Certification Process

If You're Using a Veterans Affairs Education Benefit for the first time at Central Piedmont

Your Central Piedmont VA file must be complete for eligibility to use VA Education benefits. You must follow these steps to request certification:

  1. Apply for your benefit.
  2. Complete the steps to apply to Central Piedmont.
  3. Submit a copy of the following documents to Student Records:
    1. Member-4 or Service-2 of your DD214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty)
    2. Joint Service transcripts or Community College of the Air Force transcripts
    3. Official high school transcript
    4. Official copies of all college, university, or non-college degree school transcripts
  4. Officially register for classes. Full time status for the semester is determined by the dates and credits of the classes you are taking. Please reach out to Military Families and Veterans Services to speak with an advisor to help you register for classes. These advisors know the specific policies required for students using Veterans Educational Benefits. If you are using: 
    1. Chapter 33 and Chapter 31 education benefits: submit the Request for Certification form and copy of your current class schedule before charges are due to secure classes.
    2. Chapter 30, 35, and 1606: you will need to pay the charges unless you have financial aid or a sponsor before submitting your request for certification.
  5. View progress in your MyCollege account to confirm that all classes are required for graduation in your program. With exception to developmental courses, labs attached to a course (example: SPA-181 is connected to the SPA-111 course), or prerequisites for degree requirements, classes that appear in the “Other Courses” section of your progress cannot be certified. This report can be assessed through your MyCollege account under your Academic Profile.
    1. If you have registered for classes that aren’t required, meet with your advisor and make adjustments
  6. Complete and submit the Veterans Affairs Certification Request form as follows:
    1. We recommend that you scan all completed forms and submit them to the Veterans Affairs Education Benefits office as Adobe PDF files.
    2. Using your Central Piedmont student email, attach your completed and scanned forms in an email to our office.
    3. If you prefer to complete the following forms electronically, you will need to download the forms and then open them in Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to electronically sign the forms. Download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
      1. Spring 2024 Certification Request form (PDF)
      2. Summer 2024 Certification Request form 
      3. Fall 2023 Certification Request form (PDF)
  7. If you need to change your schedule after you submit your Certification Request form: 
    1. complete the Veterans Affairs Schedule Adjustment form and email it to Veterans Affairs.

If You're Using Benefits at Central Piedmont and Requesting Re-certification for a New Semester

Each semester you use a VA education benefit, you must submit the VA certification request form and a copy of your current class schedule. Note:

  • Developmental courses (DRE and DMA courses) and RISE support courses: must take place on campus to be certified. Per federal law, online developmental and support courses cannot be certified.
  • Chapter 33 benefit and online courses: you must have at least one face-to-face course to receive the full entitlement of BAH. Hybrid courses will be certified as face-to-face. If you're in all online courses, your monthly stipend will be based on half the national average of BAH.
  • Chapter 35 in a diploma or certificate program: per federal law, the college cannot certify online courses (38 U.S. Code § 3680A)

For questions about certification, please contact the Central Piedmont Veterans Affairs Education Benefits Office.