New GI Bill scholarship program begins - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

New GI Bill scholarship program begins

Applications will be accepted beginning Saturday for a new scholarship program that lets the children of some deceased service members tap into Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

Payments could begin as early as Aug. 1, VA officials said.

Retroactive payments of tuition, a living stipend and book allowance will be available to some children under the Fry Scholarship program, named for a Marine gunnery sergeant, John D. Fry, who was killed in 2006 while deployed to Iraq. Retroactive benefits will cover expenses from August 1, 2009, through July 31, 2010, with applicants required to provide proof of enrollment.

VA officials anticipate about 1,500 children and young adults will use the benefit in the first year.

Fry Scholarships are available to the children of service members who have died in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001. The child must be 18 or older. More than one member of a family is eligible to use the benefits, making Fry Scholarships different from the transfer of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits that require families to share 36 months of tuition and fees.

In this case, eligible children will each receive 36 months of benefits that will cover full tuition, plus a living stipend and book allowance. Tuition will be capped at the highest tuition and fees charged for an in-state student at a public college or university in the state where they are attending school.

Children will have 15 years to use the benefits, beginning on their 18th birthday, and remain eligible even if they get married.

Children are eligible for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, just like a veteran, with several differences.

First, those using Fry Scholarships are not eligible for so-called Yellow Ribbon benefits, where colleges and universities pay above GI Bill rates for tuition and fees for some students.

Second, a child who is not on active duty may use benefits but, like other active-duty members using the Post-9/11 GI Bill, will not receive living and book stipends.

Third, if a child has earned their own GI Bill benefits from their own military service, they may have to forfeit those benefits to use the Fry Scholarship.

Applications will be available online. VA also operates a toll-free hotline to answer GI Bill-related questions: 1-888-GIBILL-1, or 1-888-442-4551.