Scholarships for Children and Spouses of Veterans and First Responders

VA Chapter 35: Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance

Chapter 35, officially called Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA), pays a monthly benefit to children and spouses of veterans, not to the veteran directly. You qualify as a child if your parent is rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition, died from a service-connected condition, or was captured or went missing in action. Spouses qualify under the same underlying veteran eligibility.

As of the benefit year running October 2025 through September 2026, the VA pays roughly $1,574 a month for full-time enrollment, a flat national rate that does not change by state or school cost. You get up to 36 months of benefits if you started training on or after August 1, 2018, or up to 45 months if you started before that date. Confirm your exact benefit period and current rate directly with the VA before you build a budget around it, since rates adjust periodically.

Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance (PSOEA)

Families of police officers, firefighters, and other public safety officers killed or catastrophically injured in the line of duty have a separate federal benefit through the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program , run by the Department of Justice. The educational assistance component pays the same monthly rate as VA Chapter 35, since Congress ties the two together by law, and exists because the underlying death and disability benefit is often absorbed by basic living costs rather than covering college.

To use PSOEA you file an Education Prescreen application to confirm eligibility, followed by an Education Payment Application for each term of enrollment. Your school needs to be Title IV eligible, meaning it participates in federal student aid, which you can confirm with your registrar or financial aid office.

State and Organization Programs

Several states run their own tuition benefits for first responder families, separate from the federal programs above. Arizona's Slain Peace Officers Tuition Waiver covers full undergraduate base tuition and college fees for children and spouses of Arizona peace officers, firefighters, and emergency paramedics killed in the line of duty. Nebraska's First Responder Recruitment and Retention Act offers a tuition waiver of up to 100% of resident tuition for dependent children of law enforcement officers and professional firefighters at participating state schools. Rules and coverage vary widely by state, so check your state higher education agency or your state's public university system directly.

The VFW runs the Voice of Democracy audio essay competition and the Patriot's Pen essay competition for middle and high school students, with more than $2 million awarded each year across tens of thousands of entrants nationwide (Voice of Democracy alone draws nearly 28,000 entries) and a top Voice of Democracy award worth up to $35,000. These contests are open to any qualifying student, not restricted to military families, though many VFW posts also run smaller scholarships aimed specifically at veterans' dependents. Check with your local VFW post for programs limited to military-connected families.

How to Apply

• Apply for VA Chapter 35 through the VA's education benefits portal, using the veteran's service record to establish your eligibility.

• File a PSOEA Education Prescreen as soon as possible after a qualifying line-of-duty death or disability, since the prescreen step confirms eligibility before you submit payment applications each term.

• Check your state's specific first responder tuition program name and eligibility rules with your state higher education agency, since program names and coverage differ by state.