VA Form 22-5490 is the application for Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance, also called Chapter 35 or DEA. The same form covers the Fry Scholarship. The family member seeking education benefits is the applicant, even when a veteran's disability award establishes the underlying eligibility.

Download the current VA Form 22-5490 PDF

Get the official January 2025 PDF from VA's form page. I checked the seven-page download on October 2, 2026. Pages 1 through 3 contain the application; the remaining pages explain elections, filing and information sharing.

You can also apply online through VA. The paper walkthrough below follows the current PDF's actual item numbers. Read the benefit-election instructions before choosing a program: some choices cannot be changed.

Who files it, and when?

An eligible spouse, surviving spouse or child files this application. VA's DEA eligibility page lists qualifying circumstances, including a veteran's permanent and total service-connected disability, certain service-connected deaths, and specified missing, captured or detained service members.

A 100% rating should not be treated as automatic proof of permanence. Check what the award actually says about the veteran's status and dependent education eligibility. Claim Raven's Chapter 35 glossary guide explains the program and how it differs from transferred GI Bill benefits.

Apply when seeking an eligibility decision for education or training. You do not have to choose a school first. If you have chosen one, contact its school certifying official about whether VA has approved your particular program.

Older advice that every child must use DEA before age 26 is incomplete. VA says there is no time limit if the child became eligible, turned 18, or completed high school or a GED on or after August 1, 2023. A spouse whose qualifying event occurred on or after that date also has no time limit. Earlier cases have different rules. No time limit does not mean unlimited months of payments.

Part I: applicant information, Items 1 through 8

Enter the student's information here, not the veteran parent's information.

  • Item 1: Applicant's Social Security number.
  • Item 2: Sex, using the form's selection.
  • Item 3: Applicant's date of birth, in month/day/year format.
  • Item 4: First name, middle initial and last name.
  • Item 5: Current mailing address, including apartment or unit and ZIP code.
  • Items 6A and 6B: Mobile and home telephone numbers, including area codes.
  • Item 7: Email address, if applicable.
  • Item 8: Direct-deposit routing number, checking or savings selection, and account number.

Check the nine-digit routing number against your financial institution's records. Page 4 explains that electronic payment information is needed for payment, although it is not required to determine eligibility. It also warns that Item 8 can update existing VA benefit payment accounts, including compensation and pension, but does not change the account for VA health benefits. Review that warning if you already receive other VA payments.

Part II: qualifying individual, Items 9 through 15

This part identifies the parent or spouse whose service supports your application.

  • Item 9: Qualifying individual's name.
  • Item 10: Their Social Security number or VA file number.
  • Item 11: Branch of service.
  • Item 12: Their date of birth.
  • Item 13A: Whether they died from a service-connected disability within 120 days after discharge or release from duty.
  • Item 13B: Whether they died while serving on active duty or other duty as a member of the armed forces.
  • Item 13C: Whether they died from a service-connected disability after September 10, 2001, while a member of the Selected Reserve.
  • Item 13D: Date of death if any of 13A through 13C is Yes.
  • Item 14: Whether the qualifying individual is currently on active duty.
  • Item 15: Date listed as missing in action or a prisoner of war, if applicable.

Questions 13A through 13C help VA assess Fry Scholarship eligibility. They are not a substitute for the separate DEA criteria. The instructions for 13A identify a Fry provision for qualifying terms beginning on or after August 1, 2025, and before October 1, 2027. Use the current instructions if that circumstance applies to your family.

Part III: relationship and benefit election, Items 16 through 21

Item 16 asks whether you are the spouse, biological child, stepchild or adopted child. Check one, then complete the applicable subsection.

Section I: spouse or surviving spouse

Item 17A asks for the marriage date. 17B asks whether a divorce or annulment is pending. Item 18 asks surviving spouses about remarriage and, if applicable, its date.

Item 19A selects Chapter 35 DEA. 19B selects the Chapter 33 Fry Scholarship. A spouse eligible for both must choose one; the form says that choice is irrevocable. Compare the benefits before selecting a box, including when eligibility may arise through different events. Do not select both to ask VA to decide which pays more.

Section II: child

Item 20A selects DEA, and 20B selects the Fry Scholarship. Read page 5 before answering. The consequences depend on the qualifying event and its date. A parent's line-of-duty death before August 1, 2011, has different coordination rules from a death on or after that date. Eligibility through separate events may also matter.

Item 21 asks whether you understand the effect of the election on Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC, and pension. The preceding notice also addresses being claimed as a dependent for compensation after age 18. This can affect money already being paid to the family.

These are the child's election rules. Do not apply them to a surviving spouse: VA's DEA page says an eligible spouse can receive DEA and DIC together. The form strongly encourages discussing the election with a VA counselor.

Part IV: age, school and counseling, Items 22 through 25

22A asks whether the applicant is a child under 18; 22B asks whether the applicant is a spouse under 18. For an applicant under 18, Item 23 asks about high-school graduation or a GED, including the completed or expected date.

Item 24 asks whether you want vocational and educational counseling. This is a request for help planning education or career goals, not the application for a veteran's Chapter 31 program.

25A and 25B are DEA-only questions about special restorative training and special vocational training for an applicant with a disability. Page 5 describes these services and the VA counselor's role in determining whether specialized training is needed. Answer about the applicant's needs, not the sponsoring veteran's disability.

Parts V and VI: earlier benefits and your military service

Item 26 asks about benefits you previously applied for or received. Check all applicable categories: compensation or pension, DIC, Chapter 31, education based on your service, education based on someone else's service, and other benefits. Specify the programs where requested.

Complete Items 27 and 28 only if you selected 26E, education benefits based on someone else's service:

  • 27: That individual's name.
  • 28A: Social Security number.
  • 28B: Date of birth.
  • 28C: Date of death or the date listed missing or captured, as applicable.
  • 28D: Current active-duty status.
  • 28E: Branch of service.

In Part VI, Item 29 asks whether you have served on active duty. If No, skip to Part VII. If Yes, 30A through 30D request entry and separation dates, branch or component, and character of discharge for your periods of service. These are the applicant's military records. Chapter 35 is not payable while the eligible person is on active duty.

Parts VII and VIII: the correct person signs

An applicant age 18 or older signs Item 31 and dates 32. The paper form says not to print the signature.

For an applicant under 18, the parent, guardian or custodian completes Part VIII instead: name in 33, mailing address in 34A, telephone numbers in 34B, email in 34C, and signature and date in 35A and 35B. A parent helping an adult student type answers does not automatically replace the adult applicant as signer.

Fictional example: an adult child applying for DEA

This is a fictional worksheet exercise, not a real person or claim. No personal identifiers or bank details are supplied.

Assume an adult child is applying based on a living veteran parent's permanent and total service-connected disability. The applicant has never received VA benefits, has no military service, and has selected an approved program at an Arizona school.

  • Part I contains the applicant's own information.
  • Part II identifies the veteran parent; the death questions are No.
  • Item 16 identifies the actual parent-child relationship.
  • Item 20A selects DEA after the applicant reviews the election instructions.
  • Item 21 is answered only after understanding the effect on any schoolchild compensation, DIC or pension.
  • Item 29 is No, so Item 30 is skipped.
  • The adult applicant signs Items 31 and 32.
  • The applicant contacts the Arizona school's certifying official about enrollment certification.

If VA is paying the veteran an additional amount for this child's school attendance, the family needs to address that payment when electing DEA. The 21-686c walkthrough explains dependency reporting; it does not replace this education application.

Where to submit it, and what happens next

Online: Use the application linked from VA's 22-5490 form page.

Mail: Use the school's location if you have selected one, or your home address if you have not. VA's regional processing directory assigns states and territories to these offices:

  • Department of Veterans Affairs, PO Box 8888, Muskogee, OK 74402-8888.
  • Department of Veterans Affairs, PO Box 4616, Buffalo, NY 14240-4616.

Arizona goes to Muskogee. Colorado, for example, goes to Buffalo. Check the directory rather than guessing from east or west geography.

Fax: The current PDF and application guidance reviewed here do not provide a general 22-5490 fax destination. Use the verified online or mail route, or ask VA's education line at 888-442-4551 for instructions specific to your application.

VA will notify you of its eligibility decision. Separately, the school certifying official submits enrollment information, identified in the PDF as VA Form 22-1999 through Enrollment Manager. Students receiving DEA must also verify enrollment as VA's current enrollment-verification guidance explains. An application alone does not certify attendance.

Check these details before sending

Keep applicant and sponsor identifiers separate, review the benefit election, use the correct signer, and retain a complete copy and submission confirmation. Check the regional mailing destination and contact the school about its separate certification. Report prior education benefits accurately rather than treating this as your first application just because the program is new to you.

If the veteran's disability decision is difficult to understand, Claim Raven's Raven Eye explains decision-letter findings in plain language with passages you can check. Its public page offers one free starter analysis of a decision letter or DBQ per account. Use it to prepare specific questions about the award supporting the family's application.

The PDF directs veterans applying for education based on their own service to 22-1990, and applicants for Veteran Readiness and Employment to 28-1900. Its final page explains 22-0993, the education information-sharing opt-out. Representation is a separate step covered in the 21-22 and 21-22a guide.

Verified October 2, 2026: the January 2025 PDF, official form page, DEA eligibility and enrollment guidance, and regional addresses. The example demonstrates field placement, not an eligibility decision. No general fax destination was verified.

Where to go next

Claim Raven is data analysis, not legal, medical, or VA-accredited advice. Ask VA or an accredited representative about eligibility and an election that could end other benefits.

-Landon Founder, Claim Raven | U.S. Army Veteran