The Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship (Fry Scholarship) provides 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. Visit the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs site for more information about eligibility.
Steps to Apply for FRY Benefits
- Go to the Vets.gov
- Click “Education Benefits” (Blue Box on Home Page)
- Click “Application Process”
- Click Green Box “Apply for Benefits”
- Fill out a 22-5490
- A Certificate of Eligibility will be sent to you in the mail
Steps to FRY as a New On Campus Student
- Bring your Certificate of Eligibility to Orientation
- At Orientation you will fill out a Student Information Form
- At Orientation you will fill out an Advising Worksheet and it will be signed by your academic advisor during Orientation
- Turn in all three documents to the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (3000 Houser Hall) or via the VMA Student Document Upload link
The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs will only accept completed packets in order to avoid document duplication.
How to Receive Your Benefits Each Semester
All current students (on campus and online) must submit an Advising Worksheet for every semester after the student registers for class. A deadline will be emailed posted at vets.ua.edu every Fall and Spring semester to turn an Advising Worksheet to the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs.
The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (VMA) will only accept the VMA Advising Worksheets, not worksheets provided by college academic advisors. Incomplete Advising Worksheets will not be accepted.
Late submission of an Advising Worksheet will cause a delay in benefits and the student will be responsible for their student account.
Advising Worksheets Guidelines
Advising Worksheet Deadline for Summer/Fall 2016: April 19 at 4:45 p.m.
- All Veteran and Military Affairs holds will be released by the first day of registration.
- Please complete a form for each individual term. For example, SUM I, SUM II and FULL SUM are each separate terms.
- Please submit an Advising Worksheet after you have registered for your classes to ensure accuracy for your GI Bill® certification. The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs can only certify classes in which students are currently registered. For more information please see Certification.
- A Veteran and Military Affairs hold will be placed on student’s account to prevent from adding and dropping classes, to ensure correct payment by the Veterans Administration to The University of Alabama.
- Include all possible courses on each advising form. If you decided to add or drop a course we would only need you to notify the office of the change. This action will also lift your hold for 24 hours. An additional advising form will not be required if the new course is listed on the original form.
- If you add a class not listed on your Advising Worksheet you must fill out an Add/Drop Form in order to lift your Veteran and Military Affairs hold.
- Request to release VMA schedule holds must be received in our office before 4:30 p.m. CST on the drop add deadlines. Request received after that time will be processed the next business day which could have negative results on your benefits for the term.
- Forms turned in by the deadline will have priority. Forms turned in after the deadline will be processed only after all priority students have been processed.
- After the add/drop period classes dropped after these dates will receive a “W” and are subject to debts from the VA.
VA Payments
Please keep in mind that the VA pays for number of calendar days in school. So payments in August, December, January, and May will not be for a full month. For payment rates please click here.
The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs does not have access to payment dates from the Veterans Administration for monthly housing allowances, book allowances or tuition and fees. Please call the VA Educational Hotline for any payment dates at 1-888-442-4551.