General Guidelines

Student Responsibilities/Evaluation of Prior Credit

All students receiving Veterans Benefits are required to submit official academic transcripts from all schools attended before, during or after military service--whether or not benefits were received or units completed. Transcripts should be addressed directly to the Veterans Office at Las Positas, and will be forwarded to the student's permanent Admissions and Records file. Enrollment will only be certified for one semester pending evaluation of prior credit. These transcripts will be used when determining prior credit for courses that satisfy major requirements when completing the student's Evaluation of Course Requirements.

All veterans must make an appointment with the counseling office during their first semester in attendance, in order to complete a VETERAN' S EVALUATION OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR CURRENT OBJECTIVE. Evaluations cannot be done on a drop-in basis. The EVALUATION is required prior to certification of a student's second semester, and if and when a student changes to a new major a new evaluation must be completed prior to further certification. Only courses indicated on the evaluation will be certified for payment by V.A., as these are the courses that are needed to complete graduation or transfer requirements.

It is the responsibility of each student to promptly notify the Las Positas College Veterans Office of changes in unit status, courses, grades, academic objective, number of dependents to be claimed, and address. Failing to do so may result in an overpayment of benefits which would need to be repaid to V.A.

Students are also required to maintain satisfactory academic progress as outlined in the Las Positas College Catalog and the Veterans Office Academic Standards of Progress information sheet.

Declaring an Academic Objective

VA requires that a student declare an academic objective (examples: A.A. Degree - General Education, Transfer Objective in Business Administration) in order to certify for benefits. All students must have an academic objective, and only courses that meet requirements for that objective may be certified. The VA will award benefits for up to two academic objective (major) at a time. If choosing two academic objectives they must lead into a single career field/occupation. Changes in academic objective must be reported to the Veterans Office and a Form 1995 must be completed, in addition to a new Evaluation for the new major.

Withdrawing From Classes

The law requires that students notify the Las Positas College Veterans Office of any withdrawals from courses. The VA will adjust or terminate benefits retroactive to the beginning date of the term. If the change of enrollment is due to reasons beyond the student's control, which VA accepts as mitigating circumstances, benefits are adjusted on the effective date of the reduction. Form 21-4138, Statement In Support of Claim, must be filed for consideration.

Mitigating Circumstances

Mitigating circumstances are those which directly hinder a student's pursuit of a course(s) and which are judged to be beyond the student's control. Following are some general categories of mitigating circumstances: serious illness of the student, serious illness or death of an immediate family member, immediate family or financial obligations, discontinuance of a course by the school.

Variable-Unit Courses

Las Positas College offers courses in which students may earn more units per semester. These courses are structured so that the amount of credit earned depends upon the amount of creditable work completed. The VA requires that enrollment be certified for the minimum number of units attempted, followed by an updated certification at the end of the semester reflecting the actual number of units earned.

Independent Study & TV Courses

In order to claim benefits students must be enrolled in 51% or more of units in subjects requiring classroom attendance. Independent study courses may be offered under any subject area and numbered "29." VA benefits are limited to a cumulative total of nine units of independent study courses.

Nonpunitive Grades

Students earning nonpunitive grades are not eligible for VA benefits for the course(s) in which the grades were assigned. A nonpunitive grade can result in an overpayment. Nonpunitive grades include No-Credit (NC), In-Progress (IP), Incomplete (I) and any grade or symbol which regardless of the title used, does not satisfy graduation requirements and is not used in calculating the grade point average.

Taking Classes Concurrently at Chabot College

Courses taken concurrently at Chabot must be certified by Chabot's Veterans Office. Students should request a certification for enrollment as a secondary institution; certification is forwarded to Las Positas for primary certification processing.

Repeating a Course

Students who repeat courses which were previously completed with grades of A, B, C, D, or CR are ineligible for benefits for those courses. Certain courses are repeatable as specified by the Las Positas College Catalog, if required for the student's academic objective.

Final Term

During a student's final term only, if at least one course meets a requirement per the student's V.A. Evaluation, all additional courses taken that term may be certified regardless of whether the courses are required.