Certification Process for Veterans Affairs Education Benefits

Using VA Benefits for the First Time 

Returning Students Requesting Recertification

Using VA Education Benefits for the First Time at Central Piedmont

If you are receiving Veterans Affairs (VA) Education Benefits, you must request certification for your benefits each semester that you are enrolled. Request certification after you register for classes to ensure that the VA will pay you the appropriate amount of money for the credits that you are taking. 

You must complete all of the following steps to request certification to use your VA Education benefits. 

  1. Apply for your VA education benefit and submit a copy of your Certificate of Eligibility.
  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 DD 214 request (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty if you are the Veteran)
    2. Joint Service Transcripts request (register and download)or Air Force University Transcript request (if you are the Veteran)
    3. Official high school transcript
    4. Official copies of all college, university, or non-college degree school transcripts
  4. 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 (review item 6 as follows for instructions of submitting the form) and copy of your current class schedule before charges are due to secure your seat in the class.
    2. Chapter 30, 35, and 1606 education benefits: you will need to pay the charges unless you have financial aid or a sponsor before submitting your request for certification.
  5. Review progress in your MyCollege account (student login required) 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 to discuss your schedule 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, send your completed and scanned forms to our office as attachments.
    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.
  7. If you need to change your schedule after you submit your Certification Request form: 
    1. complete the Veterans Affairs Schedule Adjustment form (PDF) and email it to Veterans Affairs.

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Returning Students Requesting Recertification 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 (Classes that start with 0 such as ENG011) and 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 Basic Allowance for Housing (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)

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