For the purposes of this chapter and chapters 34 and 35 of this title—

(1) an institutional trade or technical course offered on a clock-hour basis, not leading to a standard college degree, involving shop practice as an integral part thereof, shall be considered a full-time course when a minimum of 22 hours per week of attendance (excluding supervised study) is required, with no more than 2½ hours of rest periods per week allowed;

(2) an institutional course offered on a clock-hour basis, not leading to a standard college degree, in which theoretical or classroom instruction predominates shall be considered a full-time course when a minimum of 18 hours per week net of instruction (excluding supervised study but which may include customary intervals not to exceed 10 minutes between hours of instruction) is required;

(3) an academic high school course requiring sixteen units for a full course shall be considered a full-time course when (A) a minimum of four units per year is required or (B) an individual is pursuing a program of education leading to an accredited high school diploma at a rate which, if continued, would result in receipt of such a diploma in four ordinary school years. For the purpose of subclause (A) of this clause, a unit is defined to be not less than one hundred and twenty sixty-minute hours or their equivalent of study in any subject in one academic year;

(4) an institutional undergraduate course offered by a college or university on a standard quarter- or semester-hour basis, other than a course pursued as part of a program of education beyond the baccalaureate level, shall be considered a full-time course when a minimum of fourteen semester hours per semester or the equivalent thereof (including such hours for which no credit is granted but which are required to be taken to correct an educational deficiency and which the educational institution considers to be quarter or semester hours for other administrative purposes), for which credit is granted toward a standard college degree, is required, except that where such college or university certifies, upon the request of the Secretary, that (A) full-time tuition is charged to all undergraduate students carrying a minimum of less than fourteen such semester hours or the equivalent thereof, or (B) all undergraduate students carrying a minimum of less than fourteen such semester hours or the equivalent thereof, are considered to be pursuing a full-time course for other administrative purposes, then such an institutional undergraduate course offered by such college or university with such minimum number of such semester hours shall be considered a full-time course, but in the event such minimum number of semester hours is less than twelve semester hours or the equivalent thereof, then twelve semester hours or the equivalent thereof shall be considered a full-time course;

(5) a program of apprenticeship or a program of other on-job training shall be considered a full-time program when the eligible veteran or person is required to work the number of hours constituting the standard workweek of the training establishment, but a workweek of less than thirty hours shall not be considered to constitute full-time training unless a lesser number of hours has been established as the standard workweek for the particular establishment through bona fide collective bargaining;

(6) an institutional course offered as part of a program of education, not leading to a standard college degree, under section 3034(a)(3), 3241(a)(2), or 3533(a) of this title shall be considered a full-time course on the basis of measurement criteria provided in clause (2), (3), or (4) of this subsection as determined by the educational institution; and

(7) an institutional course not leading to a standard college degree offered by an educational institution on a standard quarter- or semester-hour basis shall be measured as full time on the same basis as provided in paragraph (4) of this subsection, but if the educational institution offering the course is not an institution of higher learning, then in no event shall such course be considered full time when it requires less than the minimum weekly hours of attendance required for full time by paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection, as appropriate.

The Secretary shall define part-time training in the case of the types of courses referred to in subsection (a), and shall define full-time and part-time training in the case of all other types of courses pursued under this chapter, chapter 30, 32, 33, or 35 of this title, or chapter 106 of title 10.

(Added Pub. L. 92–540, title III, § 316(2), Oct. 24, 1972, 86 Stat. 1086, § 1788; amended Pub. L. 93–508, title II, § 211, Dec. 3, 1974, 88 Stat. 1585; Pub. L. 94–502, title V, § 509(a), Oct. 15, 1976, 90 Stat. 2400; Pub. L. 95–202, title III, § 304(a)(3), Nov. 23, 1977, 91 Stat. 1442; Pub. L. 96–466, title III, § 345, title VI, § 601(f), Oct. 17, 1980, 94 Stat. 2199, 2208; Pub. L. 97–295, § 4(58), Oct. 12, 1982, 96 Stat. 1309; Pub. L. 99–576, title III, § 315(a)(2), (b), Oct. 28, 1986, 100 Stat. 3274; Pub. L. 100–322, title III, § 321(a), May 20, 1988, 102 Stat. 535; Pub. L. 101–237, title IV, §§ 413(a), 417, 423(b)(1)(A), Dec. 18, 1989, 103 Stat. 2085, 2086, 2092; renumbered § 3688 and amended Pub. L. 102–83, § 5(a), (c)(1), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 406; Pub. L. 102–568, title III, § 316(a), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4333; Pub. L. 103–446, title VI, § 607, title XII, § 1201(e)(12), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4672, 4685; Pub. L. 110–252, title V, § 5003(b)(2)(A)(ii), June 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2375.)