A grant for a veteran in the final year of a bachelor’s degree who has run out of federal education benefits. Unlike most tuition help it can pay tuition, fees, books, education-related supplies and a housing allowance, and it works at private Utah institutions as well as public ones. You must complete a FAFSA, and the award ceiling is set by the board rather than the statute.
Also called: Utah Code 53H-11-413, 53H-11-413, 53B-13c-102, Veterans Tuition Gap Program, final year, exhausted benefits, housing allowance, FAFSA, Post-9/11, Chapter 33, Chapter 30.
A small, targeted programme for the veteran who ran out of GI Bill before finishing a degree. It is the only Utah education benefit in this file that can pay for housing.
Who qualifies. Section 53H-11-413, subsection 1, paragraph (c) defines "qualifying military veteran" as a veteran, as defined in section 68-3-12.5, who:
is a resident student under section 53H-11-202 and board rules;
is accepted into an institution and enrolled in a programme leading to a bachelor's degree;
either "has exhausted the federal benefit under a federal program" or "demonstrates that the veteran no longer qualifies to receive federal benefits under any federal program";
has not completed a bachelor's degree; and
is not a family member.
"Federal program" is defined in paragraph (a) as a veterans educational assistance programme established in 10 U.S.C. chapter 1606 (Selected Reserve), 38 U.S.C. chapter 30 (Montgomery GI Bill), 38 U.S.C. chapter 31 (Veteran Readiness and Employment), 38 U.S.C. chapter 33 (Post-9/11), and one further entry.
A drafting error to be aware of in that list. Subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) both say "38 U.S.C., Chapter 31", the first labelled "Training and Rehabilitation for Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities" and the second labelled "Post-Vietmam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance". The programme carrying that second label is 38 U.S.C. chapter 32, not chapter 31. The label identifies which programme the Legislature meant, so a veteran whose only entitlement was under chapter 32 should point at the label rather than the number.
The final-year condition, and where it sits. Paragraph (d) establishes the programme "to serve qualifying military veterans with tuition assistance at an institution or private postsecondary educational institution when: (i) federal benefits under the federal program have been exhausted or are not available; and (ii) a qualifying military veteran has not finished a bachelor's degree and is in the final year of a bachelor's degree program."
Note that the final-year requirement appears in the establishing clause rather than in the definition of who qualifies. In practice institutions administer it as a final-year programme and the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs describes it that way. If you are not in your final year, ask the institution's financial aid office what it is applying and why.
What the money can be used for, which is unusually broad. Subsection 6: "A qualifying military veteran who receives a program grant may use the grant toward tuition, fees, books, education-related supplies, and a housing allowance at an institution or private postsecondary educational institution."
Fees are included, which is the opposite of the Purple Heart and military survivors waivers. So is a housing allowance, which no other Utah provision in this file offers. And the grant works at a private postsecondary institution in Utah, not only at public ones.
How the money flows. Subsection 3: the board allocates appropriated money to institutions, which then award grants. The board "may not use program money for administrative costs or overhead", and an institution may not use more than 3 percent of its programme money for that purpose. Money not awarded by the end of the academic year goes back to the board for future allocation.
Subsection 4: the institution awards annually but distributes one quarter or semester at a time, and continuing awards are contingent on the veteran "maintaining satisfactory academic progress as defined by the institution or private postsecondary educational institution in published policies or rules."
The FAFSA requirement. Subsection 4, paragraph (c): "To qualify for a program grant under this section, a military veteran shall demonstrate, in accordance with rules described in Subsection (4)(c)(ii), the completion of a Free Application for Federal Student Aid." The board must make rules on this, including "provisions for students or parents to opt out of the requirement due to financial ineligibility for any potential grant or other financial aid, personal privacy concerns, or other reasons the board specifies". So the FAFSA is required but there is a stated opt-out route; ask for it if the FAFSA is a problem.
How long it lasts and how much. Subsection 5: a veteran may receive a grant until they complete the bachelor's degree requirements or "receives the maximum award that the board sets". The statute sets no dollar figure. The maximum is a board decision, so the amount is a question for the Utah Board of Higher Education and the institution rather than something this catalog can state.
Subsection 7 lets the board accept grants, gifts, bequests and devises of real and personal property to fund additional awards.
Where the section lives now. Renumbered and amended by chapter 8 of the 2025 first special session, which moved the higher education title. Guides citing chapter 53B-13c are citing the predecessor.
What to do. Apply through the institution's financial aid or veteran services office, not through the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, and ask three questions: what maximum award the board has set, whether the final-year condition is being applied to you, and whether the housing allowance component is available at that institution.
Thresholds
Thresholds for Utah Veterans Tuition Gap Program
Gate
Rule
Federal education benefits exhausted or no longer available
Utah Code § 53H-11-413(1)(c)(iii) requires that the veteran has exhausted the federal benefit or demonstrates no longer qualifying under any federal programme, covering 10 U.S.C. ch. 1606 and 38 U.S.C. chs. 30, 31 and 33.
Enrolled in a bachelor’s programme and, in practice, in the final year
Utah Code § 53H-11-413(1)(c)(ii) and (iv) require enrolment in a bachelor’s programme and no completed bachelor’s degree. The final-year condition appears in subsection 1(d)(ii), the establishing clause, rather than in the definition.
Resident student status is required
Utah Code § 53H-11-413(1)(c)(i) requires resident student status under § 53H-11-202, which a veteran with an honorable or general discharge satisfies on the discharge paper alone.
Covers tuition, fees, books, supplies and a housing allowance
Utah Code § 53H-11-413(6). Fees and housing are both included, unlike the Purple Heart and military survivors waivers, and the grant works at a private Utah postsecondary institution as well as a public one.
A FAFSA is required, with a stated opt-out
Utah Code § 53H-11-413(4)(c). Board rules must provide opt-outs for financial ineligibility, personal privacy concerns or other specified reasons.
The maximum award is set by the board, not by statute
Utah Code § 53H-11-413(5)(b). Continuing awards depend on satisfactory academic progress as the institution defines it, and money is distributed one term at a time.
=No change to benefitsRenumbers every veteran higher education benefit from Title 53B into Title 53H without changing its substance.
Renumbered Utah’s higher education provisions out of Title 53B and into a new Title 53H, carrying with them every veteran and survivor education benefit in the state. Resident student status, which contains the clause granting a veteran resident tuition "regardless of whether the military veteran served in Utah", moved to section 53H-11-202. The Purple Heart tuition waiver became section 53H-11-303, the Scott B. Lundell Military Survivors’ tuition waiver section 53H-11-308, the surplus-space enrolment provision for senior citizens and veterans section 53H-11-304, the Veterans Tuition Gap Program section 53H-11-413, credit for military service and training section 53H-3-703, and community college enrolment preference for veterans section 53H-3-1103. Tracked because the renumbering is invisible in the substance of any of those benefits and total in its effect on citations: every guide, institutional web page and departmental document citing chapter 53B-8 or 53B-13c for a Utah veteran education benefit now points at a repealed location. Two of the renumbered sections were then amended in the 2026 general session, section 53H-11-202 by chapter 180 and section 53H-11-303 by chapter 230, so the current text of both is later than the renumbering.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.