Arkansas Heroes Scholarship

A parent is killed in the line of duty. A spouse is left managing everything. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, a teenager who had plans for college is now wondering how any of that is still possible.

The Arkansas Heroes Scholarship and the Law Enforcement Officers' Dependents Scholarship exist precisely for that moment. Together they represent one of the most substantial education benefits available to Arkansas families of fallen public safety officers — and they are widely underused, mainly because nobody explains them clearly during the chaos of the first weeks after a death.

This post covers both programs in full: who qualifies, what each covers, how the application process works, and what related financial benefits run alongside them.

What the Arkansas Heroes Scholarship Is

The Arkansas Heroes Scholarship is administered by the Arkansas Division of Higher Education (ADHE). It provides full in-state tuition and room and board at any public Arkansas college or university for qualifying dependents and spouses.

The scholarship covers three distinct groups:

Dependents and spouses of military personnel killed in action. If a service member died as a result of hostile or combat action while on active duty, their surviving spouse, biological children, adopted children, and financially dependent stepchildren may qualify. The KIA determination is typically documented through DD-214 records and official military notification.

Dependents and spouses of veterans with a 100% permanent and total VA disability rating. The 100% rating must be a formal VA determination — a temporary 100% rating or a TDIU (Total Disability Individual Unemployability) designation needs confirmation from the VA before it will satisfy this requirement.

Dependents and spouses of public safety officers killed in the line of duty. This extends coverage beyond military families to include the families of law enforcement officers, firefighters, correctional officers, and other qualifying public safety personnel. The death must have occurred in the line of duty — the employing agency's line-of-duty determination is required documentation.

What the Scholarship Pays

The Arkansas Heroes Scholarship covers:

• Full in-state tuition at an Arkansas public university
• Required fees
• Room and board

There is no fixed dollar cap. The scholarship covers the actual cost of attendance at the institution where the recipient enrolls, which means the value automatically adjusts as tuition increases over the years. At the University of Arkansas, for example, full in-state tuition plus room and board currently exceeds $20,000 per year. The Heroes Scholarship covers that in full for qualifying recipients.

The scholarship applies to Arkansas public institutions only. Private colleges and out-of-state universities do not qualify.

How to Apply for the Heroes Scholarship

Applications are processed through the Arkansas Division of Higher Education. Because financial aid workflows differ by institution, the practical starting point is the financial aid office of the Arkansas public university or college the applicant plans to attend. That office coordinates with ADHE to verify eligibility and process the award.

Required documentation typically includes:

• Proof of the qualifying event: DD-214 and official KIA notification for military deaths; VA rating decision letter for disability cases; line-of-duty determination letter from the employing agency for public safety deaths
• Proof of relationship: birth certificate for dependent children, adoption papers for adopted children, or marriage certificate for surviving spouses
• Enrollment verification: confirmation of enrollment at an eligible Arkansas public institution

There is no annual income test — the scholarship is not means-tested. Eligibility rests on the qualifying event and the family relationship, not on financial need.

Start the application process before the semester begins. Universities process financial aid on enrollment timelines, and late submissions can delay disbursement for the first term.

The LEO Dependents Scholarship: A Parallel Program for Law Enforcement Families

For families of law enforcement officers specifically, Arkansas maintains a separate scholarship program: the Law Enforcement Officers' Dependents Scholarship, commonly called the LEO Dependents Scholarship.

This program is also administered through ADHE and covers:

• Tuition and required fees
• Room and board
• At any public Arkansas college or university
• For up to 8 semesters (four academic years)

The LEO scholarship targets dependents and spouses of law enforcement officers who were killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. Coverage is specifically tied to law enforcement — it does not extend to firefighters or correctional officers. Those families apply through the Heroes Scholarship instead.

The Heroes Scholarship and the LEO Dependents Scholarship are distinct programs with overlapping eligibility in some circumstances. A child of a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty may qualify for both. Apply for both and let ADHE determine which program applies — they cannot be combined for a double benefit, but applying for both preserves access to whichever provides the more complete coverage for the applicant's specific circumstances.

Financial Aid That Runs Alongside These Scholarships

The Heroes Scholarship and LEO scholarship do not preclude other sources of financial support. In most cases they can be combined with other benefits. Some of what may run alongside:

Workers' compensation dependent child benefits. If the officer died as a result of an occupational injury, their dependent children receive 15% of the decedent's average weekly wage under Arkansas workers' compensation law until age 18 — or until age 25 if the child is enrolled full time in school. That benefit runs parallel to the education scholarship. A student can receive both simultaneously.

LOPFI or ASPRS pension survivor benefits. If the officer was covered by the Local Police and Fire Retirement System or the Arkansas State Police Retirement System, the surviving spouse and children may receive ongoing pension annuities. These are paid independently of any scholarship.

Social Security survivor benefits. Dependent children of deceased wage earners receive Social Security survivor payments until age 18 (or 19 for full-time high school students). These are separate from state programs.

Federal VA education benefits. Chapter 35 of the GI Bill (Survivors and Dependents Education Assistance) provides federal education benefits for dependents of veterans with a 100% service-connected disability or who died from a service-connected condition. The interaction between Chapter 35 and state scholarships can be complex — receiving both may reduce the federal benefit in some cases. Before enrolling under both, consult with a VA-accredited claims agent or the financial aid office at the institution to optimize the combination.

What the State Claims Commission Benefit Covers Separately

The education scholarships address tuition. But the immediate financial emergency after a line-of-duty death is usually about income replacement, not tuition.

That is addressed through a separate channel: the Arkansas State Claims Commission adjudicates the $150,000 lump-sum death benefit for spouses and children of public safety officers killed as the result of a criminal act in the line of duty. That benefit is independent of the scholarship programs. A family can pursue both at the same time — the Claims Commission benefit and the Heroes Scholarship application run on completely different tracks.

Municipal employers often pay a separate $50,000 lump sum as well, plus payment of accrued sick and vacation leave. And for officers covered by LOPFI, the pension survivor benefit provides ongoing monthly income to the spouse for life.

None of these agencies communicate with each other. No agency will call to tell you that you are also eligible for the scholarship. The family has to know and apply.

Coordinating Everything at Once

A line-of-duty death in Arkansas typically activates claims across five or more separate systems at the same time: the State Claims Commission, LOPFI or ASPRS, the Arkansas workers' compensation system, the federal PSOB program, and the ADHE scholarships. Each has its own application, its own documentation requirements, and its own timeline.

The Arkansas Survivor Benefits Navigator maps each of these claims side by side — the exact forms, the agency contacts, and the deadlines — so nothing is missed in the first weeks when everything is happening at once. If you are coordinating multiple benefit claims after a line-of-duty death, the complete guide is available here.

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