Is school a risk to my IU?

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Jim Strickland is a nationally known advocate for veterans and a member of the Stateside Legal Advisory Board. This column appears with his permission. Jim's opinions are his own.

NOTE: Letters in my Q&A columns are reprinted just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice. You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits.

Jim,

First off thank you for all you do for veterans.

I am a Iraq combat infantry vet. I am 80%SC, 100%IU (PTSD), P&T, SSDI.

I have been in thirty day inpatient programs here in Oregon. After all this I was thinking about trying to take a few class's at a community college (half time at most).

Would this be a risk to my IU? I'm not even sure if I will be able to go with out having to dropout due to PTSD troubles.

Reply:

No, not a risk. You should absolutely go for anything you feel remotely capable of.

Having said that...if VA determines that your condition has improved, now or for twenty years into the future, they may reexamine you and propose to lower your rating.

You must focus on two important facts. You want to get better. None of us choose to be 100% as a way of life. If you can bring normalcy into your life, you should even if it meant losing some of the rating.

But...it's very hard for VA to quantify what a return to a productive lifestyle means. The VA uses "gainful employment" as the point at which they will consider lowering your benefit. Gainful employment is full time work (12 months per year consecutively) and reasonable wages.

VA and SSA would like you to return to work and using rehab, going to school and so on are a good way to do that...if you are able. Good luck.

(Follow-up) Jim; Thanks. That’s what I’d wanted to hear.