To be eligible for educational assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs, you must be the spouse of a service member who was disabled or who died as a result of military service. A woman also may apply for DEA benefits if her husband is missing in action and might be dead.
Widows of American military personnel may use their DEA benefits in a variety of ways. Benefits can be used in any college or university for a degree program or any accredited program in correspondence courses;.certification training at a business school or at a trade school; any kind of on-site job training or apprenticeship; degree program overseas; college examination preparation course; or farm training course. If a widow does not have a high school diploma,she also may use her DEA benefits to finish high school.
Scholarships for work-study programs may be awarded alongside DEA benefits. Under the terms of work-study, a widow may participate in outreach work with the supervision of someone from the VA. Participants also may process paperwork for the VA at a school or training center or act as caregivers to American veterans at a VA facility or do administrative work at a veterans' cemetery.
There are a number of courses and training programs for which the VA does not grant educational benefits. Courses include such subjects as bartending, correspondence or independent courses offered by an institution that is not accredited. Courses in English for speakers of other languages are not eligible; neither are courses involving self-improvement, such as speaking or reading, woodworking or any course not related to a potential future employment opportunity or that is recreational, such as dancing or singing. Courses given over the radio also are not eligible. In order to qualify for DEA benefits, a widow must receive grades for a course of study.