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First in the Queue for Publicly Funded Training

A qualified veteran is granted priority in obtaining training funded in whole or in part by the federal government or by this state. Separately, veterans and eligible spouses get priority of service at state employment offices for every workforce programme funded by the federal labour department — which in practice means being served earlier, or being served instead of someone else where places are limited.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A qualified veteran is granted priority in obtaining training funded in whole or in part by the federal government or by this state. Separately, veterans and eligible spouses get priority of service at state employment offices for every workforce programme funded by the federal labour department — which in practice means being served earlier, or being served instead of someone else where places are limited.

What it's worth: Statutory priority for training funded in whole or part by the federal government or the state, and priority of service across federally funded state workforce programmes for veterans and eligible spouses

  • The department states that qualified veterans will be granted priority in obtaining training funded in whole or part by the federal government or the state, citing RSA 115-B.
  • The department states that veterans and eligible spouses are given priority of service at state employment services locations for employment, training and placement services in all state workforce programmes funded by the federal labour department.
  • Priority of service is stated to mean access earlier than others who are not eligible, or where resources are limited, access instead of or before others.
  • A veteran for priority of service purposes is stated as one who served in the active military, naval or air service and was released or discharged under conditions other than dishonorable; active service includes full-time Guard or reserve duty other than training, and excludes full-time active duty performed by Guard personnel mobilised by state rather than federal authorities.
  • Eligible spouses are stated as the spouse of a person who died of a service-connected disability; the spouse of a serving member who for more than 90 days has been missing in action, captured, or forcibly detained or interned by a foreign power; the spouse of a person with a permanent total disability from a service-connected disability; and the spouse of a veteran who died while such a disability was in existence.
  • The department states that veterans and eligible spouses are encouraged to identify themselves as such when inquiring about any programme or on visiting an office.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge characterisation is within the range these run on.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Say it out loud at the counter and say it first. The department itself says veterans and eligible spouses are encouraged to identify themselves when inquiring — priority is not applied to a file that does not say you are a veteran.
  2. 2Understand what priority actually means before you judge whether you got it: earlier access, or access INSTEAD of someone else where places are limited. It is not a bonus payment or a lower standard.
  3. 3Bring the discharge document to the first appointment rather than the third. Priority claimed and unproved slows the file down instead of speeding it up.
  4. 4Spouses: read the four eligible-spouse categories carefully. They reach a surviving spouse and the spouse of a permanently and totally disabled veteran, and almost nobody in those categories knows they hold a workforce priority.
  5. 5Check whether the training you want is publicly funded. The statutory priority attaches to training funded in whole or part by the federal government or the state — a wholly private course is outside it.
  6. 6Guard members mobilised by state rather than federal authority are expressly outside the priority-of-service definition. If that is your service, ask which of your periods count before relying on it.
Form
No form — identify yourself as a veteran or eligible spouse at the point of inquiry
File with
A state employment services office, or the training provider
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingPriority of service is a real allocation rule, not a courtesy. Where a programme has fewer places than applicants, an eligible veteran or spouse takes a place ahead of someone who is not eligible — which is exactly the situation in which nobody thinks to mention it.
CorrectionThe two provisions are different things. RSA 115-B is a state statute about publicly funded training generally; priority of service is a rule applied inside federally funded workforce programmes at state employment offices. Claim both, separately.
Known gapThe department does not define "qualified veteran" for the RSA 115-B priority, and does not say how a training provider is meant to apply it. Ask the provider in writing how they operate the priority before enrolling.

Sources

Why only one source type: The state veterans department's benefits page states both the statutory training priority and the priority-of-service rule, with the definitions of veteran and eligible spouse used for the latter. The legislature's statute server refuses both fetch and browser navigation, so RSA 115-B could not be read verbatim.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.