AVECO Conference 2014
Education Service Outreach Section
IHL – Flight Degrees
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Training Overview
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IHL Degrees – Flight Major
Restrictions
Vocational Flight Training v/s IHL Flight Degrees
Approval Criteria – SAA
Contracted Training
IHL Program description – (Degree Program)
Tuition and fees costs (Flight Lab fees)
Academic Standards
Institutional accountability
SCO certifying enrollment
SCO monitoring enrollment changes
VA compliance survey findings
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
IHL Degrees – Flight Major
Colleges and Universities offer Associate or higher
degrees majoring in Aviation, Aeronautics or Professional
Pilot.
The IHL either owns their own flight training facility or
contracts with a vocational flight school to provide the
“hands on” flight instruction.
The hands on instruction is offered as a credit hour
subject that includes a syllabus of XX hours for each pilot
certification subject
The cost of the flight lab instructional hours is charged
separately from normal registration fees but all must be
charged by the IHL to the student
Academic standards of progress and competency based
standards must be in place to monitor student progress.
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Restrictions
Restrictions for Flight Training:
- Vocational Flight Training requires student to possess Private Pilot
License as prerequisite
- IHL degrees only as NCD vocational diplomas and certificates
cannot be approved for programs of flight training pilot license ratings
The Institution of Higher learning must be approved for the degree program,
fully disclose program requirements and term costs, students register at the
IHL each term for subjects in the program, all tuition and fees (including flight
lab fees) are charged by the IHL and student pays the IHL
Must meet FAA Part 141 Air Agency Certificate criteria in addition to
approved Training Course Outline and Syllabus for each flight rating.
Copy of contract is required when IHL contracts with other entity to provide
flight training instructional hours for degree subjects.
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Restrictions
VA does impose the 85/15% enrollment ratio for both vocational flight schools
and standard colleges and universities.
If an IHL has a VA –Non VA ratio in a program that exceeds 85% supported
by VA the institution must monitor and inform VA ELR.
- Result is VA will not allow the school to certify any new VA
students in the degree program until the ratio is in compliance.
Example: IHL has a popular degree program in Professional Pilot and at the
start of Spring semester 2014 there are a total of 90 degree seeking students
registered. VA students represent 90% (81). The IHL is in violation of
approval and must inform VA. The IHL cannot certify any new VA students
for this degree major until the ratio is in compliance. VA ELR will officially
notify the IHL of the suspension of new enrollments effective the start of the
next term.
The ratio must be computed for each subsequent term
NOTE: VA Education Liaison Representative and or CELO will provide the
IHL with instructions and guidance
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Vocational v/s Degree
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Vocational flight training is allowed on the GI Bill by
an approved FAA Part 141 Flight School leading to a
vocational objective (i.e. Commercial Pilot, Instructor,
etc)
GI Bill recognizes a percentage reimbursement to
non Chapter 33 students
Chapter 33 recognizes an annual dollar amount cap
for vocational flight charges
The approval for flight ratings is approved as not to
exceed XX hours of instruction per FAA approval and
the TCO
Students pay the flight school for ongoing training
VA issues recurring payment to student
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Vocational v/s Degree
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Non Chapter 33 enrolled in an IHL for a flight degree
are only awarded a monthly benefit rate based on the
term and credits certified.
Chapter 33 students will be certified to VA for same
but also will include tuition and fees
Critical area of review for SCO
VA issues T&F to IHL for amount certified
Student may withdraw during term
Student may be withdrawn by instructor
Student may not utilize all fees certified
*Vocational Flight Training is a
“reimbursement” to student based on hours of
flight training on a monthly basis
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Vocational v/s Degree
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IHL Degree in Flight or Aviation is offered by an IHL
that contains a complete degree curriculum and leads
to Associate or Bachelor degree
IHL either owns the flight training center or contracts
with an entity to provide this portion of training
The degree program generally includes subjects of
flight labs in Private Pilot, Commercial Pilot,
Instrument Rating, etc that are assigned academic
credits & provide for XX hours of airplane instruction
*IHL degree program does recognize college credits
for Private Pilot flight lab subject
IHL certifies degree credits to VA for awarding tuition
and fees to IHL, BAH to students, and book stipend
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
State Approving Agency Approval
The State Approving Agency (SAA) is responsible for the approval
of the IHL degree program:
- the IHL is approved by the appropriate State agency(s) –
public and private to offer the degree
- FAA approval
- Contracted training or owned by the IHL
- Tuition and fees are charged by the IHL to the student
- Student does not pay tuition and fees directly to the Flight
facility
- Degree program description and full disclosure of training
costs are published
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Contracted Flight Training
The IHL is required to have a contract with any
entity (Vocational Flight School – FAA part 141
approved) to offer the Flight Lab credit hour training
- Contract must contain
- owner of facility
- location of flight training
- aircraft description
- qualifications of instructors
- Training Syllabus
- Approved FAA Training Course Outline
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Degree Program
• IHL program for degrees in Aviation or Pilot will
have a standard degree which will include pilot
Flight Labs for as an example:
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Private Pilot - 2 credits (40 hours of instruction)
Commercial Pilot – 4 credits (80 hours)
Instrument – 2 credits (40 hours)
Multi-Engine – 2 credits (30 hours)
Instructor – 2 credits (30 hours)
* for either airplane or helicopter
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Tuition & Fees – Flight Degree
IHL charges standard tuition per credit hour and
fees for standard college subjects.
Flight Lab fees are exceedingly higher based on
aircraft rental, instructor fees which are based on
hourly rates varying based on type of aircraft and
horsepower.
Typical flight lab fees for a subject in one term may
exceed $10,000
The cost is based on a syllabus for lesson plans as
prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA)
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Tuition & Fees – Flight Degree
The IHL publishes the cost of the flight degree
program – and students are charged the tuition and
fees when registering each term.
- Business office student account ledgers must
be maintained for the charges
- Business office must reconcile at the end of
each term of actual fees student accrued
- These costs may vary since this is
competency based training and aircraft hourly rates
may also vary in price.
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Institutional Academic Standards
The IHL must establish a standard of progress for
academic performance of Flight Labs under the IHL
academic standards for:
- Incomplete grades
- Punitive F grades
- Pursuit of hours of flight training during the term –
when must student retake the flight lab
- Limitation of flight lab hours to not exceed the IHL
flight lab hour maximum
- Communication between Flight program director,
Business Office, and SCO
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Institutional Accountability
The SCO must ensure accurate enrollment
information is submitted to VA for:
- terms and non-standard Flight Lab terms
- tuition
- standard fees and published fees for Flight Lab
- Monitoring and review of Flight Lab hours of
training and cost of the training
- Amend charges based on actual IHL fees of
student Flight Lab hours of instruction
- Adjust or terminate when student withdraws
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
SCO Certifications
The SCO obtains the registration schedule and
student account ledger to accurately certify term
dates, credits, modality, and tuition and fees.
Monitoring is critical to ensure students do not
exceed the IHL flight hours per subject.
VA does not allow the IHL to certify flight lab
charges beyond the approved hours.
*Excessive hours are the student responsibility
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
What the SCO Certifies on each
Enrollment
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The 85/15% enrollment ratio requirement has been satisfied
Student certified is not an owner or officer of the school nor is the
student certified as an official authorized to sign enrollment
certifications
The institution holds no power of attorney agreement authorizing the
institution to negotiate VA educational assistance allowance checks
No course certified is a repetition of any course previously
satisfactorily completed except as permitted by VA regulations
The course or courses certified (added: excluding DEEMED approved
institution degree programs) are approved by the State Approving
Agency and are generally acceptable to meet requirements for the
student’s objective
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Example
Chapter 33 student certified to VA for Spring
Semester 2014 in AS Professional Pilot Degree
program.
15 credits
= $ 1,800
Standard fees = $ 340
Flight Lab fees = $12,000
Student withdraws from the flight lab Private Pilot 2
credit subject March 10, 2014
IHL Flight instructor reports $4,500 of fees charged
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Example
A remaining balance of $7,500 in flight lab fees for
the Private Pilot 2 credit subject is confirmed
- In this example SCO would submit an
amended certification to VA reducing total fees by
$7,500 resulting in a school overpayment to VA
*This amount should not be viewed as a student
refund or no refund at all if over the time frame for
the institutional policy to refund student.
- Following the amended certification SCO
would submit an adjusted certification reducing total
number of credits from 15 to 13.
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Example
Basis of this action is the fact that the IHL flight lab
fees for Spring term for the 2 credit subject was
$12,000 based on 40 hours of instruction for the
Private Pilot Flight Lab syllabus.
Fact that student actually completed 15 hours
resulted in balance of fees certified but not
pursued.
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Example 2
Student registers and pursues Private Pilot 2 credit
subject which requires 40 hours of flight instruction.
The cost is $12,000.
Student level of proficiency is below standard and
flight instructor will not sign off satisfactory status at
the conclusion of 40 hours. Student requires
additional hours.
The additional hours and charges cannot be
certified to VA as the maximum of 40 hours were
certified and paid by VA.
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
VA Compliance Findings
- Identified IHL’s certifying excessive flight lab fees
beyond the maximum hours for the subject.
- IHL Business Office Manager had no exchange of
information from the Flight Training Director of
actual charges for unit flight labs
- IHL Business Office Manager could not reconcile
any charges until student graduates or leaves the
college which may take 6-8 semesters
- Students and flight instructors not following
established syllabus for instruction
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
VA Compliance Findings
- The IHL
- did not have a valid contract with the flight school
entity providing flight instruction
- did not have any standards of progress for flight
degree students
- retained unspent flight lab fees when students
withdrew from the flight lab subject
- The IHL did not charge students for flight lab fees
and students paid directly to flight training location
or contractor – yet IHL certified flight lab fees
- No procedures for grading practices for flight labs
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
COMPLIANCE SURVEY
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION