Chapter 35 Pays Up to $1,621 a Month. The Fry Scholarship Usually Pays More, and You Can’t Use Both.
9 min read · Last updated October 22, 2026
- Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA), also called Chapter 35, pays up to $1,621 a month for full-time training from October 2026 through September 2027, with lower rates for part-time study and apprenticeships.
- DEA’s eligibility net is broader than the Fry Scholarship’s. It covers a living veteran rated permanently and totally disabled (P&T), not just a service member who died in the line of duty.
- The Fry Scholarship pays through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, including a separate Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA), but only when a service member died on or after September 11, 2001, under specific line-of-duty or near-discharge conditions.
- A spouse eligible for both programs must choose one on VA Form 22-5490 and cannot switch later. A child whose eligibility traces to certain pre-2011 deaths can use both, but only one at a time, capped at 48 or 81 combined months.
Chapter 35 DEA pays up to $1,621 a month for full-time training to a veteran’s spouse or child when they died, are missing, or are rated permanently and totally disabled. The Fry Scholarship instead pays Post-9/11 GI Bill tuition, fees, and housing, but only when a service member died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001.
In this article
- What Chapter 35 DEA Covers
- Who Qualifies for Chapter 35 DEA
- Chapter 35 DEA Monthly Rates
- How to Apply for Chapter 35 DEA
- Chapter 35 DEA vs. Fry Scholarship: Picking the Wrong Program
- Frequently asked questions
Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance pays the spouse or child of a qualifying veteran a flat monthly stipend for college, vocational training, or apprenticeship work. Take a Gold Star spouse named Dana. Her husband served two tours, left the military, and died eight years later from an illness the VA had already rated service-connected and permanently and totally disabling.
Dana assumes she qualifies for the same Fry Scholarship her sister-in-law used after a different relative’s combat death. She does not.
Her husband’s death was service-connected. But it did not happen in the line of duty, on active duty, or within 120 days of his discharge, so the Fry Scholarship’s trigger never applies to her case. Chapter 35 DEA is the program she actually qualifies for, and picking the wrong one on her application can cost real months of benefits.
What Chapter 35 DEA Covers
Chapter 35 is the VA’s oldest survivor and dependent education benefit, created decades before the Post-9/11 GI Bill existed. Rather than paying a school directly for tuition and fees, VA sends the beneficiary a monthly payment they can put toward tuition, housing, books, or any other cost of attending.
The program covers several paths:
- College or university degree programs
- Non-college degree and vocational or technical training
- Apprenticeship and on-the-job training (OJT)
- Correspondence courses, available only to spouses
A living veteran who qualifies for the Post-9/11 GI Bill but is not rated permanently and totally disabled may instead transfer that GI Bill entitlement directly to a dependent. That is a different benefit path, with its own rules.
Who Qualifies for Chapter 35 DEA
DEA eligibility starts with the veteran or service member, not the dependent. One of the following must be true of them:
- They are rated permanently and totally disabled (P&T) from a service-connected condition
- They died from a service-connected disability
- They died in the line of duty
- They are missing in action (MIA) or were captured by a hostile force for more than 90 days in the line of duty
- They were forcibly detained by a foreign entity for more than 90 days in the line of duty
- They are hospitalized or in outpatient treatment for a service-connected P&T disability and are likely to be discharged for it
If any of those is true, the veteran’s spouse, surviving spouse, or child, married or unmarried, may qualify to receive DEA. A child cannot use the benefit while serving on active duty, and must have no dishonorable discharge to use it afterward. VA’s own DEA eligibility page lists each of these qualifying events directly.
Chapter 35 DEA Monthly Rates
VA updates DEA rates every October 1. For the period running October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, VA’s published rate table lists these amounts:
- Full-time institutional training: $1,621 a month
- Three-quarter time (75%): $1,281 a month
- Half time (50%): $939 a month
- 25% or less (less than half time): $405.25 a month, or your actual tuition and fees if that is lower
- Apprenticeship or on-the-job training (OJT): $1,029 a month for months 1 through 6, stepping down to $774, then $508, then $259 a month after 19 months, as long as you work at least 120 hours a month
- Correspondence training: 55% of the established cost of your lessons, spouses only
Benefits run for up to 45 months if your training started before August 1, 2018, or up to 36 months if it started on or after that date.
How to Apply for Chapter 35 DEA
You apply with VA Form 22-5490, either online through VA.gov or by mail to the regional processing office for your state or your chosen school’s state. Once you apply, tell your school’s certifying official so they can confirm your enrollment directly with VA.
How long you have to use the benefit depends on when your eligibility started and who you are:
- If your eligibility arose on or after August 1, 2023, there is no deadline, whether you are a spouse or a child
- A child whose eligibility arose before that date generally has until age 26, with some exceptions extending eligibility to age 31
- A spouse whose eligibility arose before that date generally has 10 years, with longer windows, up to 20 years, in specific circumstances, such as a veteran who was rated P&T and later died
Chapter 35 DEA vs. Fry Scholarship: Picking the Wrong Program
The Fry Scholarship looks similar on the surface, since it also serves the spouse and child of a service member who died. The actual trigger is much narrower. It generally requires one of the following:
- The service member died in the line of duty while on active duty, on or after September 11, 2001
- The service member died from a service-connected disability within 120 days of discharge
- A Selected Reserve member died in the line of duty outside active duty, or from a service-connected disability
Fry pays Post-9/11 GI Bill-level benefits instead of a flat stipend. In-state public tuition and fees are covered in full, with a capped amount for private or out-of-state schools. Fry also pays a separate Monthly Housing Allowance tied to the school’s ZIP code, plus a books stipend, for up to 36 months.
That usually adds up to more money than DEA’s flat rate, especially for a dependent attending school somewhere with a high cost of living. Our full breakdown of Fry Scholarship eligibility covers the surviving-spouse and child rules in more depth.
| Factor | Chapter 35 DEA | Fry Scholarship |
|---|---|---|
| What triggers it | Veteran’s death, MIA/captured status, or a living veteran rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected condition | Service member died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001, or died from a service-connected disability within 120 days of discharge |
| How it pays | Flat monthly stipend, $1,621/month full-time as of October 2026 | Post-9/11 GI Bill-style payment: tuition and fees paid directly, plus a separate housing allowance and books stipend |
| Housing allowance | None. The flat stipend covers housing along with everything else | Monthly Housing Allowance, calculated from the school’s ZIP code, paid on top of tuition |
| Benefit length | Up to 45 months (training started before 8/1/2018) or 36 months (on or after 8/1/2018) | Up to 36 months at the full benefit level |
| Time limit to use it | No limit if eligibility arose on or after 8/1/2023; otherwise generally 10 to 20 years, depending on who you are and when eligibility arose | Generally no time limit under current rules for most spouses and children |
| Best for | A family whose trigger is a living veteran’s permanent and total rating, or a service-connected death that did not happen in the line of duty or near discharge | A family whose service member died in the line of duty, or from a service-connected cause shortly after leaving service, on or after September 11, 2001 |
A spouse who qualifies for both programs must elect one when applying and cannot switch later. A child’s situation is narrower. If the parent died in the line of duty before August 1, 2011, the child may draw on both programs.
Only one program pays at a time, capped at 81 combined months of full-time training. If the parent died on or after August 1, 2011, a child can use both only when DEA eligibility comes from a separate qualifying event. The combined cap then drops to 48 months.
Dana does not face that choice. Her husband’s death does not meet Fry’s trigger, so Chapter 35 DEA is simply the program available to her family, not one of two options to weigh.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Chapter 35 DEA and the Fry Scholarship at the same time?
Generally no. If you qualify for both, you make an irrevocable election between them when you apply, and VA will hold you to it. The only exceptions are narrow child cases tied to a parent’s death before or after August 1, 2011, and even then only one program pays at a time.
Does my spouse’s 100% disability rating qualify me for Fry Scholarship instead of Chapter 35 DEA?
Not by itself. A living veteran’s permanent and total rating is a Chapter 35 DEA trigger, not a Fry Scholarship trigger. Fry generally requires the service member’s death in the line of duty, or a death tied closely to discharge, on or after September 11, 2001.
What happens if I pick the wrong program on my application?
The election between DEA and Fry is irrevocable once made. Picking the program you don’t actually qualify for, or the lower-paying one when a better option exists, can cost you months of benefits. Confirm your veteran’s exact qualifying event before applying, not after.
Does Chapter 35 DEA pay a housing allowance like the Post-9/11 GI Bill?
No. DEA pays one flat monthly rate, currently up to $1,621 for full-time training, that is meant to cover tuition, housing, and other costs together. There is no separate Monthly Housing Allowance calculated by your school’s ZIP code the way there is under Fry or the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
How long do I have to use Chapter 35 DEA benefits?
It depends on when your eligibility began. If it arose on or after August 1, 2023, there is no deadline. If it arose earlier, a child generally has until age 26, with some exceptions to 31, and a spouse generally has 10 to 20 years, depending on the circumstances.
