Will EDD disqualify me for attending community college part-time?
I lost my job at the warehouse last month and have been collecting unemployment while looking for work. I'm thinking about enrolling in a part-time program at my local community college (just 2 classes in the evenings) to improve my job prospects in logistics management. My friend told me I'll automatically get disqualified from EDD benefits if I'm in school. Is this true? I can't afford to lose my unemployment while I'm job hunting, but I also don't want to miss this opportunity to improve my skills. The program would only be 9 hours per week and wouldn't interfere with my availability for full-time work. Has anyone here attended school while on unemployment? Did EDD make you do anything special during certification?
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TechNinja
Your friend is wrong - attending school doesn't automatically disqualify you. EDD uses something called the "School or Training" eligibility criteria. The important thing is whether your schooling affects your availability for work. Since your classes are only in the evenings and you remain available for full-time work during normal business hours, you should be fine. When you certify for benefits every two weeks, you'll need to answer "yes" to the question asking if you began attending school or training. This will trigger additional questions. Be honest! EDD might contact you for more information about your schooling schedule to verify it doesn't interfere with your ability to accept suitable work.
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Lena Müller
•Thank you so much for this info! So I definitely need to disclose it during certification? I was worried they might just automatically stop my payments if I said yes to that question.
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Keisha Thompson
i did this last year when i got laid off!! took classes at City College while on UI. just make sure ur still looking for work like they require. they just want u to prove ur still available to work full time if a job comes up. night classes are perfect for that.
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Lena Müller
•That's really reassuring! Did they ever call you or require any documentation about your class schedule?
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Paolo Bianchi
When I started a certification program while on unemployment, EDD sent me a School Attendance eligibility interview notice. I was really nervous, but it went fine. The interviewer just wanted to confirm my class schedule wouldn't prevent me from accepting work. Have all your class schedules ready if they contact you. Also make ABSOLUTELY SURE you're doing your required work search activities every week - they look at that stuff more closely when you're in school.
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Keisha Thompson
•yeah 100% this!! keep super detailed records of ur work search activities. i had a friend who got audited by edd and had to provide proof of all his job applications
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Yara Assad
EDD is horrible about this stuff. My cousin got all his benefits denied retroactively because he took ONE online class and they decided he wasn't available for work even though he was applying EVERYWHERE. They made him repay thousands!!! The whole system is designed to find ways to disqualify people.
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TechNinja
•That's not typical and there's likely more to that story. The key factor is always availability for work. If someone can show their classes don't interfere with their ability to accept suitable employment, EDD generally approves continued benefits. Your cousin should have appealed that decision if the class truly didn't affect his availability.
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Olivia Clark
I've been taking 2 online classes while on EDD and haven't had any issues. Make sure to check the box during certification that says you're attending school, and then answer all the questions about your availability honestly. I just explained that my classes were flexible and wouldn't interfere with work. I never even got an interview about it.
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Javier Morales
Has anyone ever tried reaching EDD to ask about this specifically? I've been trying to get through to an agent for days about a similar question (vocational training) and it's impossible. All I get is the "we're experiencing high call volume" message and then it hangs up on me.
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Natasha Petrov
•I had the same issue last month trying to get clarification about school attendance. After days of frustration, I tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) and actually got through to EDD within 30 minutes. They have this system that basically waits on hold for you and calls you back when an agent is available. Saved me hours of redial attempts. Their video shows how it works: https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10?si=TSwYbu_GOwYzt9km. The agent I spoke with confirmed that part-time education is totally fine as long as you remain available for work.
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Keisha Thompson
btw if ur taking classes that improve ur job skills in ur field there's also something called the CTB program (California Training Benefits) where u can actually get approved to attend school full-time without having to look for work. different situation than urs but might be worth looking into if ur classes are related to ur previous work
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TechNinja
•This is great information. The California Training Benefits (CTB) program allows claimants to attend approved training while receiving benefits without having to search for work. However, it requires formal approval, and not all training qualifies. For the original poster, since they're only doing part-time evening classes and want to continue looking for work, simply reporting the school attendance during certification is likely the better approach. But CTB is definitely worth exploring for anyone considering full-time training.
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