---
kind: "section"
citation: "38 C.F.R. § 21.5740"
title: "38"
number: "21.5740"
heading: "Eligibility."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/38/21.5740"
---

# §21.5740. Eligibility.

- (a) **Establishing eligibility.** To establish eligibility to educational assistance under 10 U.S.C. Chapter 107 an individual must—
  - (1) Enlist or reenlist for service on active duty as a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps after September 30, 1980 and before October 1, 1981 specifically for benefits under the provisions of [10 U.S.C. 2141 through 2149](/usc/10/2141..2149.md), Pub. L. 96-342,
  - (2) Have graduated from a secondary school,
  - (3) Meet other requirements as the Secretary of Defense may consider appropriate for the purpose of this chapter and the needs of the Armed Forces,
  - (4) Meet the service requirements stated in [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section, and
  - (5) If a veteran, have been discharged under honorable conditions.
- (b) **Service Requirements.**
  - (1) The individual must complete 24 continuous months of active duty of the enlistment or reenlistment described in [paragraph (a)(1)](#a-1) of this section; or
  - (2) If the enlistment described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section is the individual's initial enlistment for service on active duty, the individual must—
    - (i) Complete 24 continuous months of active duty, or
    - (ii) **Be discharged or released from active duty—**
      - (A) Under [10 U.S.C. 1173](/usc/10/1173.md) (hardship discharge), or
      - (B) Under [10 U.S.C. 1171](/usc/10/1171.md) (early-out discharge), or
      - (C) For a disability incurred in or aggravated in line of duty; or
    - (iii) Be found by the VA to have a service-connected disability which gives the individual basic entitlement to disability compensation as described in [§ 3.4(b)](/cfr/38/3.4.md?p=b) of this title. Once the VA makes this finding, the individual's eligibility will continue notwithstanding that the disability becomes noncompensable.
  - (3) In computing time served for the purpose of this paragraph, VA will exclude any period during which the individual is not entitled to credit for service as specified in [§ 3.15](/cfr/38/3.15.md) of this title. However, those periods will not interrupt the individual's continuity of service.

## Notes

### Amendments

[45 FR 31, Jan. 2, 1980, as amended at 54 FR 34984, Aug. 23, 1989]

### Authority

Authority: 10 U.S.C. ch. 107; 38 U.S.C. 501(a), 3695, 5101, 5113, 5303A; 42 U.S.C. 2000; sec. 901, Pub. L. 96-342, 94 Stat. 1111-1114, unless otherwise noted.

### Source

Source: 51 FR 27026, July 29, 1986, unless otherwise noted.

### Amendments

[45 FR 31, Jan. 2, 1980, as amended at 54 FR 34984, Aug. 23, 1989]