38 U.S.C. § 3510 — Eligibility and entitlement generally

Page 780 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 3510 SUBCHAPTER II—ELIGIBILITY AND ENTITLEMENT § 3510. Eligibility and entitlement generally Each eligible person shall, subject to the pro- visions of this chapter, be entitled to receive educational assistance. (Pub. L. 85–857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1194, § 1710; renumbered § 3510, Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(a), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 406.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1991—Pub. L. 102–83 renumbered section 1710 of this title as this section. § 3511. Duration of educational assistance (a)(1) Each eligible person, whether made eli- gible by one or more of the provisions of section 3501(a)(1) of this title, shall be entitled to edu- cational assistance under this chapter— (A) in the case of a person who first enrolls in a program of education using such entitle- ment before August 1, 2018, for an aggregate period not in excess of 45 months (or to the equivalent thereof in part-time training); or (B) in the case of a person who first enrolls in a program of education using such entitle- ment on or after August 1, 2018, for an aggre- gate period not in excess of 36 months (or to the equivalent thereof in part-time training). (2)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or chapter 36 of this title, any pay- ment of an educational assistance allowance de- scribed in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph shall not— (i) be charged against the entitlement of any individual under this chapter; or (ii) be counted toward the aggregate period for which section 3695 of this title limits an in- dividual’s receipt of assistance. (B) The payment of the educational assistance allowance referred to in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph is the payment of such an allowance to an individual for pursuit of a course or courses under this chapter if the Secretary finds that the individual— (i) 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 of being in- voluntarily ordered to full-time National Guard duty under section 502(f) of title 32; and (ii) failed to receive credit or training time toward completion of the individual’s ap- proved educational, professional, or vocational objective as a result of having to discontinue, as described in clause (i) of this subparagraph, his or her course pursuit. (C) The period for which, by reason of this sub- section, an educational assistance allowance is not charged against entitlement or counted to- ward the applicable aggregate period under sec- tion 3695 of this title shall not exceed the por- tion 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 subpara- graph (B)(ii) of this paragraph. (b) If any eligible person pursuing a program of education, or of special restorative training, under this chapter ceases to be an ‘‘eligible per- son’’ because— (1) the parent or spouse from whom eligi- bility is derived is found no longer to have a ‘‘total disability permanent in nature’’, as de- fined in section 3501(a)(8) of this title, (2) the parent or spouse from whom eligi- bility is derived based upon section 3501(a)(1)(C) of this title is no longer listed in one of the categories specified therein, (3) the spouse, as an eligible person under subparagraph (D) or (E) of section 3501(a)(1) of this title, is divorced, without fault on such person’s part, from the person upon whose dis- ability such person’s eligibility is based, or (4) the parent or spouse from whom such eli- gibility is derived based upon subparagraph (E) of section 3501(a)(1) of this title no longer meets a requirement under clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of that subparagraph, then such eligible person (if such person has suf- ficient remaining entitlement) may, neverthe- less, be afforded educational assistance under this chapter until the end of the quarter or se- mester for which enrolled if the educational in- stitution in which such person is enrolled is op- erated on a quarter or semester system, or if the educational institution is not so operated until the end of the course, or until 12 weeks have ex- pired, whichever first occurs. (Pub. L. 85–857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1194, § 1711; Pub. L. 88–361, § 2, July 7, 1964, 78 Stat. 297; Pub. L. 89–358, § 4(k), Mar. 3, 1966, 80 Stat. 24; Pub. L. 90–631, §§ 1(c), 2(d), Oct. 23, 1968, 82 Stat. 1331, 1332; Pub. L. 91–24, § 9(b), June 11, 1969, 83 Stat. 34; Pub. L. 91–584, § 2, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1575; Pub. L. 94–502, title III, §§ 303, 310(6), Oct. 15, 1976, 90 Stat. 2390, 2391; renumbered § 3511 and amend- ed Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(a), (c)(1), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 406; Pub. L. 102–127, § 2(c), Oct. 10, 1991, 105 Stat. 620; Pub. L. 107–103, title I, §§ 103(a), 108(b)(1), (c)(1), Dec. 27, 2001, 115 Stat. 979, 985; Pub. L. 109–233, title V, § 503(7), June 15, 2006, 120 Stat. 416; Pub. L. 109–444, § 3(b)(2), Dec. 21, 2006, 120 Stat. 3306; Pub. L. 109–461, title III, §§ 301(b)(2), 302(a), title X, § 1006(b), Dec. 22, 2006, 120 Stat. 3425, 3428, 3468; Pub. L. 115–48, title II, § 202, Aug. 16, 2017, 131 Stat. 989.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2017—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 115–48 substituted ‘‘chap- ter—’’ for ‘‘chapter for an aggregate period not in ex- cess of 45 months (or to the equivalent thereof in part- time training)’’ and added subpars. (A) and (B). 2006—Pub. L. 109–461, § 1006(b), provided that as of the enactment of Pub. L. 109–461, the amendments made by Pub. L. 109–444 were deemed for all purposes not to have taken effect and that Pub. L. 109–444 ceased to be in ef- fect. See Amendment notes below and section 1006(b) of Pub. L. 109–461, set out as a Coordination of Provisions With Pub. L. 109–444 note under section 101 of this title. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 109–461, § 301(b)(2)(A), sub- stituted ‘‘Each eligible person, whether made eligible by one or more of the provisions of section 3501(a)(1) of this title,’’ for ‘‘Each eligible person’’ and ‘‘an aggre- gate period’’ for ‘‘a period’’ in first sentence and struck out second sentence, which read as follows: ‘‘In no event may the aggregate educational assistance af-