|
Dear School Certifying Official,
We are writing to let you know about an upcoming change to the annual School Certifying Official (SCO) training window. Starting January 1, 2027, the training year will shift from the current October 1 to August 31 cycle to a new January 1 to November 30 cycle. December will be reserved for SCO Training Portal maintenance each year.
Why are we making this change?
This change brings the training window into alignment with the calendar year, which will allow us to use more current data when monitoring compliance, give you a more predictable and consistent training schedule, and make it easier for Education Service to identify and address compliance trends throughout the year rather than waiting until the end of the cycle. Ultimately, this supports our shared goal of ensuring Veterans, service members, and their beneficiaries receive accurate and timely certification of their education benefits.
What does this mean for you?
For the current training cycle, the window has been extended through November 30, 2026. Please note that December 2026 will be a maintenance period, during which the SCO Training Portal will be unavailable for existing SCOs. Beginning January 1, 2027, the new annual training window will be in effect.
Action items:
-
Update your calendar. Mark November 30, 2026 as the close of the current training cycle and January 1, 2027, as the start of the new one.
-
Existing SCOs: Complete your training before November 30, 2026. If you work at a covered educational institution, designated SCOs are required to complete and certify their annual training before the window closes. Please log in to the SCO Training Portal now if you have not yet finished your modules.
-
New SCOs: Finish any in-progress modules by end of day November 30. You do not have a training cycle deadline and will retain access to the portal during the December maintenance period. However, if you are actively working on a module on November 30, you must complete it by the end of the business day. When the portal resets on December 1, 2026, all in-progress work will be cleared, and any unfinished module will need to be restarted after the reset.
-
Confirm your email address. While you are logged in to the SCO Training Portal, take a moment to verify that the email address in the “Your Profile” section matches the professional email you use in Enrollment Manager and other VA systems. Using one consistent email across all VA platforms ensures your training and compliance records are accurately captured.
-
Reach out with questions. If you have questions about how this change affects your compliance status or training requirements, please contact us at edutraining.vbaco@va.gov.
We will be sharing more information through upcoming training events, Office Hours, and communications in the months ahead. We appreciate your continued dedication to supporting Veterans and their families, and we hope to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Thank you,
National Training Team – Schools
Education Service
|
