Find your benefit
Pick the one that matches your situation. Once clicked, you will be directed to the appropriate section. Not sure? Call us at (407) 823-2707 and we’ll help you sort it out.
VA education benefits
Tuition waivers
Chapter Benefits
Every benefit below lists who it’s for, how you’re paid, how long it lasts, and the forms to start or continue.
Chapter 30
Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty
WHO IS IT FOR
Veterans who began active duty for the first time after July 30, 1985, had pay reduced $100 a month for 12 months, and received an honorable discharge.
HOW YOU’RE PAID
The VA sends funds directly to you. You pay tuition and fees to UCF.
HOW LONG
Up to 36 months of benefits, generally payable for 10 years after release from active duty.
Chapter 31
Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E)
WHO IS IT FOR
Veterans with a discharge other than dishonorable and a service-connected disability rating of at least 10%, or a memorandum rating of 20%. Your Veteran Readiness Counselor confirms eligibility.
HOW YOU’RE PAID
Your counselor pays tuition and fees directly to UCF. Monthly housing allowance is paid to you.
FIRST STEP
Certify with MVSS so your counselor can start payment.
Full guidance lives on our VR&E page: eligibility timeline, how to apply, housing allowance rules, purchase orders and your UCF VR&E contacts.
Chapter 33
Post-9/11 GI Bill
WHO IS IT FOR
Veterans, service members and dependents with at least 90 days of aggregate active duty on or after Sept. 11, 2001, or a discharge for a service-related disability after 30 continuous days. Benefits are a percentage based on length of service.
WHAT IT PAYS
Tuition and fees paid to UCF, up to the most expensive in-state undergraduate public tuition. Monthly housing allowance to you. Up to $1,000 a year for books and supplies.
GOOD TO KNOW
Only face-to-face and mixed-mode sections count as lecture capture for housing allowance. All other sections count as distance learning. First-time students may need their Certificate of Eligibility (COE).
Out-of-state? The Yellow Ribbon Program may add funding. VA questions: 1-888-442-4551.
Chapter 35
Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA)
WHO IS IT FOR
Spouses and dependents of a veteran who died or is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, or of a service member forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government or power.
WHAT IT PAYS
The VA sends funds directly to you. You pay tuition and fees to UCF.
GOOD TO KNOW
The Fry Scholarship and the Florida scholarship for children and spouses of deceased or disabled veterans.
Chapter 1606
Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve
WHO IS IT FOR
Members of the Selected Reserve of the Army, Navy Reserve, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The Selected Reserve components determine eligibility.
WHAT IT PAYS
The VA sends funds directly to you. You pay UCF.
HOW LONG
Up to 36 months. Entitlement ends 14 years from your eligibility date, or the day you leave the Selected Reserve.
If VA payment is late (Chapters 31 and 33). Under Title 38 U.S. Code 3679(e), while payment from the VA is pending, UCF will not:
- Prevent your enrollment
- Charge you a late penalty fee
- Require you to find other funding
- Deny you access to classes, libraries or other facilities
To qualify (Chapter 33), you may need to:
- Provide the forms and checklist items needed to certify your enrollment
- Submit your VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE) by the first day of class
Tuition waivers
Waivers lower what you pay UCF. Some can be used without a GI Bill, so ask us which fit you.
Waiver
Bill Young Tuition Waiver (Out-of-State)
WHAT IT DOES
Waives out-of-state tuition and fees at any UCF campus for honorably discharged veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserve Forces or National Guard who live in Florida. Veterans and eligible dependents using VA education benefits can use it, and so can active-duty members who live or are stationed outside Florida.
Deadline
For priority processing, submit by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday of the first week of classes. Resubmit every semester you use it.
Important
This waiver does not change your residency status. Complete the Residency Declaration for Tuition Purposes form.
MVSS may request additional documentation to confirm Florida status.
Waiver
Purple Heart Waiver
WHAT IT DOES
Under Florida Statute 1009.26(9), UCF waives undergraduate tuition and related fees for recipients of the Purple Heart or a higher-precedence combat decoration.
Deadline
Applies for 110 percent of the credit hours required for your degree or certificate program.
Important
User fees, such as laboratory fees and other special program or course fees.
To apply: give MVSS a copy of your DD-214 and request the waiver. UCF may ask for more documentation. Questions about financial aid: Student Financial Assistance, (407) 823-2827 or finaid@ucf.edu.
Program
Yellow Ribbon Program
WHAT IT DOES
UCF contributes 50% of out-of-state tuition and fees for a total of 30 eligible undergraduate and 10 eligible graduate dependents of student veterans, and the VA matches that amount. Payment goes to UCF when your certification is processed.
Who qualifies
Only individuals at the 100% benefits level, or dependents using transferred entitlement.
Not eligible
Active-duty personnel, spouses of active-duty personnel using transferred entitlement, and Fry Scholarship recipients.
In most cases the Out-of-State (Bill Young) waiver is the better financial option, unless you aren’t living in Florida while attending UCF.