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Chapter 35 (Dependents’ Educational Assistance - DEA)

  • The Dependents’ Educational Assistance program provides education benefits for the spouse and dependent children of a Veteran or Servicemember who meets one of the following criteria:

Chapter 35 (Dependents’ Educational Assistance - DEA)

The Dependents’ Educational Assistance program provides education benefits for the spouse and dependent children of a Veteran or Servicemember who meets one of the following criteria:

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Eligibility

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  • Veteran is Permanently and totally disabled from service-connected causes, or

  • Died in service, or

  • Died of service connected causes, or

  • Is currently missing in action or captured in the line of duty.

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Benefit

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This benefit may be used for pursuit of an undergraduate or graduate degree, courses leading to a certificate or diploma from business, technical or vocational schools, apprenticeship, and on-the-job training programs. Benefits for correspondence courses are available to spouses only. The program provides up to 45 months of education or training for beneficiaries who used their Chapter 35 benefits before August 1, 2018 and 36 months of education or training for beneficiaries who use their Chapter 35 benefits on or after August 1, 2018.

The benefit is paid directly to the dependent. To see the amount of their payment click HERE

Remedial, deficiency, and refresher courses may be approved under certain circumstances.

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Rules for Dependent Children

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Children must be between the ages of 18 - 26 to get this benefit. In certain cases, it is possible to begin before age 18 and to continue after age 26. Getting married does NOT end your eligibility.

The child CANNOT get this benefit while on active duty. The VA can extend the child's period of eligibility by the number of months and days equal to the time spent on active duty. However, this extension CANNOT go past their 31st birthday.

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Rules for Dependent Spouses

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If you are a spouse, benefits end 10 years from the date VA finds you eligible or from the date of death of the Veteran. However, if you are a surviving spouse of a Servicemember who died on active duty, your benefits end 20 years from the date of death. If you divorce the Veteran your benefits end on the date of divorce. If you remarry before age 57 your eligibility ends on the date of remarriage.

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Special Circumstance: Dual Eligibility

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In the event a dependent is eligible for Chapter 35 under both parents, they may draw Chapter 35 benefits from both parents at the same time!

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SPECIAL NOTES:

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  • You are still subject to the maximum terms of this benefit (36 or 45 months). Meaning, if your maximum benefit is 36 months and you used 32 months from your father's Chapter 35 already. Your using your mother's source of entitlement does NOT give you another 36 months, you could only get 4 months of double payments.

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  • To provide another example: If you have eligibility based on both parents and have NOT started to use the benefit. You are able to draw double Chapter 35 stipends at the same time for a total of your maximum benefit (36 or 45 months)!

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Free Tuition

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Depending upon the state you or your children live in or want to go to school in, you may be entitled to free tuition. For more information click HERE.

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Educational and Career Counseling (VA Chapter 36)

Chapter 36 is a program that helps dependents find employment.

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Eligibility

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  • Be the dependent of a Veteran, and

  • Be eligible for any VA education benefit.

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What it offers:

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  • Exploring your abilities and interests to help you choose a career,

  • Mapping out a path to employment, and

  • Planning on the best ways to use your VA benefits.

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How to apply

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  • Online - Go to eBenefits.

  • Mail - Print and complete VA Form 28-8832 then mail to the nearest VA Regional Office, addressed Attn:Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment.

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Federal Civil Service Preference

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Derived Preference is a method where you, as the spouse, widow/widower, or parent of a Veteran may be eligible to claim Veterans' preference when the Veteran is unable to use it. You will be given XP Preference (10 points) in appointment if you meet the eligibility criteria.

Both a parent and a spouse (including widow or widower) may be entitled to preference on the basis of the same Veteran's service if each meets the requirements applicable to a parent and a spouse, respectively.

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Spouses

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As a spouse of a Veteran, you will be eligible for derived preference if the Veteran has been unable to qualify for a federal position along the general lines of his or her usual occupation because of a service-connected disability.

  • Such a disqualification may be presumed when the Veteran is unemployed and is rated by appropriate military or Department of Veterans Affairs authorities to be 100 percent disabled and/or unemployable; OR

  • has retired, been separated, or resigned from a civil service position on the basis of a disability that is service-connected in origin; OR

  • has attempted to obtain a civil service position or other position along the lines of his or her usual occupation and has failed to qualify because of a service-connected disability.

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Widows/Widowers

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As a widow or widower of a Veteran, you will be eligible if you and the Veteran did not divorce, you have not remarried, or any remarriage was annulled, and the Veteran

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  • served during a war or during the period April 28, 1952, through July 1, 1955, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign medal has been authorized; OR

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  • died while on active duty that included service described immediately above under conditions that would not have been the basis for other than an honorable or general discharge.

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Parent of a Deceased Veteran

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As the parent of a Veteran, you will be eligible if your son or daughter lost his or her life under honorable conditions while serving in the armed forces during a war, or during the period April 28, 1952, through July 1, 1955, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign medal has been authorized; AND

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  • Your own spouse is totally and permanently disabled; OR

  • At the time, when preference is claimed, you are unmarried or, if married, legally separated from your spouse.

 

Parent of a Disabled Veteran

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Alternatively, you will be eligible if your son or daughter was separated with an honorable or general discharge from active duty, including training service in the Reserves or National Guard, and is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected injury or illness; AND

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  • Your own spouse is totally and permanently disabled; OR

  • At the time when preference is claimed, you are unmarried or, if married, legally separated from your spouse.

 

Life Insurance

Click HERE.

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Nomination of Children to a Service Academy

 

If the Veteran died due to a service connected disability their children can be nominated to the following service academies:

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