Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship
Checklist for Texas A&M International University
- Apply and be accepted to the University.
- Complete the VA Application on Va.gov.
- Submit required documents on the Document Submission Portal.
Submission to certify your attendance at Texas A&M International University
New students:
- Request for Veteran Certification
- COE (Certificate of Eligibility)
- DD-1300
- Be Registered
Previous Applicants:
- Request for Veteran Certification (every semester)
- Be Registered
Benefit Information
The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (Fry Scholarship) provides Post-9/11 GI Bill® benefits to the children and surviving spouses of Service members who died in the line of duty while on active duty after September 10, 2001. Eligible beneficiaries attending school may receive up to 36 months of benefits at the 100% level.
Benefits
- Tuition & fees payment to the school
- A monthly housing allowance (MHA)
- An annual books & supplies stipend
- A one-time rural benefit payment
See VA fact sheet which provides more detailed information.
Eligibility
Children and surviving spouses of an active duty member of the Armed Forces who died in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001 are eligible for this benefit. Children are eligible as of their 18th birthday (unless they have already graduated high school). A child may be married or over 23 and still be eligible, although their eligibility ends on their 33rd birthday. A spouse will lose eligibility to this benefit upon remarriage. A spouse has 15 years from the date of death of the Service member to use the benefit.
If you are eligible for both Fry Scholarship and DEA (Dependents Educational Assistance), you will be required to make an irrevocable election between the two programs when you apply. Dependents are not eligible to receive both DEA and the Fry Scholarship based on the same event (like a Service member dying in the line of duty) unless he or she is a child whose parent died prior to August 1, 2011. A child of a parent who died prior to August 1, 2011 may still be eligible for both benefits but he/she may only use one program at a time and combined benefits are capped at a total of 81 months of full-time training. In this situation the two benefit programs cannot be used concurrently.
Other Factors to Consider
Surviving spouses are eligible to receive Dependency Indemnity Compensation (DIC) while using the Fry Scholarship. Children, over the age of 18, in receipt of DIC will relinquish DIC payments upon the start of using VA education benefits such as the Fry Scholarship.