Veterans & Military · Surprise rank #267
Military Parent or Spouse Killed or Disabled on Duty? NY Can Cover Tuition, Room and Board
The MERIT Scholarship covers the full cost of undergraduate college — tuition, room, board, books and transportation — for children, spouses and financial dependents of U.S. Armed Forces or state militia members who died or became severely and permanently disabled in the line of duty.
Who
Children, spouses and financial dependents of members of the U.S. Armed Forces or a state-organized militia who, while serving, died or became severely and permanently disabled performing their military duties. New York State residency requirements apply to the service member at the relevant time.
Where: For study at colleges in New York State.
What to do
Start here: Start at HESC's MERIT Scholarship page (hesc.ny.gov/merit), complete the MERIT web supplement to establish eligibility, and then file the FAFSA and TAP application each year by June 30 to request payment. Call 1-888-697-4372 with questions about documentation.
Eligibility: Qualifying relationship to a service member who died or became severely and permanently disabled in the line of duty; full-time enrollment in an approved undergraduate program at a New York State college; good academic standing; not in default on a student loan or NYS award.
What you get
MERIT (Military Enhanced Recognition Incentive and Tribute) is a cost-of-attendance scholarship, not just a tuition award. HESC pays actual tuition and mandatory fees or the SUNY average, whichever is less, plus set allowances for room and board, books and supplies, and transportation, for up to four years of full-time undergraduate study at a college in New York State.
Benefit: Tuition and mandatory fees up to the SUNY average, plus allowances for room and board, books and supplies, and transportation, at a New York college.
Possible value: Under HESC's published 2025-26 allowance chart, a residential or off-campus student at an independent college is budgeted at about $28,120 for the full year and a commuter at about $17,250. Over four years that can exceed $100,000 for a residential student. Other grants and scholarships reduce the award.
Good to know
Important: This is separate from, and stacks differently than, federal VA education benefits like the Fry Scholarship and Chapter 35 DEA — but other grants and scholarships do reduce the MERIT award, so families should ask a financial aid office how the pieces interact before assuming they add up. It also only covers study at New York colleges. Establishing eligibility does not pay anything by itself; the annual payment application is required.
Availability: Active; accepting applications.
Why people miss it: Military families are steered toward federal VA education benefits and never told that New York runs its own, more generous cost-of-attendance scholarship on top.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026