Last-Dollar Tuition Waiver — For the Veteran Whose GI Bill Ran Out
An honorably discharged resident veteran whose elected VA education benefits have expired or been exhausted attends any university-system campus — undergraduate or graduate — with the remaining in-state tuition waived after every other grant and scholarship is applied.
Verified August 22, 2026
What this benefit is
An honorably discharged resident veteran whose elected VA education benefits have expired or been exhausted attends any university-system campus — undergraduate or graduate — with the remaining in-state tuition waived after every other grant and scholarship is applied.
What it's worth: Remaining in-state tuition waived, last dollar, undergraduate and graduate — fees and flat-fee courses excluded
- The waiver covers what remains of in-state tuition after federal, state and private grants and scholarships apply; a student whose other aid covers tuition receives nothing from it.
Who is entitled to it
- Your discharge was Honorable.
- You are a state resident for tuition purposes.
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
- 1Check the three sharp gates: an HONORABLE discharge (general-under-honorable is rejected in terms) for active duty other than training; state residency for tuition purposes; and VA education benefits that you ELECTED and which have since expired or been exhausted — a veteran who never signed up for the GI Bill does not qualify.
- 2File the FAFSA and apply for a Pell grant — the last-dollar arithmetic runs tuition minus federal, state and private aid, and the waiver covers only what remains, up to in-state tuition.
- 3Apply no later than the third week of the first semester you claim — the deadline is hard — and reapply when changing campuses. Every university-system campus qualifies, graduate study included; flat-fee courses and mandatory fees do not.
- Form
- MUS waiver application, plus FAFSA
- File with
- The campus financial aid or veterans services office
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- Annual
- Claimed once a year.
Sources
- authority · published policyMontana State University veteran services — State Veteran Tuition Waiver (Board of Regents Policy 940.13)
- operating · published policyMontana University System — veteran tuition waiver fact sheet and application instructions
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.