Claims and Effective Dates for the Award of Educational Assistance

This document amends the educational assistance and educational benefit regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It establishes a standard for determining what constitutes a formal claim, an informal claim, and an abandoned claim that can be applied uniformly to the educational assistance programs VA administers. In addition, it establishes less restrictive effective dates for awards of educational assistance; establishes uniform time limits for acting to complete claims; and states VA's responsibilities when a claim is filed. This rule will result in a more uniform adjudication of claims for educational assistance under each of the education programs VA administers.