The truth about getting unemployment benefits and going to school means you need to first make yourself aware of the rules which impact your continuing eligibility to receive benefits.
And that's when going back to school really causes problems.
You are collecting unemployment benefits because you're looking for a new job.
You must be able and available to accept work.
You must be looking for suitable work. Suitable work is generally, what you did for a living before you became unemployed.
You must (most of us anyway) be able to prove your job search. That's what that log is for in your benefit pamphlet you received shortly after you filed.
The goal of unemployment benefits and all the other efforts they make, is the moment you accept another job.
Despite the endless supply TV commercials about online or off schools and how easy it is to find school financing via government grants, college scholarships and government school loans to attend, those commercials don't warn you about unemployment benefits possibly being suspended after you start school.
The permission to be excepted from any job search requirements comes from the re-employment half of the department. Usually when you participate in special programs for state approved training. This is documentation that can be used .. because often, it seems the left and right hands of the unemployment department do not communicate well.
However, even the training programs and exceptions vary. And so do the state interpretations of what being able and available means.
Some states are simply, more progressive in their attitude to help you get back to work. While other states are completely controlling of your options and lay traps which become fraud issues.
It's when you choose to go back to school without benefit of first learning the conditions a state might impose .. troubles can begin.
So you can see the impact varies from state to state, I suggest the following chart book located at the USDOL.
So, what's the explanation for people having their benefits suspended and sometimes having to repay benefits because they were attending school?
Assumptions as facts. We often perceive what we think, is true because it sounds reasonable to us. This is one of the most dangerous things you can do when dealing with unemployment.
It's rife with intentional pitfalls.
Even when it is possible and you know your state allow unemployment while going to school, you must understand the limitations of that if you plan on never having to repay benefits you receive .. from the moment you made the mistake.
Failure to be prepared based on your assumption of what is reasonable is not something I can help you change after the fact.
What's that saying .. Prevention is worth a pound of cure?
Any right any privilege carries a corresponding need for personal responsibility to watch out for yourself.
Do you have something to say about this subject? Please share it. This is a state specific subject so be certain to include the state.
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