Hardship for Education

[52626]

Question,

Can a participant receive a hardship distribution ( safe harbor hardship used) to pay for a Special Education Certificate Program. This is an 18 CE course that will ultimately be applied towards a masters.

Thanks

[WCC]

From the EOB:

(3) payments for tuition, related educational fees, and room and board expenses, for the next 12 months of post-secondary education³⁶ for the employee, the employee's spouse, the employee's children, or the employee's dependents (see 4.b.1)a) below),

footnote 36 says: There is no definition in the regulations of "post-secondary" education. In the absence of guidance, it should be reasonable to interpret this term to mean that a high school degree (or its equivalent) is required for such education.