The Veteran's appeal is denied as there are no legal provisions for retroactive reimbursement of costs incurred by enrolling in a masters program not approved by the IWRP under the provisions of Chapter 31.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was found rehabilitated and employed, making it ineligible for retroactive reimbursement of expenses.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the lumbar spine, residuals of head injury with post concussive syndrome, residuals of muscle strain, cervical spine and left shoulder, traumatic arthritis, left shoulder, left knee patellofemoral arthropathy, cervical strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 80%
- Decision date
- April 24, 2009
- Citation
- 0915512
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0915512.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to a procedural defect in filing the claims on the correct form.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for migraine headaches and cervical strain due to a duty to assist error. The AOJ failed to obtain VA medical opinions addressing the etiology of these disabilities.
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