Free College for Veterans’ Dependents: How Chapter 35 and Fry Scholarship Work

Military families pay a cost that doesn’t show up on a paycheck. If a veteran in your life became permanently and totally disabled from their service, or didn’t come home at all, the VA has two programs that can send you or your kids to college largely for free: Chapter 35 (DEA) and the Fry Scholarship. Both are real money, not loans, and neither shows up on a tax return. But they work differently, they pay differently, and picking the wrong one, or not knowing you have to pick at all, can cost a family thousands of dollars.

Here’s what each program actually covers and who qualifies.

Chapter 35 vs. Fry Scholarship

	Chapter 35 (DEA)	Fry Scholarship
Who qualifies	Spouses and children of a veteran rated permanently and totally disabled, or who died from a service-connected condition, or who is MIA/captured/detained	Spouses and children of a service member who died in the line of duty on or after 9/11/2001
Months of benefit	Up to 36 months (45 if you started before 8/1/2018)	Up to 36 months
How it pays	Flat monthly stipend paid to you	Full in-state tuition paid to the school, plus a monthly housing allowance and money for books
Value (2025–2026)	$1,574/month max for full-time college	Tuition covered in full at public schools; up to $29,920.95/year at private/foreign schools, plus housing and books
Can I get both?	Only with an irrevocable election — see below	Same

Call 1-888-373-4722 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form

What Is Chapter 35?

Chapter 35, officially the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program, pays a monthly stipend directly to an eligible spouse or child so they can go to school or get job training. Unlike the Fry Scholarship, the VA doesn’t send money to your school, it sends the payment straight to you, and you’re expected to cover tuition and expenses with it.

Who qualifies for Chapter 35?

You may be eligible as the spouse or child of a veteran or service member if one of these is true:

The veteran is rated permanently and totally disabled due to a service-connected condition
The veteran died as a result of a service-connected condition
The service member died in the line of duty
The service member is missing in action or was captured or detained by a hostile force for more than 90 days
The service member is hospitalized or getting outpatient care for a service-connected total disability and is likely to be discharged for it

Children can use the benefit whether they’re married or not. If you turned 18, finished high school, or became eligible on or after August 1, 2023, there’s no deadline to use your benefits, before that date, most kids had until age 26. Spouses generally have 10 years from the veteran’s permanent and total rating date (or up to 20 years in some active-duty death cases), though that time limit disappears too if your eligibility started on or after August 1, 2023.

What Chapter 35 pays (2025–2026 rates)

Enrollment level	Monthly rate
Full-time	$1,574.00
3/4-time	$1,244.00
1/2-time	$912.00
Less than 1/2-time (more than 1/4-time)	Up to $912.00, capped at tuition and fees
1/4-time or less	Up to $393.50, capped at tuition and fees

These are the rates for October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. They’re set to adjust again this fall, so if you’re reading this later in the year, double-check the VA’s current DEA rates page before you budget around them.

Chapter 35 isn’t just for a four-year degree, it also covers vocational and technical school, apprenticeships and on-the-job training, correspondence courses (spouses only), licensing and certification test fees, and tutoring if you’re struggling in a class.

A change worth knowing about if you’re using this for high school

If your family has been using Chapter 35 to cover high school coursework, dual-enrollment classes, GED prep, or tutoring for a teenager working toward a diploma, that’s ending. A change in federal law strips “secondary school” from the list of qualifying institutions, so DEA can no longer be used for any secondary program that starts on or after August 1, 2026. If your student is mid-term in a qualifying program before that date, the VA will finish out that term, but it won’t extend into the next one. This doesn’t touch college, graduate school, certificate programs, or vocational training, those are all still fully covered.

What Is the Fry Scholarship?

The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship is named for a Marine EOD tech killed by an IED in Iraq in 2006, and it’s built on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, meaning it pays far more than Chapter 35 in most cases. Instead of a flat stipend, the VA pays your school directly for tuition, and you get a separate monthly housing allowance on top of that.

Who qualifies for Fry?

You may be eligible as the child or surviving spouse of a service member or Selected Reserve member who died on or after September 11, 2001, if one of these is true:

They died in the line of duty while on active duty
They died from a service-connected disability within 120 days of being discharged
A Selected Reserve member died in the line of duty during duty other than active duty
A Selected Reserve member died from a service-connected disability

Children can be married or single and become eligible once they turn 18 or finish high school. Surviving spouses keep their eligibility even if they remarry, and if you’re currently getting Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), you can keep receiving DIC while also using Fry, that’s different from Chapter 35, where you’d have to give up DIC to use the education benefit.

What Fry pays (2025–2026 rates)

Cost	Amount
Public college or university	Full in-state tuition and fees
Private or foreign school	Up to $29,920.95/year
Non-college degree or vocational program	Up to $29,920.95/year
Flight training	Up to $17,097.67/year
Monthly housing allowance (in-person classes)	Based on E-5 with dependents BAH for the school’s zip code
Monthly housing allowance (online-only)	Up to $1,169/month
Books and supplies	Up to $1,000/year

If tuition at a private school runs higher than the cap, the Yellow Ribbon Program can sometimes make up the difference, worth asking your school’s certifying official about before you enroll.

Call 1-888-373-4722 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form

Can You Use Both?

Not at the same time, and in most cases not at all. If a service member died in the line of duty before August 1, 2011, their family may qualify for both programs but has to make an irrevocable election between them, meaning once you choose, you can’t switch later. In that case, combined benefits max out at 81 months of full-time training. If the death happened on or after August 1, 2011, you can generally only get both if you qualify for Chapter 35 through a separate, unrelated event, and the combined cap drops to 48 months.

Given how much more Fry typically pays, full tuition plus housing versus a flat stipend, most families are better off with Fry when they qualify for both. But run your own numbers, especially if you’re at an in-state public school where Chapter 35’s stipend might come closer to covering costs, or if keeping DIC payments matters more to your household budget.

Call 1-888-373-4722 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form

Other Programs Worth Knowing About

STEM Scholarship: If you’re a Fry Scholar in an eligible STEM degree program and you’re close to running out of months, this can add up to 9 months (or $30,000) of extra benefits.
Transferred GI Bill benefits: A living veteran can transfer up to 36 months of their own Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement to a spouse or child, a separate process from both programs above, and one to ask about if the veteran in your life is alive and still has unused entitlement.

How to Apply

Both programs use the same form: VA Form 22-5490, Dependents’ Application for VA Education Benefits. You can apply online through VA.gov or mail the paper form to your regional processing office. Once approved, you’ll get a Certificate of Eligibility to give to your school’s certifying official, who’ll handle enrollment reporting from there. Use the GI Bill Comparison Tool before you commit to a school to confirm your program is actually approved for VA benefits.

Not sure which program fits your family, or whether the veteran’s disability rating even qualifies you? Call the team at DisabledVets.com at 1-888-373-4722 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form HERE and we’ll help you sort it out.

FAQ

Do I have to pick Chapter 35 or Fry the moment I apply? If you qualify for both, yes, the VA requires an irrevocable election, so it’s worth comparing what each pays for your specific school before you sign anything.

What happens to unused months if my student doesn’t finish school? Unused entitlement stays available for future use within your eligibility window, as long as you haven’t hit your total month cap.

Can I use Chapter 35 or Fry for a trade school instead of a four-year degree? Yes. Both cover non-college degree programs, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training, not just traditional college.

Does remarriage affect my benefits? For Fry Scholarship surviving spouses, no, you keep eligibility even if you remarry. For Chapter 35 spouses, remarrying generally ends eligibility unless you remarried after age 57 or that later marriage ended in death or divorce.

Is this benefit taxable? No. Both Chapter 35 and Fry Scholarship payments are tax-free and don’t count as income.

Where can I double-check current rates before I apply? Rates adjust annually, check the VA’s current Chapter 35 rates and Fry Scholarship rates pages before budgeting.