Alabama G.I. Dependent Scholarship

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs administers this scholarship under Code sections 31-6-1 through 31-6-17. It is not the federal Post-9/11 GI Bill and it is not Dependents' Educational Assistance. The student applies. A parent cannot submit the application for the student. The veteran needs an honorable discharge and at least 90 consecutive days of active duty, or less than 90 days if the discharge was for a qualifying service-connected disability. Beginning July 31, 2017, the disability path is a rating of 40% or more for service-connected disabilities, or that rating held at death. A former prisoner of war, a person declared missing in action, a service-connected death, or a death on active duty in the line of duty also qualifies. A National Guard member who dies while serving honorably on active state service, or whose death results within three years of an injury or illness from that service, can qualify dependents. There is a narrow older path for a rating under 20% before May 23, 2017, when a claim was already pending and VA later awarded at least 20%, if the dependent applies within six months of that award. Residency is its own test. One path is a year of Alabama civilian residence before entering active duty, or before a later entry after a break of a year or more, plus one of these: two years of current Alabama residence, discharge within the last 12 months, or Alabama resident returns for the past 10 years. The other path is for a permanently service-connected veteran rated 100% who did not enter from Alabama: five years of Alabama residence immediately before the application, or before death. Other scholarships and grants pay first, unless a law says otherwise. The program then pays tuition up to $400 a credit hour and textbooks and applicable fees up to a combined $1,000 a semester. Schools may waive charges above those caps. Benefits are not retroactive. A child or stepchild gets five standard academic years, 10 semesters, and has eight years from the date headquarters receives the application. Training has to start before the 26th birthday, or before 30 in the situations the department describes. A stepchild qualifies only if the veteran and the child's parent married before the child's 19th birthday. A spouse or unremarried widow or widower of a veteran rated 100% permanently and totally disabled gets the same 10 semesters and eight years. A spouse or unremarried widow or widower of a veteran rated 40% to 90% gets three standard academic years, six semesters, and six years to use them. Undergraduate study at a qualifying Alabama school is the use. The department publishes the school list. The student has to live in Alabama, file a FAFSA each year, meet the school's satisfactory academic progress, and sign a FERPA release. The rating filter on this entry follows the 40% service-connected path. A prisoner of war, a missing-in-action case, or a death in service can qualify with no current rating.