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For most students another school year is coming to an end soon. Child annuitants between the ages of 18 and 22 attending school full-time will start receiving their annual SBP school certification packets.
Whether they are attending high school or another full-time course of study, to be entitled to an annuity, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) child annuitants between age 18 and 22 must annually certify their enrollment in either high school or a full-time course of education. In addition to certifying current enrollment, they are required to declare their intent for future attendance.
The annual school certification packet contains a cover letter with instructions, DD Form 2788 School Certification, and a Child Annuitant’s Certification for Previous Attendance Letter. The DD Form 2788 School Certification is used to provide the child annuitant’s future intent to attend school full-time for the upcoming school year. The Previous Attendance Letter provides pre-populated enrollment information for the current school year. If the information is correct, students simply sign and date the letter and return with a copy of the completed DD 2788 School Certification form. If the information is incorrect, they will need to notify DFAS immediately to avoid an overpayment. Please see the instructions on the letter.
In order to remain eligible to receive an annuity, DFAS must receive both a completed DD 2788 School Certification form AND a signed and dated copy of the Child Annuitant’s Certification for Previous Attendance Letter. If both are not received by first day of the last month of the school year, SBP annuity payments will be suspended.
Once both documents are received (assuming the child annuitant is not married and plans to attend school full-time), the child annuitant will be eligible to receive SBP annuity payments for the upcoming school year. If at any time the child annuitant’s school attendance or marital status changes, the child annuitant must contact DFAS immediately so they do not incur a debt due to overpayment.
There is a How-To Checklist along with additional information that can help child annuitants with the school certification process located on the school certification webpage: https://www.dfas.mil/schoolcerts.
Child annuitants are encouraged to use the DD Form 2788 Form Wizard. Doing so will make completing the form easy for child annuitants. The Form Wizard asks a series of questions and fills in the answers in the proper areas of the form.
Once all the questions have been answered, the child annuitant can choose to electronically sign the form and submit it online using our online upload tool or click a button to generate a ready-to-print-and-sign PDF with their answers.
The DD Form 2788 Form Wizard can be found on our Forms Library webpage at: https://www.dfas.mil/raforms. Compatible PDF software such as Adobe Acrobat is necessary to complete the form wizard. Free Adobe Acrobat software is available at adobe.com.
The DD Form 2788 Form Wizard can be downloaded to a Windows or MAC computer only; no mobile devices at this time. We do not recommend saving the Form Wizard to a shared computer because it contains personally identifiable information.
Please note: If using the DD Form 2788 Form Wizard and using the direct askDFAS upload button, a copy of the Previous Attendance Letter with signature and date must also be submitted. The Previous Attendance Letter can be scanned and included as an additional PDF attachment with the completed DD Form 2788. For additional information please refer to the school certification webpage provided earlier in this article.
Submitting the child annuitant’s school certification (DD Form 2788 and Previous Attendance Letter) can be done using our online upload tool through askDFAS, available on the DFAS.mil website, which is also accessible on a mobile browser. The askDFAS online upload tool can be found at https://www.dfas.mil/askdfas.
To use the online upload tool to submit a school certification packet, the child annuitant needs to complete the online ticket with the required information then upload a PDF of their completed and signed DD Form 2788 and signed Child Annuitant’s Certification for Previous Attendance Letter. When submitting forms or any other supporting documentation, please ensure that the retiree’s SSN is included on all the documents submitted.
When using the askDFAS online upload tool, DFAS also provides a digital status notification for the submission of DD Form 2788 School Certification. The digital status notification is a three-step process that will update the child annuitant when their DD Form 2788 is received, when it is assigned to a technician for processing, and whether or not it was able to be completed. The notification will be sent via the email address provided during the askDFAS submission. It will help to alleviate any doubt or concern as to whether the form was received or not.
Note: The information on this website is provided to explain typical situations regarding retiree and annuitant benefits. For details and exceptions, please see applicable laws, financial management regulations, and instructions.
Page Updated April 30 2025