What it is
VA Form 21-674, Request for Approval of School Attendance, is the form that keeps a child on your VA disability award between ages 18 and 23. Authority lives at 38 CFR 3.667 and the school-approval framework at 38 CFR 21.4250.
When you use it
Use it the moment a dependent child of yours is approaching 18 (or already 18 and starting school). VA automatically removes children from your benefits the month they turn 18. To keep the dependent allowance running, the child must be pursuing a course at a VA-approved educational institution and you must file. Per 3.667, the claim has to be filed within one year of the 18th birthday, or within one year of the course start date if the course begins after 18, for benefits to reach back to the start date.
What to gather before you fill it out
- Child's full legal name, SSN, and date of birth.
- School's name, address, and the type of program (high school, college, vocational).
- Term start date, expected end date, and whether attendance is full time.
- A school official's signature or a school-issued enrollment certification.
- Your VA file number or SSN.
How to submit
Fastest path: file VA Form 21-686c online at VA.gov, choose "Add a child 18 to 23 years old who'll be attending school," and 21-674 is generated in the same flow. You can also mail the signed PDF to the Janesville evidence intake center (Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444) or fax it per the latest VA.gov instructions.
Common pitfalls
- School is not on the state-approving-agency list under 21.4250, submission gets denied.
- Filing more than a year after the 18th birthday, you lose the retro window under 3.667.
- Forgetting to refile each academic year; the approval ends the last day of the month the listed course ends.
- Child elects Chapter 35 DEA, they cannot be both a Chapter 35 beneficiary and a school-child dependent.
- Attendance at a federal service academy (West Point, Annapolis, etc.), disqualifying under 3.667.
- Letting a gap between terms run long without confirming the child resumed; vacation coverage ends if they fail to return.
Related forms
VA Form 21-686c (Declaration of Status of Dependents), VA Form 21-0538 (Status of Dependents Questionnaire), VA Form 22-5490 (Chapter 35 DEA, note the election conflict).
Sources
- https://www.va.gov/find-forms/about-form-21-674/
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.667
- 38 CFR 3.667; 38 CFR 21.4250