How to Get Started at CNM as a Veteran

Follow these steps to become a CNM student and start using your Veterans benefits. If you have questions or need help, visit or contact the Veterans Resource Center. You can make an appointment with us to get started.

• Learn about your VA educational benefits
• Apply for VA Educational Benefits
• Apply to CNM
• Get placement scores
• Request transcripts
• Meet with Academic Advisement
• Sign up for classes
• Get your classes certified

Learn About Your VA Educational Benefits

Visit the Veterans Resource Center to learn about your VA educational benefits. You will be guided to use VONAPP to apply online. During the application process, you will need your banking information to set up your direct deposit.

VA educational benefits are separate from financial aid. We encourage you to apply for financial aid to see what you are eligible for.

Use the GI Bill ® Comparison Tool to help make a decision on which benefits to apply for. Keep in mind that the benefits information is based on going to school full-time. If you are certified for less than full-time, the additional time does not go away. You can use the benefits later as long as you use them before the cutoff date.

For example, if you were given 36 months of benefits and the first term you attended was four months long and only went to school half-time, in this case you would have only used two months worth of benefits and would have 34 month of benefits at the end of the term.

Visit the VA Benefits GI Bill® website for more information at benefits.va.gov/gibill.

Apply for VA Educational Benefits

To apply for the first time or if you have not used your VA educational benefits within a year, complete a VA application and submit it to the Veterans Administration, P.O. Box 888, Muskogee, OK 74402-8888.

Use the following VA application forms from the VA:

• 22-1990 for veterans
• 27-5490 for dependents

The application and other forms are available at Veterans Services or at the VA department located at 500 Gold SE in Albuquerque. You may also apply online at benefits.va.gov/gibill/.

Apply as early as possible, it may take 8-12 weeks for the file to be processed at the VA Regional Office.

Apply to CNM

Apply to CNM. Submit an online application and be aware of your student status (such as beginning freshman, returning student, Dual Credit, or visiting student).

Get Placement Scores

After you apply to CNM, submit your placement scores such as ACT, SAT, or Accuplacer results to Admissions. Accuplacer test scores are good for five years. You can re-take the Accuplacer for free at the testing center, located in the Student Services Center (SSC) at CNM Main Campus on the second floor. For any questions about your ACT, SAT, high school diploma, or other requirements for admissions please call (505) 224-3160.

Request Transcripts

Request transcripts from all other schools (colleges and universities) that you previously attended as well as military transcripts (Air Force transcripts can be requested with a form that we have in our office). If you are under the Ch. 35 Dependents of Veterans or having benefits transferred to you from a veteran (e.g. Ch. 33 Post 9-11 transfer of entitlement or Fry Scholarship) then you do not have to request military transcripts.

Note: The VA requires schools to obtain all transcripts to comply with the requirement to evaluate and grant credit where appropriate. Hard-copy transcripts are considered official when they arrive in a sealed, stamped, official envelope with the seal and any other security feature intact. Electronic transcripts are considered official when received from a secure site formally linked to the sending institution or testing service. Academic records received in any other condition, such as transcripts that arrive in an unsealed envelope, that you email or upload yourself, or that are printed from the school portal, are not considered official.

Meet With Academic Advisement

It is highly recommended that you schedule an in-person appointment for your first advisement session. For any questions about Academic Advisement, call (505) 224-4355.

Note: The VA can only certify classes under your declared degree plan from your CNM degree planner. Any classes that are recommended or are below Accuplacer test score placements (e.g. a student tests into Math 0930 and wants to take Math 0750) will not be certified by the VA. In addition, our office is not allowed to certify developmental classes that are self-paced or taken online. All other online classes do not fall under the same rule as the developmental courses.

Sign Up for Classes

When you're ready, register for classes through myCNM.

If you need help signing up for classes, CNM has a Registration office in the SSC building on Main Campus that can help you sign up for classes, print class schedules, and answer any registration-related questions. The Registration office number is (505) 224-3160.

Get Your Classes Certified

Take your FINAL schedule to the Veterans Resource Center to ensure a quick certification process.  We are located at Main Campus in the Student Services Center, Room 207.

Note: Chapter 33 (Post 9/11): Students must bring in their Certificate of Eligibility (COE) in order for classes to not get dropped for nonpayment. If the COE is not given, the student must make payment arrangements in order to hold the classes until the COE is received. You can use financial aid if you have it available, pay for everything up front, or you can set up a payment plan.

All other chapters, except Ch. 31 Vocational Rehabilitation, are required to make payment arrangements. For questions about setting up a payment plan please call the Cashier's Office at (505) 224-3471.

If transferring from another school (and the student previously used benefits at that school): The student must fill out a Change of Place of Training form. The VA Form 22-1995 is for Veterans and the VA Form 22-5495 is for Dependents.  These forms can be filled out using the VONAPP or manually. The VA will not pay a student until they have confirmed that the proper form has been filled out.

Students must register for classes that apply to ONE approved program at CNM. View the approved programs.

Special note about future terms:
By default the website will always reflect the most current catalog. This can cause some confusion because we post the degree planner in your folder from the year in which you started. If you are looking for classes that apply to your degree, but the new catalog is now shown as the default, make sure to review the archived catalog for past classes. Catalogs run for a year (Fall, Spring, and Summer). The year on the left is the year that the Fall term started and the year on the right is the summer that it ended.

Certifying benefits at more than one school:
If the student is using benefits at more than one school, a parent-school letter from the parent school is required to combine the eligible credit hours for both schools (i.e. if you are going for a bachelors at a university and would like to take some classes that apply towards your bachelors from CNM then the university would be your parent school).

The student would also have to fill out a VA Form 22-1995 or a VA Form 22-5495 to let the VA know which school is the parent school.