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Education and Training

School Certifying Official (SCO) Training

2019/2020 School Certifying Official Training Countdown

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) effective August 1, 2018.

Existing SCOs at a covered educational institutions and training facilities where the educational institutions or facilities have enrolled 20 or more individuals during a calendar year using educational assistance under title 38, United States Code are required to complete training. See Covered Educational Institutions to verify if your facility is subject to the training requirement.

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Required Training for School Certifying Officials - Effective August 1, 2019

Online Training Instructions

Online Training

Training FAQs

Registration Process

SCOs will be required to self-register prior to accessing the SCO training. See step-by-step instructions for the registration process and to access the online training. For assistance with technical issues please contact the VBA Support Team.

Conference Training Credit

SCOs are now able to receive annual training credit for qualifying conference training presented virtually by Education Service or in-person at a National, Regional, Local Conference or Workshop by VA Staff between October 2019 – July 2020.

Obtaining Conference Credit

To obtain credit for conference training SCOs must:

1. ATTEND - Attend a Virtual, National, Regional, Local Conference or Workshop offering eligible SCO Annual Training. Training must be taught or co-taught with an ELR or VA staff member.
2. RECORD - Record your attendance using the MENTI code given at the session or an alternative attendance tracking method designated by presenter.
3. CERTIFY - Go on the SCO Training Portal and certify each conference session you attended. By completing this form you are certifying that you attended this training in-person and documented your attendance at the conference training session.
4. PRINT - Print your certificate and keep for your records.
5. PROFILE - Check your profile to make sure all of your online and conference credit is properly counted.

Covered Educational Institution

Covered educational institutions are educational institutions that have enrolled 20 or more individuals using educational assistance under tile 38, United States Code. This includes main campuses, branch campuses, and extension campuses. See Covered Educational Institutions to verify if your facility is subject to the training requirement.  SCOs who have questions regarding covered educational institutions should direct them to their ELR of jurisdiction.

Who is affected?

Existing SCOs at a covered educational institutions and training facilities where the educational institutions or facilities have enrolled 20 or more individuals during a calendar year using educational assistance under title 38, United States Code.

Note: Note: Existing SCOs at educational institutions or facilities with less than 20 VA eligible students enrolled are not subject to the training requirements, however are welcome to take the training and may access it on the GI Bill Website for School Administrators.

Existing SCO Training Requirements

The training program consists of multiple training modules designed to present the concepts and procedures necessary for a SCO to successfully perform the basic functions of his/her duties.  SCOs are required to take a minimum of two online training modules specific to their facility type to meet their annual training requirement.  You may choose from a list of electives to complete the 5-hour annual requirement.

SCO training impacts existing SCOs continuing employment on or after August 1, 2019 at a covered educational institution. Existing SCOs will have 1 year between August 1, 2019 through July 31, 2020 to complete the annual training requirement.

Existing SCO Training Requirements
  • IHL, NCD, and Vocational Flight Facilities – Existing SCOs will be required to complete 5 hours of training. The training consists of multiple online training modules and qualifying VA sessions presented at National and/or State school conferences.
  • OJT and Apprenticeship Facilities - Existing SCOs will be required to complete 1.5 hours of training, consisting of 1 virtual training module specific to his or her facility type.
  • Existing SCO will be required to take training on an annual basis to remain compliant with this law.

New SCO Training Requirements

Beginning on or after August 1, 2019, VA has determined that all new SCOs, will be required to complete the Department of Veterans Affairs School Certifying Official Training 2019. This training requirement will ensure that all new SCOs are properly trained, resulting in a positive outcome for beneficiaries.

  • New SCOs are individuals who begin work as a SCO on or after August 1, 2019.
  • New SCOs will be identified using VA Form 22-8794 (Designation of School Certifying Officials).
  • New SCOs must complete training prior to being authorized to certify enrollments to VA. To meet this prerequisite, the designated individual(s) must submit a copy of their certificate of completion along with the VA Form 22-8794 to the ELR of jurisdiction.
New SCO Training Requirements
  • IHL and NCD Facilities - New SCOs will be required to complete 10 virtual training modules (approximately 5 hours of training).
  • OJT and Apprenticeship Facilities - New SCOs will be required to complete 1 virtual training module (approximately 1.5 hours of training) specific to his or her facility type.
  • Vocational Flight Facilities - New SCOs will be required to complete 1 virtual training module (approximately 1.5 hours of training) specific to his or her facility type.
  • High School and Residency Programs - New SCOs are required to complete 1 virtual training module (approximately 1.5 hours) applicable to his or her facility type. Future updates to this module will include scenarios specific to these two facility types.

Note: A “Read-only” SCO is an individual at an institution with permission to access read-only or inquiry-only information. If your institution has identified an individual as a “Read-only SCO”, that individual has no training requirement and is not approved to submit enrollment information to VA.

See the School Certifying Official Training

Consequences for Non-Compliance (Existing SCOs Only)

VA will post reminders and notifications on the GI Bill website for School Administrators, announce reminders during SCO webinars, and request that ELRs keep SCOs informed throughout the training window to make them aware of the deadline. If existing SCOs under covered educational institutions or facilities are non-compliant after the deadline has passed, he or she will be contacted by the ELR of jurisdiction informing him or her of the impending loss of their ability to certify enrollments to VA. Furthermore, the State Approving Agency (SAA) may disapprove any training program offered by the training institution or facility if the SCO fails to meet the training requirements.

Technical Issues

Contact us if you are experiencing technical issues with accessing the training modules.

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