Credit hours requirements for Chapter 30, Chapter 1606 and Chapter 35

* The VA will only pay the cost of your tuition and fees

If you receive Post 9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33) benefits the VA will only pay the living stipend if your rate of pursuit is 51% or greater.

Your rate of pursuit is determined by dividing the number of credit hours your are taking by the number of credits considered to be full-time for the term. 

Example –

Ten-thirteen week term

• 6 credits divided by 12 credits = 50% (does not qualify for the living stipend)
• 7 credits divided by 12 credits = 58% (qualifies for the living stipend)

Eight-week term

• 4 credits divided by 8 credits = 50% (does not qualify for the living stipend)
• 5 credits divided by 8 credits = 62.5% (qualifies for the living stipend)

Four times each term, Chemeketa’s Veterans Services verifies that students receiving VA educational benefits remain registered for the classes they originally requested benefits for.

Verification is done –

• At the beginning of the third week of each term
• The 31st day of the term (the day after the last day to drop an 8, 10 or 11 week class without incurring a VA overpayment penalty for Chapter 30, 35, & 1606)
• The beginning of the seventh week of the term
• The beginning of the ninth week of the term

Due to limited staffing, Chemeketa’s Veterans Services does not inform you when changes impacting benefit payments are reported to the VA. Please stay aware of how adding and dropping classes impacts your benefits.

If you have requested VA benefits, you must follow college procedures for add/drops and immediately report your schedule changes to Chemeketa’s Veterans Services Office.

• Visit Veterans Services (Salem Bldg. 2, Rm. 200) and complete a Change in Veteran Educational Benefit Enrollment Status Request
• If you are unable to visit our office in person, you can notify us of your changes via email

Please include –

• Your name
• K#
• Name of your program or degree
• The class you have added or dropped

In order to protect your privacy, requests to drop a class are not taken over the phone.

We must report to the VA if you drop a class that is eligible for benefits and add a class that is not eligible for benefits, including –

• A class not part of your declared degree or program
• A class not a required as a program or academic prerequisite
• A change that alters your training time (full-time, three-quarter time, half-time)
• A change that alters your rate of pursuit

• Chemeketa maintains accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and complies with Federal and State regulations
• Chemeketa's  Veterans Services Office, can provide students with information and refer students to services such as:
  • Information about our programs and access to professionals to help with course planning
  • Information about cost and funding options, including access to Financial Aid professionals who can assist students in learning about federal or private options.  Chemeketa discloses its Cohort Default Rate.
• Chemeketa has a readmission policy that allows Service members to readmit to the college in the same status they left if the reason for leaving was because they were called to active duty in accordance with 34 CFR 668.18
• Chemeketa does not practice aggressive recruiting of any students, including Service members or veterans.
• Chemeketa does not incentivize any employee based on enrolling students in school or receiving federal aid.

If you add or drop a class that changes your training time (Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 35, and Chapter 1606) or changes your rate of pursuit and/or the cost of your tuition and fees (Chapter 33 only), this information will be reported to the VA.

Students using Chapter 30, 35 and 1606 can usually drop a class within the first 30 days of an 8, 10, or 11 week term or the end of the second week of a 5 week term without incurring an overpayment.  Students using Chapter 33 who drop a call may incur a debt beginning the second day of any term.  However, VA will not discuss student debt issues with college personnel, so you should pay close attention to any mail received from the VA.  The VA will notify you directly by mail if any change you make results in an overpayment of benefits (a student debt).  

If you are receiving Chapter 30 or Chapter 1606 benefits, you must verify your enrollment with the VA beginning the last calendar day of each month you are attending school before the VA will begin processing your monthly benefit payment.

• If you use direct deposit your funds will transfer three-five days after you complete verification
• If you do not use direct deposit you will receive a check seven-ten days after you complete verification

Verify your enrollment

These systems are available to you 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.

• Call the VA's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phone system at 1.877.823.2378 (toll-free) or
• Log into the VA's W.A.V.E. (Web Automated Verification of Enrollment) website.
  • New to W.A.V.E.? Use the First Time Users log in instructions option to create an account
  • Additional help can be found in W.A.V.E user's guide.

The W.A.V.E and IVR systems require at least three working days to process and update the Benefit Delivery Network. Both systems process data each workday, but it can take additional days before they are updated to reflect new information.

While most classes at Chemeketa begin the first week of the term and end the last week of the term, some classes do not meet the entire length of the term. These shorter classes have the potential to reduce the amount of benefits you receive.

If one or more of your classes meets less than the full length of the term, the VA requires that the actual beginning and ending dates of the class must be reported when your benefits are certified each term.

Example –

During an 11 week term, you take a four credit science class, a four credit math class and a one credit PE class that begin the first week of term and end the last week of the term and you also enroll in a five week long three credit computer class that begins the sixth week of the term and ends at the end of the tenth week of the term.

If you are using Chapter 30, 31, 35 or 1606, you will be certified at the 3/4 time rate (9-11 credits) for the first five weeks of the term, at the full time rate (12 or more credits) for the five weeks the class is in session and at the 3/4 time rate for the last week of the term.

If you are using Chapter 33, your rate of pursuit will be 80% for the first five weeks of the term, 100% for week 6 through 10 and 80% for the final week of term.

If you have questions regarding classes that meet part of the term, please contact Chemeketa Veterans Services.

If you receive unanticipated orders to active military service, that requires you to drop some or all of your classes, notify Chemeketa Veterans Services as soon as possible after receiving orders or notification.

If you receive orders that require you to drop some or all of your classes after the last day to drop a class and receive a tuition and fee refund (usually the second Friday of each term), complete and submit a Petition for Exception to College Policy with a copy of your orders to Chemeketa Business Services office (Salem Bldg. 2, Rm. 200).

Within 30 days of the beginning of the term

• Complete and submit a Change in Veteran Educational Benefit Enrollment Status request to Chemeketa’s Veterans Services
• We will immediately notify the VA of your change in status

30+ days after the beginning of the term

• Notify Chemeketa’s Veterans Services as soon as possible after you receive notification
• Complete and submit a Change in Veteran Educational Benefit Enrollment Status along with a copy of your orders to Chemeketa’s Veterans Services
• We will immediately notify the VA of your change in status and the circumstances of your withdrawal from classes

Each term you are enrolled and receiving GI Bill® benefits, you must pass all the classes you receive benefits for and achieve a 2.00 GPA or better. The classes you receive GI Bill® benefits for must apply toward completion of your declared Chemeketa degree or program.

Good Standing

• You are a new student at Chemeketa
• When you attended Chemeketa in the past, your credits completed met the requirements listed above, with a minimum cumulative 2.00 GPA
• You continue to meet the minimum requirements each term
• You were on probation, but you now meet the minimum credit and cumulative 2.00 GPA requirement

Probation: You continue to be eligible for Veteran's Benefits

You will be placed on academic probation if –

• Your GPA for your last term at Chemeketa is a 2.00-0.00 and/or
• You received a grade but no credit ("F") for one or more of your classes

Suspended: You are no longer eligible for VA educational benefits

Your eligibility will be suspended if –

• You are already on probation and you did not meet the minimum term credits and/or cumulative 2.00 GPA requirement this term or
• You did not complete any certified credits

The VA will not pay for courses that are audited or challenged. The VA will not pay for any course that has been successfully completed through any previous education. The VA does allow students to repeat a course if the original grade was not high enough to meet program requirements and a successful completion of the course is required to obtain the degree or certificate.

Grade changes will be reviewed by Veterans' Services to determine if the change affects your status.

You may repeat a Chemeketa course and request to have the original grade changed to an R if you receive a higher grade the second time. The first grade must have been punitive (B, C, D, or F). I, M, N and X are non-punitive grades (meaning that it is not calculated into the GPA) and cannot be changed to an R which is also non-punitive.

Both courses must have been taken at Chemeketa. Courses transferred from another institution are not eligible for an R grade.

The VA only pays for grades that are calculated in GPA and apply toward completion of a degree or certificate. If you apply for veterans educational benefits and have a grade changed to an R, the VA is notified.

If an R grade changes your certification status, it creates an overpayment situation for the term the course was originally taken. Please contact Chemeketa Veterans' Services to discuss the consequences prior to submitting the request form.

The enrollment level for all benefits requested after the term will be based on the number of credit hours satisfactorily completed. Satisfactory grades are A, B, C, D, and P. Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.00.

VA only pays benefits for punitive grades. At Chemeketa Community College punitive grades are A, B, C, D, F and P. At Chemeketa Community College non-punitive grades are M, X, NP, and R. Non-punitive grades received in courses certified for VA educational benefits will be reported to the VA as a reduction in status. The VA will review all reductions reported and notify you if you will be required to repay a portion of your benefits.

All Chemeketa students can use the college's Tutoring Center located –

• Salem Bldg. 2, Rm. 210
• Yamhill Valley Bldg. 1, Rm. 200
• Woodburn Center, Commons
• Polk Center, Commons

There is no charge for this service. Additionally, students receiving GI Bill benefits under Chapter 30, Chapter 33, Chapter 35 and Chapter 1606 can request reimbursement of up to $100 a month to help pay for a qualified tutor. Questions on this benefit should be addressed to Chemeketa Veterans' Services.

You have the right to appeal any Veterans' Services action. Appeal forms are available at Veterans Services. If your eligibility is reinstated, you may be placed on academic probation.