this chapter in the amount equal to 60 percent of the established charges for tuition and fees which similarly circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the same flight course are required to pay.
No payment may be paid under this chapter to an individual for any month during which such individual is pursuing a program of education consisting exclusively of flight training until the Secretary has received from that individual and the institution providing such training a certification of the flight training received by the individual during that month and the tuition and other fees charged for that training.
The entitlement of an eligible veteran pursuing a program of education described in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be charged at the rate of one month for each amount of educational assistance paid which is equal to the monthly benefit otherwise payable to such veteran (computed on the basis of the formula provided in subsection (a)(2) of this section).
The number of solo flying hours for which an individual may be paid an educational assistance allowance under this subsection may not exceed the minimum number of solo flying hours required by the Federal Aviation Administration for the flight rating or certification which is the goal of the individual’s flight training.
Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 94–502, title IV, § 404, Oct. 15, 1976, 90 Stat. 2396, § 1631; amended Pub. L. 96–466, title IV, §§ 403, 404, Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2201; Pub. L. 97–35, title XX, §§ 2003(a)(1), 2005(a), Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 782; Pub. L. 99–576, title III, § 310(b)(1), Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3271; Pub. L. 100–689, title I, §§ 108(b)(2), 122, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4170, 4174; Pub. L. 101–237, title IV, § 423(b)(1), (4)(A), Dec. 18, 1989, 103 Stat. 2092; Pub. L. 102–16, § 7(b), Mar. 22, 1991, 105 Stat. 51; renumbered § 3231 and amended Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(a), (c)(1), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 406; Pub. L. 102–127, § 2(b), Oct. 10, 1991, 105 Stat. 619; Pub. L. 102–568, title III, § 310(c), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4330; Pub. L. 104–275, title I, § 105(b), Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3327; Pub. L. 105–368, title X, § 1005(b)(7), Nov. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 3365; Pub. L. 107–103, title I, § 103(a), (d), Dec. 27, 2001, 115 Stat. 979; Pub. L. 109–461, title X, § 1002(c), Dec. 22, 2006, 120 Stat. 3465.)
- 1976Enacted · Pub. L. 94-502 · 90 Stat. 2396
- 1980Amended · Pub. L. 96-466 · 94 Stat. 2201
- 1981Amended · Pub. L. 97-35 · 95 Stat. 782
- 1986Amended · Pub. L. 99-576 · 100 Stat. 3271
- 1988Amended · Pub. L. 100-689 · 102 Stat. 4170, 4174
- 1989Amended · Pub. L. 101-237 · 103 Stat. 2092
- 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-16 · 105 Stat. 51
- 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-83 · 105 Stat. 406
- 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-127 · 105 Stat. 619
- 1992Amended · Pub. L. 102-568 · 106 Stat. 4330
- 1996Amended · Pub. L. 104-275 · 110 Stat. 3327
- 1998Amended · Pub. L. 105-368 · 112 Stat. 3365
- 2001Amended · Pub. L. 107-103 · 115 Stat. 979
- 2006Amended · Pub. L. 109-461 · 120 Stat. 3465
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 94-502 on 1976-10-15.
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