VR&E process: after previously being found eligible, do you have to be re-evaluated for a new track, and does sending your counselor a school proposal mean you're approved?

VR&E (Chapter 31) eligibility and plan approval are two separate steps, and being found eligible once does not automatically carry over to a new track or a new goal. Under 38 CFR Part 21, a veteran must first be found entitled to VR&E services (based on a service-connected disability and an employment handicap), and then a VR&E counselor works with the veteran to develop an Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan, sometimes called an Individualized Plan for Employment. That plan is what actually authorizes payment for tuition, books, supplies, and a subsistence allowance for a specific program of study.

If you were previously found eligible under one track, such as Reemployment, and you now want to pursue a different goal, such as Long-Term Services leading to a new career like law, the counselor generally has to reassess whether that new goal is feasible and suitable given your disability, your abilities, and the labor market. This is why the counselor asked for your school, curriculum, cost information, and a written proposal. That request is a normal and expected part of building or revising a rehabilitation plan; it is not itself a denial or an approval. Nothing is finalized until the plan is written, reviewed, and signed by both you and your counselor (and often countersigned by a supervisor). Only after that signed plan is in place does VR&E authorize payment for the specific program.

So at the stage you describe, you are in the plan-development phase. Your prior finding of entitlement likely still applies, since VR&E eligibility generally lasts up to 12 years from your date of separation or date of disability rating, but the specific program you want covered must go through its own suitability and feasibility review before it is authorized. Being asked for detailed program information is a good sign that the counselor is actively working the case, not a sign of denial, but it also is not confirmation of approval.

The concrete next step is to follow up directly with your VR&E counselor for a timeline on plan review and ask explicitly whether your case is still in the entitlement phase or has moved into plan development, since only your assigned counselor can tell you the actual status of your individual case.