§ 16131.
(a)
To encourage membership in units of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve, the Secretary of each military department, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, shall establish and maintain a program to provide educational assistance to members of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned who agree to remain members of the Selected Reserve for a period of not less than six years.
(b)
(1)
Except as provided in subsections (d) through (f), each educational assistance program established under subsection (a) shall provide for payment by the Secretary concerned, through the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to each person entitled to educational assistance under this chapter who is pursuing a program of education of an educational assistance allowance at the following rates:
(A)
$251 (as increased from time to time under paragraph (2)) per month for each month of full-time pursuit of a program of education;
(B)
$188 (as increased from time to time under paragraph (2)) per month for each month of three-quarter-time pursuit of a program of education;
(C)
$125 (as increased from time to time under paragraph (2)) per month for each month of half-time pursuit of a program of education; and
(D)
an appropriately reduced rate, as determined under regulations which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall prescribe, for each month of less than half-time pursuit of a program of education, except that no payment may be made to a person for less than half-time pursuit if tuition assistance is otherwise available to the person for such pursuit from the military department concerned.
(2)
With respect to any fiscal year, the Secretary shall provide a percentage increase (rounded to the nearest dollar) in the rates payable under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) equal to the percentage by which—
(A)
the Consumer Price Index (all items, United States city average) for the 12-month period ending on the June 30 preceding the beginning of the fiscal year for which the increase is made, exceeds
(B)
such Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period preceding the 12-month period described in subparagraph (A).
(d)
(1)
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amount of the monthly educational assistance allowance payable to a person pursuing a full-time program of apprenticeship or other on-the-job training under this chapter is—
(A)
for each of the first six months of the person’s pursuit of such program, 75 percent of the monthly educational assistance allowance otherwise payable to such person under this chapter;
(B)
for each of the second six months of the person’s pursuit of such program, 55 percent of such monthly educational assistance allowance; and
(C)
for each of the months following the first 12 months of the person’s pursuit of such program, 35 percent of such monthly educational assistance allowance.
(2)
In any month in which any person pursuing a program of education consisting of a program of apprenticeship or other on-the-job training fails to complete 120 hours of training, the amount of the monthly educational assistance allowance payable under this chapter to the person shall be limited to the same proportion of the applicable full-time rate as the number of hours worked during such month, rounded to the nearest 8 hours, bears to 120 hours.
(3)
(A)
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), for each month that such person is paid a monthly educational assistance allowance under this chapter, the person’s entitlement under this chapter shall be charged at the rate of—
(i)
75 percent of a month in the case of payments made in accordance with paragraph (1)(A);
(ii)
55 percent of a month in the case of payments made in accordance with paragraph (1)(B); and
(iii)
35 percent of a month in the case of payments made in accordance with paragraph (1)(C).
(B)
Any such charge to the entitlement shall be reduced proportionately in accordance with the reduction in payment under paragraph (2).
(f)
(1)
Each individual who is pursuing a program of education consisting exclusively of flight training approved as meeting the requirements of
section 16136(c) of this title shall be paid an educational assistance allowance under this chapter in the amount equal to 60 percent of the established charges for tuition and fees which similarly circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the same flight course are required to pay.
(2)
No educational assistance allowance may be paid under this chapter to an individual for any month during which such individual is pursuing a program of education consisting exclusively of flight training until the Secretary has received from that individual and the institution providing such training a certification of the flight training received by the individual during that month and the tuition and other fees charged for that training.
(3)
The period of entitlement of an individual pursuing a program of education described in paragraph (1) shall be charged with one month for each amount equal to the amount of the monthly rate payable under subsection (b)(1)(A) for the fiscal year concerned which is paid to that individual as an educational assistance allowance for such program.
(4)
The number of solo flying hours for which an individual may be paid an educational assistance allowance under this subsection may not exceed the minimum number of solo flying hours required by the Federal Aviation Administration for the flight rating or certification which is the goal of the individual’s flight training.
(i)
(1)
In the case of a person who has a skill or specialty designated by the Secretary concerned as a skill or specialty in which there is a critical shortage of personnel or for which it is difficult to recruit or, in the case of critical units, retain personnel, the Secretary concerned may increase the rate of the educational assistance allowance applicable to that person to such rate in excess of the rate prescribed under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection (b)(1) as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate, but the amount of any such increase may not exceed $350 per month.
(2)
In the case of a person who has a skill or specialty designated by the Secretary concerned as a skill or specialty in which there is a critical shortage of personnel or for which it is difficult to recruit or, in the case of critical units, retain personnel, who is eligible for educational benefits under chapter 30 (other than section 3012) of title 38 and who meets the eligibility criteria specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
section 16132(a)(1) of this title, the Secretary concerned may increase the rate of the educational assistance allowance applicable to that person to such rate in excess of the rate prescribed under
section 3015 of title 38 as the Secretary of Defense considers appropriate, but the amount of any such increase may not exceed $350 per month.
(3)
The authority provided by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be exercised by the Secretaries concerned under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
(j)
(1)
Subject to paragraph (3), the amount of educational assistance payable under this chapter for a licensing or certification test described in
section 3452(b) of title 38 is the lesser of $2,000 or the fee charged for the test.
(2)
The number of months of entitlement charged in the case of any individual for such licensing or certification test is equal to the number (including any fraction) determined by dividing the total amount of educational assistance paid such individual for such test by the full-time monthly institutional rate of educational assistance which, but for paragraph (1), such individual would otherwise be paid under subsection (b).
(3)
In no event shall payment of educational assistance under this subsection for such a test exceed the amount of the individual’s available entitlement under this chapter.
(Added [Pub. L. 95–79, title IV, § 402(a)], July 30, 1977, [91 Stat. 328], § 2131; amended [Pub. L. 96–107, title IV, § 402(a)], Nov. 9, 1979, [93 Stat. 808]; [Pub. L. 96–342, title IX, § 906(a)(1)], Sept. 8, 1980, [94 Stat. 1117]; [Pub. L. 96–513, title V, § 511(68)], Dec. 12, 1980, [94 Stat. 2926]; [Pub. L. 98–525, title VII, § 705(a)(1)], Oct. 19, 1984, [98 Stat. 2565]; [Pub. L. 100–689, title I], §§ 110(a), 111(b)(1), Nov. 18, 1988, [102 Stat. 4170], 4172; [Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title VI]