Training time & rate of pursuit
How do I calculate training time?
Divide certifiable credits by your school's full-time definition for that program level. Here are the standard bands and the mistakes to avoid.
Training time is the student's certifiable credits divided by your institution's full-time definition for that program level, expressed as a percentage. The VA does not set full-time for you. Your school does, and it can differ between undergraduate, graduate, and accelerated programs.
Undergraduate standard semester bands
- 12 or more credits: full-time (100%).
- 9 to 11 credits: three-quarter time (75%).
- 6 to 8 credits: half-time (50%).
- Fewer than 6 credits: less than half-time.
Graduate programs often define full-time as 9 credits, and nonstandard terms need their own review. In my office, we keep a written chart from the registrar with the full-time definition for every program level, and we update it whenever academic policy changes.
Mistakes I see most
- Applying the 12-credit undergraduate rule to a graduate student.
- Rounding credits up. Report exact enrollment.
- Counting audit courses. They never count toward training time.
- Including courses that are not on the student's degree plan.