Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All West Virginia benefits
educationstate

Medal of Honor or Purple Heart — Tuition Waived, But Only What Other Aid Does Not Cover

All public institutions of higher education waive undergraduate tuition and mandatory fee charges for residents of the State awarded the Medal of Honor or the Purple Heart, for a maximum of eight semesters. The waiver is last-dollar: W. Va. Code 18B-10-10 covers only the amount exceeding other state or federal education benefits, grants or scholarships, so a recipient with GI Bill entitlement may find little or nothing left for it to pay. Recipients whose combat wounds caused permanent disability or the loss of a limb hold an enhanced tier, offset only against aid designated solely for tuition and mandatory fees.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

All public institutions of higher education waive undergraduate tuition and mandatory fee charges for residents of the State awarded the Medal of Honor or the Purple Heart, for a maximum of eight semesters. The waiver is last-dollar: W. Va. Code 18B-10-10 covers only the amount exceeding other state or federal education benefits, grants or scholarships, so a recipient with GI Bill entitlement may find little or nothing left for it to pay. Recipients whose combat wounds caused permanent disability or the loss of a limb hold an enhanced tier, offset only against aid designated solely for tuition and mandatory fees.

What it's worth: Undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees waived for up to eight semesters — less whatever other aid already covers

  • W. Va. Code 18B-10-10 caps the waiver at a maximum of eight semesters and applies it to undergraduate tuition.
  • The waiver covers only amounts exceeding other state or federal education benefits, grants or scholarships. This is the single most important thing about it: it pays last, not first.
  • A recipient whose combat wounds caused permanent disability or loss of limb holds an enhanced tier, which is offset only against aid designated solely for tuition and mandatory fees — a narrower offset, so more of the waiver survives.
  • The waiver is mandatory for the institutions rather than discretionary, and it does not count against institutional waiver caps. An institution cannot decline it on the ground that its waiver allocation is exhausted.
  • Residency in the State is part of the test.
  • No rate schedule was read, so what the waiver is worth in cash depends on the institution and the programme.

Who is entitled to it

  • The waiver runs to the decorated member.
  • Your home is in W. Va.

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: Set by the institution
  1. 1Take the award citation as well as the DD Form 214. The decoration, not the rating, is the test here.
  2. 2Ask the institution, not the veterans department. The statute makes the waiver mandatory on the public institutions themselves.
  3. 3Work out your other aid first. The waiver pays only what exceeds other state or federal education benefits, grants or scholarships, so what it is worth to you depends entirely on what you already have.
  4. 4If combat wounds caused permanent disability or the loss of a limb, say so and cite the enhanced tier — it is offset only against aid designated solely for tuition and mandatory fees, which leaves more of the waiver intact.
  5. 5Ask what "mandatory fees" covers at that institution. Course fees, laboratory fees and programme fees are not always inside the mandatory category.
  6. 6Check residency early. The waiver is limited to residents of the State.
  7. 7Plan around eight semesters. That is the statutory maximum and it is for undergraduate study.
Form
The institution’s tuition waiver process
File with
The public institution’s financial aid or veterans office
Documents you will need
dd214
Each term
Claimed per academic term.
Worth knowingThis is a last-dollar waiver. W. Va. Code 18B-10-10 covers only amounts exceeding other state or federal education benefits, grants or scholarships — so a Medal of Honor or Purple Heart recipient using the Post-9/11 GI Bill may receive nothing from it at all. The headline reads as though tuition is simply waived; it is waived only to the extent nothing else already pays it.

Sources

Why only one source type: The department cites the Code section but the Code host refused every connection this session, so the record rests on the department’s own description rather than on the section text.

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