Tuition Residency for GI Bill Recipients

On August 12, 2013, Illinois State Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law House Bill 2353 (Public Act 98-0306), “Higher Ed-Military-Tuition,” which grants state tuition residency to student veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33), allowing them to qualify for in-state tuition.

PA 98-0306 requires that Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit recipients be considered Illinois residents for tuition purposes only for the period during which they are utilizing their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Students at the University of Illinois making use of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and who might not otherwise be assessed tuition at the in-state rate will be assessed in-state tuition for a given term once they have been verified as receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for that term.

Beginning with the 2015-16 academic year, the Illinois legislature extended this same opportunity to students utilizing benefits under the federal All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program. As with students using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, students receiving benefits from the All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program will be considered as Illinois residents for tuition purposes.

Although not required by this law, the University maintains a compassionate practice that assists servicemembers who have made significant progress towards a degree while enrolled at the University and receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill or All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program benefits but then exhaust their benefit eligibility just short of completing their degree. This practice:

  1. Applies to active-duty military and veterans onIy, and
  2. Is not applicable to recipients of transferred Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits through transfer of eligibility, and
  3. Requires the servicemember to have been enrolled at the University while receiving Post-9/11 GI Bill or  All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program benefits for a minimum period of time (two consecutive terms) immediately prior to exhausting their benefit, and
  4. Is available only to those servicemembers enrolled as degree-seeking students in undergraduate, graduate or professional programs (programs that could typically qualify a student for Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill or Chapter 30 All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program benefits).

Under this practice, a servicemember may be granted up to one year of in-state residency for tuition purposes after their eligibility for Post-9/11 GI Bill or All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program benefits has been fully utilized provided they are within thirty (30) hours of completing their degree program and remain continuously enrolled.

This supplemental benefit is offered at the discretion of the University and may be changed or eliminated at any time.

Students wishing to confirm their eligibility under this practice for an extension of their in-state residency should contact the appropriate campus office at:

Those with more general questions about their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit eligibility should contact the campus financial aid office for further information at: