Fry Scholarship Awardees to Receive Full Coverage of Tuition, Regardless of Residency

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced, as of July 1, 2017, all recipients of the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship will be guaranteed in-state tuition at any public university in the country.

What does this mean for survivors?

Currently, a survivor who lives in one state but attends school in another has been required to pay the difference between the in-state tuition, which is covered by the Fry Scholarship, and the out-of-state tuition they owe. The coming change will consider all Fry Scholarship recipients as in-state students, regardless of their residency, and the full tuition will be covered.

The change is a technical amendment to the Veterans Choice Act of 2014, guaranteeing in-state tuition to those receiving transferred entitlements under the Post 9/11 GI Bill and Fry Scholarship.

Survivors using the Fry Scholarship are still not eligible for the Yellow Ribbon Program so this will not affect private universities and there will be no retroactive benefits. This will be effective only for semesters starting on or after July 1, 2017. All states and territories are working with the VA to comply with the law.

Reference: Public law: 114-315 (H.R. 6416) section 417

For any questions, please contact TAPS Education Support Services at education@taps.org or call 800-959-8277 (TAPS).