Training time & rate of pursuit
What is rate of pursuit?
Rate of pursuit is enrolled credits divided by full-time. For Chapter 33, it must be above 50% for any housing allowance to pay.
Rate of pursuit is the student's enrolled credits divided by the credits your school defines as full-time, as a percentage. It is the number the VA pays from. For Post-9/11 GI Bill students, the rate of pursuit must be greater than 50% for any Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA) to pay, and MHA is prorated to that rate.
What it looks like in practice
- 12 of 12 credits: 100%, full MHA at the student's benefit percentage.
- 9 of 12 credits: 75%, reduced MHA.
- 6 of 12 credits: 50%, no MHA at all.
- 14 of 12 credits: still 100%. There is no bonus above full-time.
The cliff at half-time is the most consequential line in the whole calculation. When a student asks me about dropping a class, the first thing I check is whether it pushes them to 50% or below, because that turns a smaller payment into no housing payment.