2. Policies Regarding School Attendance This topic contains information about school Introduction VA’s policies regarding attendance, for the purpose of paying compensation, pension, or DIC, including VA standards for courses of instruction criteria for paying benefits based on school attendance advisory opinions on the validity of a school attendance student’s accreditation requirement for domestic schools determining the accreditation of a local school determining the accreditation of a school in another SOO accreditation requirement for foreign schools foreign countries with no accrediting authority definition: wholly supported at the expense of the Federal government service academies, and service academy preparatory schools. January 28, 2016 Change Date To meet VA standards, a course of instruction must a. VA Standards for Courses of require attendance of not less than the equivalent of three regular class Instruction sessions, daytime or evening, per week, and lead to the achievement of a training or educational objective (such as a degree, diploma, or certificate) in a period of time commonly accepted by standard institutions as adequate for that purpose. According to , class must consist of at least Important: one “regular session” one 50-minute period of academic instruction two 50-minute periods of laboratory instruction, or three 50-minute periods of workshop training. A course of instruction meets the attendance requirement whether Example: it consists of one hour of academic instruction three times a week, or three hours of academic instruction once a week. Notes: Authority to approve an award based on school attendance includes authority for approving the corresponding course of instruction. Courses of instruction taught under home school programs for grades kindergarten through 12 meet VA standards as long as the home school is an approved educational institution.
2. Policies Regarding School Attendance Introduction This topic contains information about VA’s policies regarding school attendance, for the purpose of paying compensation, pension, or DIC, including VA standards for courses of instruction criteria for paying benefits based on school attendance advisory opinions on the validity of a student’s school attendance accreditation requirement for domestic schools determining the accreditation of a local school determining the accreditation of a school in another SOO accreditation requirement for foreign schools foreign countries with no accrediting authority definition: wholly supported at the expense of the Federal government service academies, and service academy preparatory schools. Change Date January 28, 2016 a. VA Standards for Courses of Instruction To meet VA standards, a course of instruction must require attendance of not less than the equivalent of three regular class sessions, daytime or evening, per week, and lead to the achievement of a training or educational objective (such as a degree, diploma, or certificate) in a period of time commonly accepted by standard institutions as adequate for that purpose. Important: According to , one “regular class session” must consist of at least one 50-minute period of academic instruction two 50-minute periods of laboratory instruction, or three 50-minute periods of workshop training. Example: A course of instruction meets the attendance requirement whether it consists of one hour of academic instruction three times a week, or three hours of academic instruction once a week. Notes: Authority to approve an award based on school attendance includes authority for approving the corresponding course of instruction. Courses of instruction taught under home school programs for grades kindergarten through 12 meet VA standards as long as the home school is an approved educational institution.