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January 2023 #2

Hello everyone! 

The Veterans Administration has released new regulations—without consulting the Department of Education, mind you—that overlap with our work and require review and action at your institutions regarding professional licensure programs (regardless of modality). 

Programs Designed to Prepare for Licensure or Certification: For programs designed to prepare an individual for licensure or certification in a particular field or state, the course of study must meet all instructional curriculum licensure requirements for that state. 

This means if you’re offering a licensure program to a student in a state where they will be unable to pursue licensure due to your program’s academics, they will not be able to use VA funds for that program. 

Programs Designed to Prepare for Employment: Courses of study designed to prepare students for employment must align with the standards established by a state board for the relevant occupation and may require approval, licensure, or certification. 

Specifically, if a program is designed to prepare students for employment in an occupation with standards developed by a state board or agency that requires approval, licensure, or certification, the course must meet those standards, and you should have documentation to this effect. Additionally, if state regulations require the institution’s academics to be approved before a student can be eligible for licensure, we are responsible for obtaining that state approval before the program can be approved for the use of VA funds. 

For VA students, we also have additional disclosure requirements: 

Institutions must publicly disclose "any conditions or additional requirements, including training, experience, or examinations, required to obtain the license, certification, or approval for which the course of education is designed to prepare students." This disclosure must include any requirements set by a state licensing or certifying agency, such as: 

  • Training required for licensure, certification, or approval; 
  • Any prior experience needed to obtain the license, certification, or approval; 
  • Any examinations that must be taken before obtaining a license, certification, or approval. 

If there are additional requirements beyond training, prior experience, or examinations that students must meet to obtain a particular license, certification, or approval, the institution or training facility must also disclose those requirements. 

Failure to disclose this information to students in our VA programs will result in students being unable to use VA funding for the program. 

These regulations go into effect on February 17, 2023. 

You can read the official rule from the Veterans Affairs Department here: Federal Register - Modifications of Approval Requirements. 

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 

Sincerely,
Erika