School Certifying Official Training Overview
Section 305 of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017, also known as the “Colmery Act,” requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in consultation with the State Approving Agencies (SAAs), to develop and administer required training for School Certifying Officials (SCOs) at Covered Educational Institutions effective August 1, 2018.
A “Covered Educational Institution” is an educational institution that has enrolled 20 or more individuals during a calendar year, using VA educational assistance under Title 38, United States Code. This includes main, branch and extension campuses approved by the SAA. Verify your school is on the Covered Educational Institutions list. Questions regarding covered educational institutions should directed to the ELR of
jurisdiction.
SCO Annual Training Schedule
- October 1st: Annual Training Window Opens
- June 2nd: 90-Day Training Alert
- July 2nd: 60-Day Training Alert
- August 1st: 30-Day Training Alert
- August 31st: Annual Training Window Closes
Existing SCO Training Requirements
Effective October 1, 2020, Existing SCOs at Covered Educational Institutions that enrolled twenty (20) or more individuals using educational assistance under title 38, United States Code are required to complete VA specified training applicable to their facility type.
An existing SCO is an individual who began work prior to the beginning of the annual training cycle (October 1, 2020) and has access to VA systems for the purposes of certifying student enrollments.
Existing SCOs:
- Are required to self-register in the SCO Online Training Portal.
- Indicate if they perform centralized certification
- Indicate if they are the primary SCO at the facility
- Complete the training according to their facility type
New SCO Training Requirements
Effective October 1, 2020, new SCOs at educational institutions that enrolled one or more individual(s) using educational assistance under title 38, United States Code are required to complete VA specified training applicable to their facility type.
A new SCO is an individual who began work as a SCO on or after the beginning of the annual training cycle (October 1, 2020).
New School Certifying Officials:
- Are required to complete the online training modules specific to their facility type prior to being authorized to certify to the VA.
- Are required to self-register in the SCO Online Training Portal.
- Must submit the VA Form 22-8794 (Designation of School Certifying Officials) and a copy of their training certificates to their ELR of Jurisdiction prior to being authorized to certify VA student enrollments.
- Will not be authorized to certify VA student enrollment until training is completed.
- That complete the initial training have fulfilled the requirement for the fiscal year and will be required to take existing SCO training during the next training cycle beginning October 1, 2021.
- Complete the training according to their facility type
Read Only – SCOs
A Read-only SCO is an individual at an educational institution with permission to access enrollment information, request information, and submit inquiries to VA to assist an authorized SCO with obtaining accurate information to certify student’s enrollment. The educational institution must provide the ELR with the name(s) of the Read-Only SCOs on the VA Form 22-8794 before their information is entered in WEAMS.
Read-Only SCOs:
- Are not required to take SCO training
- Are not authorized to certify student’s enrollment to VA.
Consequences for Non-Compliance (Existing SCOs Only)
If SCOs at Covered Institutions fail to complete the annual training, VA will:
- Remove the SCO's ability to certify enrollments
- Refer the institution to the SAA to determine withdrawal actions
- Non-Compliant SCOs at covered institutions will be required to take the “New SCO” training specific to their facility type to restore their ability to certify enrollments to the VA.