Cost of college and financial aid for veteran students
Can veterans use military VA benefits and financial aid to pay for college?
Yes. You've earned your benefits — now use them to help you achieve your goals. And don’t stop with just your benefits. There are scholarships and financial aid opportunities that can help cover your college costs too. File the FAFSA to be considered for pell grants and university scholarships.
Benefits checklist for new veteran students
This checklist is a great place to start if you are considering using your VA education benefits here at ASU or elsewhere.
Whether you're an incoming military, veteran or dependent student taking classes on campus or online, this checklist will show you the steps to take and forms to submit to be eligible for your benefits. You can also download a printable version.
Do you know this FAFSA fact?
If you are receiving VA education benefits, you can still submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for additional financial aid. You're encouraged to submit the FAFSA as soon as it’s available for your admission semester to receive the most possible aid.
The FAFSA is officially open for 2024-25! The new FAFSA is a simplified and streamlined experience years in the making. Many students are ready to get started and will be completing their FAFSA this month, so If you experience a pause, or can't log in please just wait a few hours or set a reminder for the next day to jump back in with your FSA ID and complete the application.
Scholarships for veterans and military students
Scholarships are an additional source of funding for military, veteran and dependent students that does not reduce VA education benefits. You are encouraged to search for scholarships that apply specifically to military, veteran and dependent. Look into these scholarship opportunities and use the ASU Scholarship Portal to search for other scholarships.
VA education benefits
Military Tuition Assistance is a benefit paid to eligible members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. Congress has given each branch of service the ability to pay up to 100 percent of the tuition expenses of its members. The availability of TA benefits varies by command. Tuition Assistance is a Department of Defense program and is not administered or monitored by the VA. Questions regarding Tuition Assistance, as well as the obtaining of application forms, should be directed to the military student's unit education service officer. For additional information about Tuition Assistance, check out this step-by-step guide for getting started.
I chose ASU because of its great relationship with veterans. The Pat Tillman Veterans Center provides student veterans with a plethora of resources for academic and postgraduation success. I also decided to go with ASU since I wanted to go through some college courses through an online degree program while active duty. ASU is a reputable school, and I got to study toward the major I wanted.
Austin B. Software engineering major from Tucson, Arizona