Education and Training.
Supported and Non-Supported Students
The 85/15 rule prohibits paying Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits to students enrolling in a program when more than 85 percent of the students enrolled in that program are having any portion of their tuition, fees, or other charges paid for them by the school or VA.
If the ratio of supported students to non-supported students exceeds 85 percent, only students maintaining continuous enrollment may receive benefits for that program.
Supported Students
The student must be counted as supported for the purposes of the 85/15 rule when:
- The student receives any amount of VA Education benefits under Title 38 or Title 10 (chapters 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 1606);
- The student is granted any waiver or forgiveness of tuition, fees, or other charges;
- The student has not paid the full amount of tuition, fees, and other mandatory charges to the school prior to the reporting date* unless the student is participating in a compliant institutionally funded payment plan.
*The reporting date is not later than 30 days after the start of the beginning of the term, sememster, or quarter (excluding summer sessions) if the school is term-based, or not later than 30 days of the start of each non-standard length term if the school is organized on a non-standard term. See Reporting Requirements for more information on this topic.
Non-Supported Students
The student may be counted as non-supported for the purposes of the 85/15 rule when:
- The student is not using GI Bill benefits under Title 10 or Title 38 (chapters 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 1606);
- The student is not using institutional aid;
- There are no outstanding tuition, fees, and other mandatory charges owed to the school as of the reporting date* (unless the balance is covered by a compliant tuition and fee repayment plan that meets ALL the following criteria):
- The availability and requirements of the payment plan policy is published both on the school’s website and in a dated hard copy file at every campus of the school.
- The payment plan is available to any enrolled student interested in participating in such plans.
- The payment plan explicitly requires the student to pay the outstanding balance no later than 180 days from the end of the term, quarter, semester, or enrollment period.
- The payment plan must be paid in full before students can begin training for the next term or other enrollment period beginning on or after the expiration of the payment plan.
NOTE: If the student is receiving multiple types of aid and any of it is supported, the student must be counted as a supported student.
*The reporting date is not later than 30 days after the start of the beginning of the term, sememster, or quarter (excluding summer sessions) if the school is term-based, or not later than 30 days of the start of each non-standard length term if the school is organized on a non-standard term. See Reporting Requirements for more information on this topic.
Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP)
Because the program is authorized under other than Title 38 or Title 10, VA beneficiaries using the Veteran Rapid Retraining Assistance Program (VRRAP) are counted as non-supported students for 85/15 purposes, unless the student is receiving multiple types of aid and any of it is supported.
