HERSHEY -- Officials at the University Board of Trustees meeting announced they have created a tuition waiver for dependent children of Pennsylvanian military personnel killed or missing in action in the Persian Gulf War.

Charles R. Fuget, deputy secretary and commissioner for higher education, said the 14 state-owned and four state-related institutions agreed to the tuition waiver.

Most of the institutions accepted the proposal with no hesitation, Fuget said.

The state government knows of 27 men and women from Pennsylvania killed in the war and 15 eligible children. The state has not calculated all the deaths and dependents yet, Fuget said.

The tuition waivers will not be a financial burden to the institutions because so few servicemen died or were listed as missing during the war, Fuget said.

The tuition waiver would cover the costs of eight semesters or four academic years after the student is admitted to the institution, Fuget said.

The state approached the colleges and universities about creating a scholarship for the children of those killed in the gulf war, Fuget said.

University President Joab Thomas said he first learned about the tuition waiver last month when he was in Harrisburg presenting the University budget to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Thomas said although he agreed to waive the tuition, the state should pay for part of the scholarship.

"There's no such thing as a (tuition) waiver," Thomas said, explaining that the University would have to make up the loss in funds.