(a) Using a ticket means you have assigned a ticket to an Employment Network (EN) or a State VR agency that has elected to serve you as an EN, and you are making timely progress toward self-supporting employment as defined in § 411.180; or you have a ticket that would otherwise be available for assignment and are receiving VR services pursuant to an individualized plan for employment (IPE) and the State VR agency has chosen to be paid for these services under the cost reimbursement payment system, and you are making timely progress toward self-supporting employment as defined in § 411.180. (See § 411.171 for when the period of using a ticket ends.)

(b) Timely progress toward self-supporting employment means you have completed the specified goals of work and earnings, or completed the specified post-secondary education credits at an educational institution (see § 411.167) in pursuit of a degree or certificate, or completed specified course requirements for a vocational or technical training program at an educational institution consisting of a technical, trade or vocational school (see § 411.167), or completed a certain percentage of the work requirement and a certain percentage of the post-secondary education requirement or vocational or technical training requirement and the sum of the two percentages equals 100 or more (see § 411.180(c)), or obtained a high school diploma or General Education Development (GED) certificate in the applicable progress certification period as described in § 411.180.

(c) Timely progress guidelines mean the guidelines we use to determine if you are making timely progress toward self-supporting employment (see § 411.180).

(d) Progress certification period means any 12-month progress certification period described in § 411.180(b).

(e) Progress review means the reviews the PM conducts to determine if you are meeting the timely progress guidelines described in § 411.180. We explain the method for conducting progress reviews in § 411.200.

(f) Extension period is a period of up to 90 days during which you may reassign a ticket without being subject to continuing disability reviews. You may be eligible for an extension period if the ticket is in use and no longer assigned to an EN or State VR agency acting as an EN (see § 411.220).

(g) Inactive status is a status in which you may place your ticket if you are temporarily or otherwise unable to make timely progress toward self-supporting employment during a progress certification period. See § 411.192 for the rules on placing your ticket in inactive status and on reactivating your ticket.

(h) Variance tolerance means the margin of flexibility whereby we will consider you to have met the requirement for completing a specified amount of post-secondary credit hours in an educational degree or certification program or the course requirements in a vocational or technical training program under § 411.180 in the applicable progress certification period if your completion of credit hours or course requirements in this period is within 10% of the goal. Figures representing the number of credit hours required for the first and second progress certification periods as described in § 411.180 will be rounded by dropping any fractions. Under the variance tolerance, we also will consider you to have met the requirements in an applicable progress certification period if you complete a certain percentage of the work requirement and a certain percentage of the post-secondary education requirement or vocational or technical training requirement in the period and the sum of the two percentages is within 10% of the goal. See § 411.180(a) and (c).

(i) VR cost reimbursement option means an arrangement under which your ticket is not assigned to the State VR agency but you do receive services pursuant to an individualized plan for employment where the State VR agency has chosen to receive payment under the cost reimbursement payment system.

(j) VR cost reimbursement status means the status of your ticket under the arrangement described in paragraph (i) of this section. The period during which your ticket is in VR cost reimbursement status begins on the date described in § 411.170(b) and ends on the date your case is closed by the State VR agency.