Request By:
Mr. Charles W. Ward
National Service Officer
Disabled American Veterans
Federal Office Building, Room 829
600 Federal Place
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; John H. Gray, Assistant Attorney General
Thank you for your letter of July 30, 1981 in which you ask whether the dependents of a veteran who has attained age 65 and is therefore medically eligible to receive pension benefits from the Veterans' Administration would be eligible to receive the state waiver of tuition benefits.
KRS 164.515(1) provides in part that the spouse and any child of a permanently and totally disabled war veteran shall not be required to pay any tuition fee to any state supported institution of higher education or vocational training school. KRS 164.515(2) states specifically that: "To be entitled to benefits under this section the parent of the child claiming benefits if living must be rated permanently and totally disabled for pension purposes or one hundred per cent (100%) disabled for compensation purposes by the United States veterans' administration . . . . ."
It is the opinion of this office that under KRS 164.515, a veteran's dependents would not qualify for the state waiver of tuition benefits unless the veteran has been rated permanently and totally disabled for pension purposes or one hundred percent disabled for compensation purposes by the Veterans' Administration. This office feels that the language of KRS 164.515 is very clear in this regard and that tuition benefits are conferred only on the dependents of veterans which have been rated, and not those who have been presumed disabled.
It is hoped that this has adequately answered your question.