The Veterans department operates a program that is specifically designed to help the dependents of heroes and Veteran Servicemembers in their pursuit of educational goals. The Dependents Educational Assistance Program gives training and educational support, including financial support to the dependants and spouses of certain groups of former Servicemembers of the Armed forces of the United States. Congress got together and realized that there was not an active program to show appreciation to those Servicemembers who have given their lives for their country, as it pertains to the spouses and dependants that are left behind.
Congress also felt that Servicemembers who suffer an injury that results in complete service related disability, or a Servicemember who has been captured or detained in the line of duty should have more support for their family and the educational efforts of their dependants and spouses.
So a new program was created to give these groups of dependants and spouses of qualified Servicemembers support for educational goals. In particular you may be qualified if your sponsoring Servicemember has been: interned, held, or captured in the line of duty by a hostile force or foreign government, the Servicemember has been killed or is permanently Missing in Action, or if the qualifying Servicemember was injured which results in a permanent total disability. Spouses and dependants of these qualifying groups may be eligible for up to 45 months worth of educational funding to work on qualified educational goals. Goals such as going back to school or university to get a degree, attending college part time, or certain vocational classes can qualify under this program. You have to be the son, daughter, or spouse of one of these types of qualifying Servicemembers.
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Recently, Congress and the Veterans Administration amended the law, to include Servicemembers who are still on Active Duty but who have been injured and are disabled, and who are headed toward permanent and total separation from the Armed Forces on grounds of physical disability. The recent Iraq and Afghanistan theaters had personnel that were returning with injuries, but because they had not yet been separated their dependants did not qualify. So Congress worked out the details with the Veterans Administration and altered the law to include those Servicemembers who have been severely injured and disabled, but who have not yet been discharged because of the disability. This allows dependants to not wait in limbo, but to qualify and receive services during the interim.
