As students head back to class, Benjamin Krause outlines how Veteran Readiness and Employment covers retraining, apprenticeships, tools and job placement.

WOODBURY, Minn., July 30th, 2026 — As fall terms begin, veterans law attorney Benjamin Krause is urging veterans with service-connected disabilities to reconsider Veteran Readiness and Employment, a Department of Veterans Affairs retraining program many mistake for a version of the GI Bill.

Known as Chapter 31, VR&E covers tuition and fees, pays a monthly subsistence allowance, and funds apprenticeships, certifications, tools, assistive technology and job placement. Eligible veterans may receive up to 48 months of services, compared with 36 under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Certain veterans with Serious Employment Handicap may receive additional training beyond 48 months in select circumstances.

“Veterans hear ‘education benefit’ and picture a classroom, so they never ask what else the program covers,” said Benjamin Krause, a VA-accredited attorney who used VR&E to fund his degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota Law School. “It can just as easily pay for a certification, an apprenticeship or equipment to start a business.”

Krause’s reporting addresses misconceptions that keep veterans from applying:

• Veterans rated 20% or higher may qualify with an employment handicap; those rated 10% need a serious employment handicap.
• Discharges on or after Jan. 1, 2013, carry no deadline. Earlier discharges may qualify for an extension of the 12-year window.
• Five service tracks cover reemployment, rapid job placement, self-employment, long-term training and independent living.
• A veteran denied services, or declared rehabilitated prematurely, may appeal.

Krause advises arriving at the first counseling session with a specific vocational goal and evidence supporting it, since counselors build the rehabilitation plan with the veteran and vague goals stall it. Service members in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System can begin before discharge.

Applications use VA Form 28-1900 at va.gov. Krause’s Voc Rehab Survival Guide is available at disabledveterans.org.

About Benjamin Krause

Benjamin Krause is a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran, VA-accredited attorney, and investigative journalist specializing in veterans law and policy reform. Through his law practice, Krause Law, PLLC, and DisabledVeterans.org, he represents veterans in complex VA benefits matters while exposing systemic failures through investigative journalism and policy advocacy.

For more information, visit benjaminkrauselaw.com and disabledveterans.org.

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