Department of Veterans Affairs February 22, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document proposes to amend the regulations governing various aspects of the education programs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers, in order to implement some provisions of the Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000, the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, and the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 that affect those programs. Specifically, these statutory provisions include provisions for payment, under Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance, the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program, and the Montgomery GI BillActive Duty, for the cost of taking tests for licensure or certification. They also include provisions for payment under the Montgomery GI BillActive Duty of the difference between the portion of tuition and expenses covered by tuition assistance programs administered by the various military departments and the actual charges made by educational institutions. In addition, this document proposes rules regarding the timing and the scope of assistance VA will provide to claimants under the education programs VA administers who file substantially complete applications for benefits, or who attempt to reopen previously denied claims. The proposed rule would make other changes in the education benefits regulations that are nonsubstantive changes for the purpose of clarity, technical changes, or restatements of statutory provisions.