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Asked the way a family member helping a Veteran back to school asks

Does the GI Bill® pay for remedial classes taken online?

No. VA does not pay for remedial or deficiency courses taken online, on the GI Bill or on Chapter 35 (DEA). Under DEA, remedial training VA does pay for is not charged against the student’s months, up to 5 months full time.

Authority38 CFR 21.4267, 38 U.S.C. 3533Registerremedial-online, dea-months, sco-role, online-mha

Does the GI Bill pay for remedial classes taken online? Question card with the answer and the law.Question card, free to share
The Short. The answer as a short video, with captions and a transcript.
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  1. Asked, plainly. Does the GI Bill pay for remedial classes taken online? Asked by a family member helping a Veteran back to school
  2. No.
  3. VA does not pay for remedial or deficiency courses taken online, on the GI Bill or on Chapter 35 (DEA).
  4. Under DEA, remedial training VA does pay for is not charged against the student’s months, up to 5 months full time.
  5. The law behind it. 38 CFR 21.4267, 38 U.S.C. 3533. The full answer is at wegotyou1776.com/questions
  6. We Got You 1776. Plan around your education benefits. wegotyou1776.com/questions
GI Bill and VA benefits eligibility chart, a printable poster: Reference chart of how many months of school the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Chapter 35 DEA, the Fry Scholarship, the Montgomery GI Bill and Veteran Readiness and Employment can pay for: 36 for one benefit, 72 for a family using Chapters 33 and 35, 48 for two from your own service, and 81 at most with Chapter 35.
The chart with this data: What your benefits could add up to. One benefit, two or three, in months. View or download it, 18 x 24. Other sizes are on Charts.

How does this apply to you?

If you handle the school paperwork

When a schedule holds a remedial or deficiency course, check its format: VA does not pay for one taken online, on the GI Bill or on DEA, under 38 CFR 21.4267. Under DEA, remedial training VA does pay for is not charged against the months, up to 5 months full time.

Registerremedial-online

If you are the student

If you are placed in a remedial class, ask the school how it is offered before you register. VA does not pay for one taken online.

Registerremedial-online, sco-role

If you are helping a Veteran back to school

If the Veteran is placed in a remedial class, ask the school how the class is offered before the term is certified. VA does not pay for a remedial or deficiency course taken online.

Registerremedial-online, sco-role

If you are planning for the family

For a child on Chapter 35, up to 5 months of full-time remedial training are not charged against the months, which are up to 36, or 45 if school started before August 1, 2018. A remedial course taken online is not paid.

Registerremedial-online, dea-months

Does VA pay for online developmental math?

No. A remedial or deficiency course taken online is one VA does not pay for.

Registerremedial-online

Will the GI Bill cover my online remedial English class?

No. VA does not pay for remedial or deficiency courses taken online. Talk with the school about how the class is offered before the term is certified.

Registerremedial-online, sco-role

Can I take my remedial class online and still get paid for it?

Not for that class. VA does not pay for a remedial or deficiency course taken online.

Registerremedial-online

Are remedial months charged under Chapter 35?

No, up to 5 months of full-time remedial training under DEA are not charged against the student’s months. A remedial course taken online is still one VA does not pay for.

Registerremedial-online

Why does the format of a remedial class matter to VA?

Why does the format of a remedial class matter to VA? Article picture with its opening fact and the law, 38 CFR 21.4267, 38 U.S.C. 3533.

VA’s rule on independent study, 38 CFR 21.4267, sets which courses taken online VA will pay for, and remedial and deficiency courses taken online are among those it does not. That holds on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and on Chapter 35 (DEA), and the format the class is offered in is what decides it.

Chapter 35 has a rule of its own for remedial work, in 38 U.S.C. 3533. Up to 5 months of full-time remedial training under DEA are not charged against the student’s months. A student on DEA has up to 36 months if school started on or after August 1, 2018, and up to 45 if it started before, and those remedial months are not taken from them. On the Post-9/11 GI Bill the months are up to 36, charged at the rate of pursuit, so 9 credits of 12 uses three-quarters of a month for each month enrolled.

Because the format decides it, the time to settle it is before the term is certified. A student placed in a remedial class can ask the school how the class is offered. The school’s certifying official certifies enrollment to VA and can talk through a plan, and VA decides eligibility and months. A change after the term starts has its own rule: dropping a class without a documented reason can take pay back to the first day of the term, and the first withdrawal of up to 6 credits counts as having a reason.

The rule reaches remedial and deficiency courses taken online. Other courses taken online follow VA’s other rules, among them the online housing rate on the Post-9/11 GI Bill: all-online study pays half the national average housing allowance, and one in-person class keeps the local rate. Housing pays only above half time, at the rate of pursuit rounded to the nearest 10 percent.

By We Got You 1776, LLC.

GI Bill and VA education benefits FAQ

Other ways people ask this

Related questions

Terms (6)
Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)
38 U.S.C. 3312(a), 38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)
The Post-9/11 education benefit: up to 36 months that pay tuition and fees to the school, a monthly housing allowance set by the campus ZIP code, and a yearly payment for books and supplies. How much it pays depends on how long the member served (the eligibility tier).
Chapter 35 DEA (Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance)
38 U.S.C. 3501(a)(1), 38 U.S.C. 3532(a)
A VA program for the spouse or child of a Veteran VA has found permanently and totally disabled by a service-connected disability, or who died of one or in the line of duty. It pays a monthly payment directly to the student, who pays the school, in steps by training time, and has no housing allowance or book stipend.
Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA)
38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)(B)
The GI Bill’s monthly housing payment: DoD’s Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-5 with dependents at the ZIP code of the campus where the student attends most classes. Schools abroad use one foreign rate instead, and a U.S. school’s campus abroad may not get the home campus rate.
Rate of pursuit
38 U.S.C. 3313(c)(1)(B)(i), 38 CFR 21.9641(c)(1)
How much of a full load you are carrying, as a percentage. Nine credits where 12 is full time is 75 percent. The GI Bill pays housing by it, rounded to the nearest 10 percent, and only when it is over 50 percent. It also sets how fast your GI Bill months get used. DEA uses steps instead: full, three-quarter, half, and less than half.
Full time, three-quarter time and half time
38 CFR 21.4270(c), 38 U.S.C. 3532(a)
How VA measures a course load. VA counts 14 credits a term as full time unless the school certifies 12 or 13 for its undergraduates. Where 12 is full time, 9 to 11 is three-quarter time and 6 to 8 is half time; for graduate work, full time is what the school certifies, or 14 credits. Chapter 35 DEA pays in steps by it, and the GI Bill pays housing only above half time.
School Certifying Official (SCO)
38 U.S.C. 3684(a)(1)
The person at a school who certifies enrollment to VA and can talk through a plan, and the one to ask to review yours in writing before you enroll. VA decides eligibility and months.

From The Order Matters, The Terms, Plainly, and terms added or reworded here since, which go into the book at its next update.

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GI Bill questions answered with the law: three question cards from Questions from the Field, fanned, a child’s transferred months and Chapter 35 in front.The We Got You 1776 seal, the picture for the founder’s article Transparent and referenced: 1776 and We Got You in gold and cream on black, For Military Families.We Got You 1776. Plan around your education benefits: a book, reference charts and an app for military families. The card shows The Order Matters in front of a reference chart and College Tool with its icon.

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Sources (20)

The official sources this answer is built on, the law first, then the official pages.

  1. 38 U.S.C. 3312Post-9/11 educational assistance: 36 months
  2. 38 U.S.C. 3313What the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays: tuition and fees, housing by rate of pursuit, the foreign and online rates, books
  3. 38 U.S.C. 3511Chapter 35 (DEA): 36 months, or 45 before August 1, 2018
  4. 38 U.S.C. 3533Chapter 35 (DEA): remedial courses not charged, up to 5 months
  5. 38 U.S.C. 3680Payment in arrears, and dropping a class with or without a reason
  6. 38 U.S.C. 3685Overpayments, and who owes them
  7. 38 CFR 21.3045DEA entitlement charges
  8. 38 CFR 21.4135Discontinuance dates
  9. 38 CFR 21.4136Withdrawals and nonpunitive grades
  10. 38 CFR 21.4203What schools report to VA (the certifying official's job)
  11. 38 CFR 21.4267Independent study, including remedial courses taken online
  12. 38 CFR 21.9561Post-9/11 GI Bill months charged at your rate of pursuit
  13. 38 CFR 21.9636Post-9/11 GI Bill discontinuance dates
  14. 38 CFR 21.9641Post-9/11 GI Bill rates of payment: housing more than half time, rounded to the nearest 10 percent, the foreign rate
  15. VASchool Certifying Official Handbook
  16. VA.govSurvivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA, Chapter 35)
  17. VA.govPost-9/11 GI Bill rates, August 1, 2026 to July 31, 2027
  18. VA.govFry Scholarship rates
  19. VA.govTransferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit rates
  20. VA.govPost-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33)

The full list is on Sources and Official References.

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The Order Matters, EPUBFirst Edition, Revised October 2026, ISBN 979-8-9967812-1-8
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Official sourcesCitation register, 110 sources
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