Wisconsin GI Bill — Tuition Remitted in Full, for the Veteran and Their Family
Full tuition and segregated fees remitted at any UW System school or technical college — 128 credits or 8 semesters, whichever is longer, with no time limit. Spouses, unremarried surviving spouses and children aged 17 to under 26 are covered on the same cap, where the veteran holds a 30% or higher service-connected rating or died on active duty, from a service-connected disability, or in the line of duty.
Verified August 27, 2026
What this benefit is
Full tuition and segregated fees remitted at any UW System school or technical college — 128 credits or 8 semesters, whichever is longer, with no time limit. Spouses, unremarried surviving spouses and children aged 17 to under 26 are covered on the same cap, where the veteran holds a 30% or higher service-connected rating or died on active duty, from a service-connected disability, or in the line of duty.
What it's worth: Full tuition and segregated fees, up to 128 credits or 8 semesters — whichever is longer
- The whichever-is-longer rule cuts your way twice: take 128 credits in fewer than 8 semesters and the remission runs to the end of the eighth; take fewer credits per term and it runs to the 128th credit.
- Spouses, unremarried surviving spouses and children aged 17 to under 26 have remission provisions of their own, under the same 128-credit or 8-semester cap.
- For the family provisions the qualifying veteran needs a service-connected rating of 30% or more, or must have died on active duty, from a service-connected disability, or in the line of duty.
Who is entitled to it
- You are enrolled at, or applying to, a UW System school or Wisconsin technical college.
- You served honorably during a qualifying period.
- You are a Wisconsin 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
- 1Establish WDVA eligibility first, then apply through the campus veteran services office.
- 2Check the residency root before relying on it: from summer 2026 it is Wisconsin residence at entry into service OR three consecutive years of residence — a different test from the property tax credit’s five-year rule.
- 3If you hold 100% federal Post-9/11 eligibility, plan the order — that benefit must be exhausted before switching to the Wisconsin GI Bill, while partial federal benefits can run alongside it.
- 4Keep a cumulative GPA of 2.0 — the remission is conditional on it.
- File with
- Your institution’s veteran services office, with WDVA eligibility
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- Each term
- Claimed per academic term.
Sources
- authority · published policyUW–Madison Veteran Services — Wisconsin GI Bill (Wis. Stat. §36.27(3n); §38.24(7))
Why only one source type: dva.wi.gov timed out and docs.legis.wisconsin.gov refuses connections, so neither the administering department nor the statute could be read directly. UW–Madison operates the remission at the largest campus and its veteran services page states the terms in full, so we publish on it and record the limitation.
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.