If you are the spouse or dependent child of an Alaska-resident service member who died in the line of duty, was killed in action, or was listed by the Department of Defense as a Prisoner of War, Alaska will waive your entire undergraduate tuition and fee bill at any University of Alaska campus. With in-state tuition and fees running roughly $8,500 to $9,000 a year, that is a four-year degree worth around $34,000 or more, at no tuition cost to you.
What it is
The Alaska Veterans' Dependent Tuition Waiver is a state education benefit written into Alaska law (AS 14.43.085) and administered through the University of Alaska system. According to the Alaska Office of Veterans Affairs, spouses and dependents of qualifying service members "are entitled to a waiver of all undergraduate tuition and fees through the University of Alaska system."
That covers all three UA universities and their community campuses:
- University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)
- University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)
- University of Alaska Southeast (UAS)
This is not the same thing as the resident-rate tuition benefit some states offer Veterans themselves. It is a survivor and dependent benefit: the qualifying event happened to your service member, and the waiver belongs to you, the family member. It is also entirely separate from federal survivor education benefits like Chapter 35 DEA, which we cover below.
One detail worth knowing: the underlying statute, as quoted in the UAS catalog, waives "undergraduate tuition and fees and on-campus room and board costs" for students in good standing. The state veterans office describes the benefit as tuition and fees. If you plan to live on campus, ask your campus Student Accounts office directly whether room and board are included in your waiver.
What it's worth
The University of Alaska system states that in-state undergraduate tuition and fees are approximately $8,500 per year (2025). Per-credit resident tuition at the lower-division level is $241 per credit for upcoming academic years, so a standard 30-credit year is about $7,230 in tuition before mandatory fees.
Here is what the waiver looks like for a dependent starting a bachelor's degree at UAA:
| Item | Typical annual cost | With the waiver |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition and mandatory fees (30 credits) | ~$8,500 | $0 |
| Books and supplies | varies | you pay |
| Room and board | varies | confirm with campus |
Over a four-year degree, the waiver is worth roughly $34,000 to $36,000 in tuition and fees alone. The waiver does not cover books or supplies, and you should treat room and board as your cost until your campus confirms otherwise.
The waiver works by zeroing out charges on your student account. Federal survivor benefits like Chapter 35 DEA work differently, paying you a monthly stipend instead. Whether you can use both at once is a question for your campus, and we point you to the right office in the related benefits section below.
Who qualifies (and who doesn't)
You qualify if both of these are true:
- You are the spouse or dependent child of the service member.
- The service member was a bona fide Alaska resident and one of the following applies: they died in the line of duty, they were killed in action, or they were listed by the Department of Defense as a Prisoner of War.
The statute's language, as published in UA catalogs, also extends to family members of service members listed as missing in action, and separately to survivors of Alaska peace officers and firefighters who died in the course of duty. If your situation is close to but not exactly the categories above, call the Alaska Office of Veterans Affairs before assuming you are ineligible.
You must also be enrolled, or enrolling, as a student in good standing at a University of Alaska campus.
Who does not qualify:
- Veterans themselves. This waiver is only for spouses and dependent children of qualifying service members. If you are a Veteran looking at UA, check your GI Bill options instead.
- Families of service members who were not Alaska residents. The residency requirement attaches to the service member, not to you.
- Graduate students. The waiver covers undergraduate tuition and fees only.
How to claim it
- Confirm eligibility with the Alaska Office of Veterans Affairs at (907) 334-0874 or 1-888-248-3682. They can tell you whether your service member's record meets the line-of-duty, KIA, or POW criteria before you build a college plan around it.
- Apply for admission to the UA campus you want to attend (UAA, UAF, or UAS, including their community campuses).
- Contact the Student Accounts office at your campus and ask for the AS 14.43.085 dependent tuition waiver application. The UAS catalog directs eligible students to Student Accounts for application instructions; UAA and UAF handle it through their equivalent offices.
- Provide documentation. Expect to show proof of your relationship to the service member and of the qualifying event, plus evidence of their Alaska residency. The exact documents vary by campus, so ask Student Accounts for the checklist rather than guessing.
- Stay in good standing. The statute conditions the waiver on being "a student in good standing," so keep your enrollment and academic status clean each term to keep the waiver.
There is no published statewide deadline for this waiver, but apply before the semester starts so the waiver posts to your account before tuition is due.
Related benefits
- Chapter 35 DEA survivor education is the federal counterpart. DEA pays eligible survivors a monthly stipend directly rather than paying the school. Ask your campus school certifying official whether and how the two can be used together before you certify enrollment.
- DIC survivor benefits is the VA's monthly payment to surviving spouses and children when a service member dies in the line of duty or from a service-connected condition. If you qualify for this tuition waiver, there is a strong chance the family qualifies for DIC too.
- Run the state benefits calculator in the Benefitry app to see what else Alaska offers your household.
What to do next
Call the Alaska Office of Veterans Affairs at (907) 334-0874 to confirm eligibility, then get the waiver application from your campus Student Accounts office.
Then run your full benefits scan at benefitry.io/start. Survivor households routinely qualify for federal and state programs beyond education, and we check over 4,000 federal and state benefits to show you every one with a dollar value attached.