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$250 a Year for a School-Age Child, From Age Ten

A $250 grant each year for each eligible child aged 10 to 18, towards elementary and high school education expenses, where the veteran parent is missing in action, a prisoner of war, rated 100% permanently and totally disabled from service-connected causes, or died of a service-connected cause. Applications have run online since 15 July 2024.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

A $250 grant each year for each eligible child aged 10 to 18, towards elementary and high school education expenses, where the veteran parent is missing in action, a prisoner of war, rated 100% permanently and totally disabled from service-connected causes, or died of a service-connected cause. Applications have run online since 15 July 2024.

What it's worth: $250 a year for each eligible child aged 10 to 18

  • The grant is $250 annually FOR EACH eligible child, not $250 per family.
  • The age range is 10 to 18, for elementary through high school education expenses.
  • The qualifying statuses are the same four as the MIA/POW scholarship: missing in action, prisoner of war, 100% permanent and total from service-connected causes including unemployability, or a service-connected death.
  • Applications have been online since 15 July 2024, through the student portal.
  • It is the only benefit in this corpus reaching a child still at school rather than at college.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran's child.
  • The veteran meets one of the qualifying statuses.
  • You are in Illinois.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Annually, through the student portal
  1. 1Apply online at the ISAC student portal — the paper route closed in July 2024.
  2. 2Apply for EACH eligible child. The grant is per child, and a single family application understates it.
  3. 3Claim from age ten. Most people find this benefit when the child is nearly eighteen, having missed several years of it.
  4. 4The qualifying statuses are the same as the MIA/POW scholarship, so if one applies to you the other probably does too.
Form
Online application via the ISAC student portal
File with
Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, via the ISAC student portal
Documents you will need
dd214
Annual
Claimed once a year.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.