Veterans Affairs Administration (VA) has taken the initiative to provide benefits to veterans, survivors of veterans, and their spouses. VA Dependent Education Benefits are provided through DEA (Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance) Programs.
DEA is also known as Chapter 35 which aims to provide support to survivors of missing soldiers, survivors of disabled, and captured to continue their job training, education, or apprenticeship. It is a scheme provided to dependents of veterans such as spouses and children between the ages of 18 and 26 who will receive a 100% disability rate.
VA Dependent Education Benefits
Dependents of Veterans are eligible to receive 100 VA Dependent Education Benefits to complete their education. Veterans Affairs Administration (VA) provides the child or spouse of a Veteran or service member who died or is missing or has a disability may get help for school or job training through the DEA program when they meet the eligibility criteria to receive these benefits. VA Education Benefits may include paying college tuition, getting career counselling, on-the-job training, and finding the right training program or right school.
VA may provide different benefits through several programs such as the DEA and Fry Scholarship. Detailed information for both programs with their eligibility criteria is provided with other relevant information such as how to receive these benefits, what amount will provided under these benefits, and many more.
VA Dependent Education Benefits: Overview
| Title | VA Dependent Education Benefits |
| Country | USA |
| Department | Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) |
| Beneficiary | Dependent of Veterans |
| Amount | Depends on the types of benefits |
| Official Website | www.benefits.va.gov/gibill |
Different Programs for VA Education Benefits
Any dependent of Veterans either spouse or children aged between 18 and 26 are able to receive educational benefits to be independent. Therefore, VA Education Benefits provides two programs to provide support to spouses and children of Veterans. Dependents Education Assistance (DEA) and Fry Scholarship both programs are able to provide help to dependents of Veterans. Both programs have some eligibility criteria to be met to receive the VA Education Benefits.Â
DEA Benefits and related information
The DEA program by the VA provides education and training opportunities to survivors and dependents of Veterans who are totally disabled or permanently disabled or died during active duty as a result of service conditions. This program provides VA Educational Benefits of 45 months if you have started to use the program before August 1, 2018.
If you start using the program on August 1, 2018, or later, then you will provide 36 months to use these DEA Benefits. The beneficiary may use benefits for apprenticeship, degree and certificate programs, on-the-job training, or correspondence courses. However, other refresher courses may require approval from the VA under particular circumstances.
Eligibility to Receive DEA Program Benefit
Some certain condition is presented by the VA to get eligible to receive the Benefits of the DEA Program. So, dependents or survivors of Veterans must meet any of the certain conditions to get benefits of this program.
- When a service member or the Veterans have 100% Disabilities.
- When service members of the Veterans died as an outcome of service-connected disability.
- When the Veterans or service members die during duty.
- When the Veterans or service member is captured during duty for more than 90 days by a hostile force or missing in action.
- When service members or Veterans are detained forcibly or interned during duty for more than 90 days by a foreign entity.
- When the service member is receiving outpatient treatment either for the permanent disability or total disability and is about to be discharged due to disability.
When one of the above descriptions is true then the beneficiary must be at least 18 years old or have completed high school and secondary education to meet the Eligibility Criteria to receive the Benefits of DEA Program.
Spouses and Children eligibility criteria to receive DEA Benefits
Spouses of service members or veterans need to meet certain conditions to receive DEA Benefits. These certain conditions are discussed below.
- Spouse’s benefits start from the date from they are deemed eligible to receive DEA Program Benefits and can last for 10 years.
- When a service member or the veteran gets discharged from active duty due to permanent disability, spouses are eligible to receive benefits for 20 years from the effective date.
- When the veterans die during active duty, then spousal benefits will end after 20 years from the death date of the veteran.
Dependents or children of service members or veterans also need to meet conditions to become eligible for the DEA Program. These eligibility criteria are the following.
- The dependent or children’s age should be between 18 and 26.
- If a dependent or child joins the military, they are not able to use these benefits. Unless or until, they don’t have a dishonourable discharge, military service can extend age eligibility beyond 26 and may end on the 31st birthday.
Fry Scholarship Benefits and related information
The Fry Scholarship (Chapter 33) provides benefits for children and spouses of veterans for up to 36 months. The Fry Scholarship can be provided to dependents of veterans who died while on duty or after September 11, 2001, or must be a member of a selected reserve who died effect of a service-connected disability. The beneficiary may receive in-state tuition including fee coverage, money for books and other study materials, and money for housing.
VA’s Fry Scholarship Eligibility
Spouses or surviving dependents may be eligible when they meet the following criteria.
- The beneficiary must be the spouse or child of a veteran who died during active duty on or after September 11, 2001.
- The beneficiary must be the child or spouse of a veteran of a selected reserve who died due to the outcome of service-associated disability on or after September 11, 2001.
Spouses must remain unmarried. If they get remarry they are no longer eligible to receive the Benefit of Fry Scholarship.
Dependents or surviving children must meet the particular condition to be eligible under the Fry Scholarship.
- If children are aged 18 or graduated from high school before January 1, 2013, then the beneficiary is eligible until aged 33.
- If children are aged 18 or graduated from high school after January 1, 2013, then they are eligible after age 18 or after graduation.
- If the child’s parent was a member of the Selected Reserve and died due to service-connected disability and not during active duty, the beneficiary is eligible to get Fry Scholarship benefits at any time or at any age.
Ellie Dautner, a finance postgraduate from the University of San Diego, is an expert journalist in fintech and mobile payment technology. She specializes in writing about fintech, mobile payments, startup funding, and acquisitions.