Your service in the U.S. Armed Forces may qualify you and your dependents for one or more of the Veterans Affairs (VA) education benefits. If you are eligible for more than one VA education benefit, you must elect which benefit to receive. You may wish to use the VA's GI Bill® Comparison Tool or contact a SUNY Veterans Affairs Office for guidance.
The Post-9/11 GI Bill is an education benefit program for individuals who served on active duty after September 10, 2001. Servicemembers may also transfer unused GI Bill benefits to their dependents under specific eligibility criteria.
The MGIB-AD program provides education benefits to Veterans and Servicemembers who have at least two years of active duty.
The MGIB-SR program provides education benefits to persons who enter into a six-year obligation to serve in the Selected Reserve of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, and the Army and Air National Guard.
VR&E is a program designed to help Veterans with service-connected disabilities become suitably employed, maintain employment, or achieve independence in daily living.
The DEA program provides education benefits to spouses and dependents of veterans or servicemembers who have 100% disability rating from the VA, or the veteran died as a result of a service-connected disability, or the servicemember died in the line of duty.
The Veterans Tuition Award is a New York State program that covers the cost of tuition at SUNY colleges. It funds undergraduate, graduate or vocational programs and is available for full-time and part-time study. Eligibility is expanded to all New York resident veterans, regardless of combat service.
* SUNY hosted an information webinar on July 10, 2025 in partnership with the Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC). Lisa Simpson, Director of Grants and Scholarships at HESC, presented the recent changes to the Veterans Tuition Award (VTA) that are effective as of July 1, 2025. VTA eligibility has been expanded to include all veterans who served a minimum of four years of active-duty service and are New York State residents. A recording of the Zoom webinar is available here.
The MERIT scholarship is a New York State program that covers the cost of attendance at SUNY colleges. It is available to members of the US Armed Forces and their children, spouses, and financial dependents of members of the US Armed Forces or state-organized militia who died or became severely and permanently disabled while performing their military duties, whether in combat or not. It funds undergraduate programs and is available for full-time study.
The NYS Regents Awards provides $450 per year to students whose parent(s) served in the US Armed Forces during specific periods of war or national emergency, and as a result of service, either died, suffered a 40% or more disability, was classified as missing in action, or was a prisoner of war. It can be applied toward undergraduate programs in New York State.
* GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill.