A new, expanded Montgomery GI Bill will cover tuition and fee costs for as many as 200 UIC student veterans, financial aid officials say.
Effective Aug. 1, the Post-9/11 GI Bill pays tuition and fees for students who have served at least 36 months of active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, said Samuel Bahena, assistant director of financial aid. The bill also gives veterans a $1,764 a month stipend for housing and $1,000 a year for books. Students who have served less than 36 months of active duty post-9/11 will receive pro-rated aid. “If a student coming to UIC can qualify for 100 percent, that’s a lot of money,” Bahena said. “It’s really a big thing.”
Though the new GI bill is a huge leap forward from the old federal bill — which provides only a $1,321 per month housing stipend — Illinois veterans already have access to tuition help. The Illinois Veterans Grant covers tuition and fees for veterans who are current state residents and lived in
Student veterans who accept the state grant can combine it with the old GI bill to receive the $1,321 per month housing stipend. “A lot of students see that they already have something paying for tuition and fees, so they don’t really see the benefit of the new GI bill,” said Bahena. “The advantage to having the post-9/11 bill is that the living stipend is much higher, plus books and supplies are covered.”
Students who are eligible for benefits from the GI bill have 14 years to cash in on the aid, which is provided for a maximum of 36 months, Bahena said. The Illinois Veterans Grant can be applied for up to 120 credit hours for undergraduate or graduate studies. “One advantage of having both the state and federal benefits is that students can choose to use the Illinois Veterans Grant after they exhaust the post-9/11 bill,” he said.
Based on the current state budget, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission eliminated funding for the Illinois Veterans Grant program, which provides more than $2.5 million to veterans at UIC. Students will still receive their expected aid but UIC will take on the costs, said financial aid director Timothy Opgenorth. “Veterans won’t see a difference,” he said.
More information is available online.
