educationstate

Public Service Scholarship — for Children of the Killed, the Missing and the Captured

Undergraduate scholarships for children of prisoners of war or service members missing in action in Southeast Asia between 1 February 1955 and the end of the Vietnam campaign, and for children of veterans whose service was credited to the Commonwealth and who were killed in action or otherwise died as a result of that service.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: A scholarship for undergraduate study at an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth

Neither the Executive Office of Veterans Services nor the Office of Student Financial Assistance publishes an award amount on the page read this session, so no figure is quoted here.
The scholarships are for undergraduate studies at an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.
The two eligible groups are defined narrowly and separately: children of prisoners of war or of service persons missing in action in Southeast Asia whose service fell between 1 February 1955 and the termination of the Vietnam campaign, and children of veterans whose service was credited to the Commonwealth and who were killed in action or otherwise died as a result of such service.

Who is entitled to it

The scholarships are awarded to children of the service members described.
You are not in default on a federal student loan.
Your home is in Massachusetts.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Ask the Office of Student Financial Assistance for the current cycle

1Work out which of the two groups you are in, because they turn on completely different facts. One is about capture or being missing in Southeast Asia in a defined period; the other is about a death in or resulting from service credited to the Commonwealth.
2Contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance directly — the Executive Office of Veterans Services names it as the contact and gives its address in Revere, its telephone number and its email.
3Have the service documentation ready, including anything that establishes that the veteran’s service was credited to the Commonwealth. That phrase is doing real work in the eligibility test.
4Confirm the institution is inside the Commonwealth, and that the course is undergraduate. Both are conditions of the scholarship as described.
5Clear any federal student loan default before applying, as with the other Massachusetts waivers.
6Ask about the categorical tuition waiver for dependants in the same conversation. It is a different programme with a different test, and a family may be inside both.

Form: Application through the Office of Student Financial Assistance
File with: Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, Office of Student Financial Assistance
Annual: Claimed once a year.

CorrectionThe prisoner of war and missing in action route is period-limited and place-limited: Southeast Asia, and service between 1 February 1955 and the termination of the Vietnam campaign. It is not a general provision for the families of prisoners of war.

Worth knowing"Whose service was credited to the Commonwealth" is the phrase that decides the second route, and it is not the same as the veteran having lived here. Ask the Office of Student Financial Assistance how it is evidenced before assuming either way.

Known gapNo award amount, no application deadline and no form number were published on the pages read this session, and malegislature.gov refused retrieval, so M.G.L. c.15A §16 itself is unread here.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.