VA removes a child from dependent benefits at age 18 unless it has information supporting continued eligibility. If your child is still in school, VA Form 21-674, Request for Approval of School Attendance, supplies that information. It covers a child who is at least 18 but under 23.

The current official form is the November 2024 edition, replacing October 2021. I checked all three pages on September 25, 2026. The application has six sections and ends with Item 16D; page 3 contains instructions that change how you should answer several fields.

Who completes it, and when?

The person receiving or claiming benefits for the veteran's child normally completes the form. That may be the veteran, surviving spouse, guardian, or custodian. The student completes and signs it on their own behalf only when they have reached the age of majority under state law and are claiming direct payment of benefits.

Being an adult student does not automatically make the student the signer of a parent's dependency request.

For additional disability compensation, the veteran generally needs a combined rating of at least 30%. Pension and survivor claims have their own requirements. The child must meet VA's dependency requirements; school attendance alone does not establish every part of eligibility. VA's manage-dependents guidance includes full-time and part-time school enrollment.

Tell VA before your child turns 18 if school attendance will continue. Also report changes to the school or expected graduation date. Do not assume the school sends VA an update simply because it has certified enrollment for another education program.

The 21-686c instructions say to submit that dependency form with 21-674 only if you have never received additional benefits for the child. Use a separate 21-674 for each student.

Section I: Veteran or claimant information, Items 1 to 3

Item 1 asks for the veteran or claimant's name. Item 2 asks for the VA file number, if applicable. Item 3 is an optional email address.

This short section identifies the benefit record being updated. The student's identifying information comes next. For a parent requesting additional compensation, do not put the student's name in every field because the application concerns their school attendance.

Before starting, have the relevant VA correspondence and school calendar available. You need the official term date, the student's actual or expected start date, and the expected graduation date. Those can be three different dates.

Section II: Student information, Items 4 to 8

  • 4: Student's name.
  • 5: Student's Social Security number.
  • 6: Student's date of birth.
  • 7A: Whether the student has ever married.
  • 7B: Marriage date, if 7A is yes.
  • 8: Student's address, including country and postal code where applicable.

Item 7A asks whether the student has ever married, not simply whether they are married today. Answer the actual question. A complicated marital history needs an explanation and VA review, not a guessed eligibility conclusion.

Use the student's address in Item 8. If that is a school-year address different from the parent's, do not replace it with the parent's mailing address to make the two sections match. The form provides a remarks area for circumstances that need clarification.

Section III: School and other education benefits, Items 9 to 12

9A asks about Chapter 35 Dependents' Educational Assistance, the Fry Scholarship, Federal Employees' Compensation Act benefits, and programs or schools wholly supported at federal expense. If yes, enter the school or program name and complete 9B, the program or benefit type, and 9C, the date payments began. If no, move to 10A.

The page 3 instructions specifically say not to report transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits under Chapter 33 in Item 9A. That distinction matters. Do not mark every federal education benefit as the same program.

The form warns against duplicate school-attendance compensation and certain federal education benefits, including Chapter 35. Report the benefit accurately so VA can apply the relevant rules. This application is not itself an application for Chapter 35 or the Fry Scholarship.

10A asks whether the child has attended school continuously. Normal school-year breaks are not interruptions for this question. If no, give the date continuous attendance stopped. 10B asks whether the school is accredited.

The form then separates the dates:

  • 11A: Official beginning of the regular term or course.
  • 11B: Date the student started or expects to start the course.
  • 11C: Expected graduation date.

Check these against the school's records instead of using the application date in every box. For an ongoing program, graduation means the expected completion date, not the end of the next semester.

12A asks whether the student attended an accredited school at the end of the last term. If yes, 12B and 12C ask for that last term's beginning and ending dates. These are prior-term dates; they should not simply repeat the upcoming term from Item 11.

The current PDF does not have the long school-name and course-load fields found in some older examples. Follow the November 2024 PDF. If school details or a transfer need explanation, the Section III instruction points to Section V, Remarks.

Section IV: Income and estate, Items 13 and 14

This section is for pension, not an ordinary compensation dependency request. Page 3 says to complete it only for disability pension or Survivors Pension, with additional instructions for older pension programs.

Item 13 separates income by source: employment, Social Security, other annuities, and other income. Column B covers the calendar year the term begins; Column C covers the following year. Report gross amounts before deductions. Do not report VA benefits here.

For a pension claim, complete every applicable income block. The instructions say to enter 0.00 when there is no income from a source. Leaving the entire section blank without checking whether it applies is different from correctly skipping it for compensation.

14A through 14E ask for savings including cash, securities and bonds, real estate other than the home, other assets, and the total estate value.

The Improved Pension instructions also discuss education or vocational rehabilitation expenses paid by the student that may be deductible from earned income. Report the amounts and payment dates in Remarks as directed. Do not subtract a guessed amount from gross income without identifying the expense.

Sections V and VI: Remarks and certification

Item 15, Remarks, is where you explain a transfer, a break in attendance, or additional information that did not fit. Reference the item being clarified and use dates from the records you have.

For example, an explanation can distinguish a normal summer break from withdrawal followed by later reenrollment. Those are different facts even if both involve months without classroom attendance.

16A is the signature, 16B the signing date, 16C the relationship to the student, and 16D the telephone number. The signer certifies the information and agrees to report changes, including a school transfer, discontinued attendance, receipt of DEA, or marriage.

Read that certification before signing. VA's page 3 instructions identify Form 21-674b, School Attendance Report, for changes such as leaving school or marrying. A new school or changed expected completion date can also require updated attendance information. Follow the form or VA letter addressing your particular change.

Fictional example: Continuing from high school into college

This example uses invented dates and an unnamed student. It is not a real claim or a model eligibility determination.

A veteran already receives dependent compensation for an unmarried child who turned 18 on July 12, 2026. The child finished the last high-school term on May 22 and begins college on August 24. The school calendar shows the same August 24 term start. Expected graduation is May 17, 2030.

  • 7A: No, the student has never married.
  • 9A: No, assuming none of the listed benefits or fully federally supported programs applies.
  • 10A: Yes, assuming attendance was continuous apart from the normal school break.
  • 10B: Yes, assuming the school is accredited.
  • 11A and 11B: 08/24/2026.
  • 11C: 05/17/2030.
  • 12A: Yes, with the actual high-school term beginning date in 12B and 05/22/2026 in 12C.
  • 13 and 14: Skipped because this example concerns compensation, not pension.
  • 16A through 16D: Completed by the veteran requesting the dependent payment.

The expected graduation date does not promise benefits through graduation. The student still must remain eligible, and the school-attendance category ends before age 23. A later graduation date does not extend that age limit.

Where to submit 21-674

Online: Start the combined 21-686c and 21-674 application. VA's form page says to select the option for adding a child age 18 to 23 who will attend school. The system then presents the 21-674 questions.

Mail for compensation: Department of Veterans Affairs, Evidence Intake Center, P.O. Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

Mail for pension or survivor benefits: Department of Veterans Affairs, Pension Intake Center, P.O. Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365. Both addresses are printed on page 3.

Fax: This PDF does not supply a form-specific fax. VA's general intake directory lists 844-531-7818 for compensation and 844-655-1604 for pension and survivors. Follow your VA letter's return instructions or confirm the appropriate destination at 800-827-1000 before relying on fax. The form's online and mailing instructions are explicit.

What delays the request, and what happens next?

Before submitting, check for a missing signature, mixed-up term dates, an unanswered education-benefit question, or one application used for several students. For pension, check the financial section. For compensation, do not fill it with invented zeroes merely because it appears on the page.

Keep the application and submission receipt. VA may request more information before deciding whether to continue or restore dependent payments. Review its decision and report later changes promptly. The fact that a payment continued does not cancel the reporting duty you accepted when signing.

For compensation planning, Claim Raven's calculator lets you compare supported dependent situations using your awarded rating, without an account. Keep that estimate separate from VA's decision about the student's eligibility.

Sources and scope

Verified September 25, 2026: VA's 21-674 page, the November 2024 PDF, the August 2025 21-686c instructions, manage-dependents guidance, and the intake directory linked above. This guide follows the paper form; the online interview can present questions differently. All example dates and circumstances are fictional.

Where to go next

Disclaimer

I'm Landon, founder of Claim Raven and a U.S. Army veteran. I'm not a lawyer, VSO, or VA-accredited representative. Claim Raven is data analysis, not legal, medical, or VA-accredited advice. Use the current form and your actual school and benefit records. An accredited representative can help resolve conflicting benefits or eligibility questions.