Kentucky Veteran Benefits

If you're a veteran or current servicemember living in the Bluegrass State, you might qualify for a lot of the benefits discussed below. Your state and your country want to honor you for your service. They can help you afford a home, go back to school, get a job, and more.


Veteran Home Loans

Are you stationed in Kentucky with the Army? You could own your own home in this beautiful state, and you could even find one near the Army base you're stationed at.



Kentucky veteran loans make owning property easier and more affordable, meaning homeownership could be right around the corner for you. That's because VA loans are a type of low-cost mortgage thanks to features like:

  • No down payment requirement
  • Lower interest rates than many other kinds of home loans
  • No minimum credit score requirement
  • No need to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI)

The VA offers guarantees to private lenders so that they can offer these and other great benefits to both veterans and current military personnel.

The amount of your loan depends on a variety of factors, including your qualifications and your lender's terms. To make sure you get the best veteran loan rates and terms for your situation, you should gather quotes from multiple lenders. Getting a good rate and excellent loan terms will help keep your monthly home expenses as low as possible.

Kentucky Residents Save

$149/mth

Savings based on 2015 active loan data

18Lunches

*Based on an average lunch price of $8.08

Pre-Qualify Now

Veteran Housing Benefits

Operation Victory

In Louisville, KY, businesses, volunteers, and nonprofits have banded together to create Operation Victory, an organization that helps renovate homes in order to provide a place for a homeless veteran to live.

Homeless veterans can apply by filling out an submitting the Operation Victory Application, available online.

Other Programs for Homeless Veterans

Kentucky is constantly working to help homeless veterans get housing, as well as keeping at-risk veterans from losing their current housing. Programs and locations include:

  • Wayside Christian Mission: Located in Louisville, the Wayside Christian Mission is able to help all homeless veterans, including female veterans and veterans with families.
  • Volunteers of America: This location in Lexington has 40 beds in the VA Medical center and offers help with substance abuse.
  • Mountain Comprehensive Care Center: If you need help in Eastern Kentucky, this facility helps men with substance abuse treatment, care for mental illness, finding work, and more.
  • Brighton Recovery Center for Women: This facility in Northern Kentucky includes beds for female veterans who are battling substance abuse.
  • Pennyroyal Center for Homeless Veterans: This large facility in Western Kentucky provides therapeutic services for veteran men who need help while homeless.

This is just a small sampling of one program in each area. The full list can be viewed online, along with contact information for all programs.

Homeless Veterans Trust Fund

As part of Kentucky's larger Veterans Program Trust Fund, the Homeless Veterans Trust Fund offers direct financial assistance to veterans who are in danger of becoming homeless or are currently homeless. Cash from the fund is granted to veterans to help them pay for:

  • Security deposits
  • Temporary housing
  • Rent
  • Utilities

 

Kentucky Veterans Centers

Kentucky's Veterans Centers focus on caring for Kentucky's veterans with compassion. They seek to give them independence and dignity. The facilities provide:

  • Skilled nursing care
  • Spacious and beautiful grounds
  • Rehabilitation care
  • Community living

If you'd like to apply for admission, you can click the "Apply for Admission" buttons on the right-hand side of the Veterans Centers page. Each facility has its own application, so make sure you click on the one you're interested in.

Veteran Education & Employment Benefits

Education Benefits

Furthering your education can improve your life. In order to make this benefit more available to its heroes, Kentucky has many different education-focused programs and services for members and veterans of the Armed Forces who are stationed or reside in the state.

Campus Veterans Programs

If you're enrolling in a Kentucky university or college, you can talk to their staff who are focused on helping veterans. Many of Kentucky's institutions of higher learning have special programs for veterans. Click on the links below for examples of dedicated veterans campus resources:

If you're already enrolled in a school, you can talk to your school counselor about your school's veterans outreach program.

Kentucky Tuition Waiver

Kentucky provides tuition waivers for the family members of veterans to attend Kentucky colleges, universities, and vocational technical schools. To be eligible, a student must be either a spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, child, step-child, or adopted child of a veteran.

Both the student and the veteran must qualify as Kentucky residents. If the veteran is deceased, he or she must have been a resident of Kentucky when he or she died. The veteran must also meet one of the following conditions:

  • They died while on active duty
  • They died because of a service-related disability
  • They are 100% disabled because of his or her service
  • They served during wartime and are totally disabled from non-service causes
  • They died and had wartime service experience

You can apply for this benefit by filling out and turning in the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs Tuition Waiver Application. You'll need documentation such as:

  • Proof of the student's relationship to the veteran, like a birth certificate, marriage certificate, or a Tuition Waiver Affidavit of Household Membership
  • A DD-214 form or Discharge Certificate for the veteran
  • The veteran's driver's license
  • The veteran's death certificate, if applicable
  • A VA Disability Award Letter, if applicable
  • Documentation of residency in Kentucky, like a utility bill or tax form

 

Kentucky's High School Diploma Program

Kentucky's High School Diploma Program is a special benefit for some of Kentucky's brave veterans who served in World War II, Korea, or Vietnam. If you weren't able to graduate from high school because you left to serve in one of those wars, you can now get the an official diploma from your high school.

To qualify, you must:

  • Have an honorable discharge
  • Have been enrolled in high school
  • Have not completed high school before serving in World War II, Korea, or Vietnam

To apply, you can fill out the request form and mail or fax it to the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA), using the address or fax number on the form. You'll need to include a copy of your discharge document.

If you need a copy of your DD-214, you can request it from the KDVA using the Request for Military Records form. If you're from Kentucky or were living in Kentucky before you joined the military, they might have your records on file.

Employment Benefits

Looking for work in the civilian world can sometimes seem overwhelming to servicemembers and veterans. However, with Kentucky's veteran-focused job resources, it doesn't have to be.

Kentucky Veterans Employment, Training and Support Program (KyVETS)

The Kentucky Veterans Employment Training and Support Program (KyVETS) can help you find a job and job training. The program has a growing list of veteran job-seekers, and it works to connect job-seekers with employers who want to hire veterans.

You can send your information to KyVETS to be included on their list. Your information is confidential, but it's used to help you find a job. If you want to be part of the list, email the following personal information to KyVets@ky.gov:

  • Name
  • Address (including city, county, and zip code)
  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Dates of military service
  • Branch of service
  • Grade/Rank
  • Current employment status
  • Security clearance, if applicable

KyVETS also has the KyVETS Toolkit, which is an online PDF that can help you start your job search. It includes free information about:

  • Training tools
  • Resume writing
  • Networking and other job search strategies
  • Job interview techniques

 

Other Veteran Benefits

Kentucky can help you get the medals you've earned, find help during legal troubles, get a veteran designation on your Kentucky driver's license, and more.

Veterans Program Trust Fund

Since December 23, 1988, Kentucky has had a Veterans Program Trust Fund to help veterans in a variety of ways. The fund primarily supports various programs and projects that don't receive other sources of financial support, including, but not limited to:

  • State veterans cemeteries
  • Veterans centers
  • Homeless veterans
  • Female Veterans

 

Veteran Medals

If you earned a medal during World War II and never received it, the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA) can help you to get it. The KDVA can also help you get a medal that was lost, stolen, or destroyed (such as in a house fire).

For free help obtaining a medal, you can contact the KDVA.

Wills for Warriors

If you're a low-income veteran, you can get free help preparing:

  • A will
  • A living will
  • A power of attorney or health care surrogate

To apply for this service, you can use the contact information on the Wills for Warriors flyer. You can also contact the Legal Aid Society directly. They have a hotline for veterans at 844-268-0838.

Military License Plates

You can choose from among several specialty license plates that show part of your military history. Also, if you're a family member of a deceased veteran, you may be eligible for a Gold Star license plate.

To be eligible, you must own a non-commercial motor vehicle that is registered in Kentucky. You can click on each available license plate type on KY.gov to see the documentation and other requirements.

Veteran Designation on Driver's License

If you're a veteran with an honorable discharge, you can get a veteran designation on your driver's license in Kentucky. "VETERAN" will be printed on the right border of your photo on your license. You can then use your driver's license to identify yourself as a veteran (at businesses, for example), rather than carrying other documentation.

When applying for a veteran designation, you'll show your DD-214 form to your local circuit clerk, where you apply for a driver's license. The designation is free if you request it when it's time to renew your license.

Veterans Treatment Court

Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) is a special system that helps veterans to combat mental health and substance abuse challenges. It's offered as part of Kentucky's court system and uses the resources of drug courts, county attorneys, VA medical centers, and county social service agencies.

If you're currently facing misdemeanor or felony charges—or are on probation—you may be eligible for Veterans Treatment Court if:

  • You're on active duty, are a veteran, or are a member of the Guard or Reserves
  • You're a US citizen or legal resident
  • You're a resident of a county (or contiguous county) that offers VTC
  • You've been diagnosed with a psychiatric or substance abuse disorder
  • You're willing to follow a strict program, and you understand what you're signing up for

You may not be eligible if you're accused of certain types of dangerous crimes. Also, the victims of crimes can give their opinion about an applicant's eligibility.

Kentucky Veterans Cemeteries

The Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA) runs several state veterans cemeteries. These facilities provide veterans with a full range of internment services, including:

  • A grave or columbarium location
  • Perpetual care of their interment sites
  • Opening and closing of graves
  • Appropriate markers and headstones
  • The option of a concrete grave liner

A Kentucky veteran is defined as someone who meets one of the following criteria:

  • Was born in Kentucky
  • Served at a Kentucky military installation
  • Was a resident of Kentucky
  • Listed Kentucky as his or her home of record

If you qualify and would like to be interred at one of Kentucky's state veterans cemeteries, you can fill out the pre-application form.

Veteran Benefits Assistance

If you need help getting your state or federal benefits, the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs has Veterans Benefits Field Representatives that can assist you. They give free professional services to veterans and their dependents, which include:

  • Benefits counseling
  • Relief of homelessness
  • Women veterans benefits
  • Access to nursing homes
  • Burial with honors
  • Applications for benefits

 

Women Veterans

If you're a female veteran, the KDVA offers specific resources to help you with your unique circumstances. You can visit their page for women veterans to find to learn more.

As part of their mission, KDVA's Women Veterans Program maintains a confidential database of female veterans in Kentucky. To add yourself or another female veteran to this list, send an email with the following information about the female veteran to womenveterans@ky.gov:

  • Name
  • Street address, city, and zip code
  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Dates of military service
  • Branch of service
  • Grade/Rank

The purpose of the database is to connect women veterans to information, resources, and events that can help them. It's also to create a strong network of women veterans.

About Low VA Rates

From the moment we were founded, Low VA Rates has focused on serving both veterans and active duty personnel. So if you're looking for a lender that knows the ins and outs of VA loans in Kentucky, give us a call at 866-569-8272 or start your application using our online form.

One of our knowledgeable and friendly loan experts will get back to you as soon as possible about your options for Kentucky veterans loans.