Make it Easier for Veterans to Take your Certification Exam

The Montgomery GI Bill doesn’t just help veterans pay for college anymore. In 2001, Congress approved provisions that allowed eligible veterans to be reimbursed from The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for taking approved certification and licensure exams. Veterans can receive reimbursement of up to $2,000 per exam. The VA lists all currently approved exams online.

SeaCrest is gathering information on the VA’s certification exam approval process to publish a future article on the potential benefits of the process for certification organizations. We also hope to take the feedback you post to create a roadmap of how to get exams approved. If you have had experience with the VA’s approval process we would like to hear from you. If you are not familiar with the process – information on the requirements is included below.

If the VA approved your exam, we would like to hear about your experiences. Please post your comments below. Consider the following questions:

• How easy or difficult was the approval process?.
• Did it make a difference if your certification was already recognized by one or more states and/or had third party accreditation?
• What tips would you give to other certifying agencies considering this process?
• What were the challenges?
• What are the benefits?

If you are familiar with this VA program, but you haven’t pursued approval of your exam yet, let us know why not.

If you are not familiar with the VA’s approval process, please read on and let us know what you think.

How can I have my exam approved by the VA?

The VA encourages certification organizations to request VA approval of their exams. If you are interested in getting VA approval for your certification program’s exam(s) the first step is to contact the State approving agency where your organization is headquartered.

The process is relatively straightforward. Although each state has its own approval process and paperwork, you can expect it to include completion of forms that document:

• Contact information for the program
• Eligibility and recertification requirements
• Exam fees
• Description of the certification exam (oral, written, practical, etc.)
• List of entities that recognize the exam
• Assurance that the certification is generally accepted within your industry and that the exam has been developed in accordance with generally accepted standards

Other requirements generally include that the organization is a legal entity that has been offering certification for at least two years, has sufficiently knowledgeable staff and/or consultants, does not have a financial conflict with the outcome of the test or the education/training to take the test, has appropriate record retention policies, appropriately notifies candidates of their exam results, and has a complaint/appeal process. A copy of the candidate handbook may also be required.

Once a certification is approved by the state agency the information is entered into the VA’s national database and any eligible veteran can apply for reimbursement of the cost of the exam.