How Veteran Benefits Work with Continuing Education Classes

Continuing Education classes can be a great option whether you need flexibility, are on suspension, or would like to take a class that is difficult to find on main campus.

While our classes are eligible for the GI Bill, there are a few things you should know before you get started, especially as our classes pertain to your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA).

  • Most Continuing Education classes are either in an online or hybrid format. To receive your full MHA, you must make sure at least one of your classes is fully in-person (i.e., non-online and non-hybrid). 

  • Most Continuing Education classes start one week after main campus classes, and many are offered in condensed 7- or 10-week formats. Your MHA is prorated to the day, which means you will not receive the full housing allowance each day you are enrolled in fewer than 12 credits.

Example: If nine of your credits are full session, and three are in the 10-week session, you are only considered full-time for the purposes of MHA during the 10 weeks that all of your classes overlap.

  • Continuing Education offers online classes in a self-paced format, meaning you can enroll at any time and have up to six months from your enrollment date to complete the class. To certify your benefits, CU must submit the start and stop dates of each class to the VA; however, because start and stop dates for self-paced classes vary, we cannot determine these dates in advance of course completion.

Since CU Boulder cannot certify self-paced classes until they are complete, you are required pay out of pocket for this option and the VA will refund you upon completion. While you are enrolled in a self-paced class, your MHA will be based on the other credits you take. If you are eligible for additional MHA based on your self-paced class, you will be back-paid after the course is completed and certified.

Please contact the CU Boulder Veteran and Military Affairs Office with additional questions about how your benefits work with Continuing Education classes.