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North Dakota Veterans Aid Loan

A loan of up to $8,000 from a permanent state trust fund at 8 percent over up to four years, with half the interest refunded if it is repaid on time. Current Guard and reserve members qualify.

Also called: veterans aid loan, 37-14-04, $8,000, eight percent, interest refund, veterans aid fund, surviving spouse, county veterans service officer.

For: Veteran or service member, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

The veterans' aid fund is a permanent trust fund in the state treasury whose revolving account exists to make loans to veterans and to surviving spouses of veterans. It is not a grant program and it is not need-based in the ordinary sense: the Department of Veterans' Affairs has to be satisfied that the applicant has the financial means to repay. The ceiling is eight thousand dollars, raised from five thousand by House Bill 1135 of the 2025 session. An applicant may take more than one loan provided the total of all of them does not exceed the ceiling, and where there is more than one they are consolidated into a single payment. Guidance still quoting $5,000 is describing the pre-2025 figure. The terms. Repayment within a specified period not exceeding four years from the date of the last advance. Interest is set by rule and may not exceed ten percent annually; the Department currently publishes eight percent. And the provision worth planning around: one-half of the interest must be waived if timely repayment is made. A borrower who keeps to the schedule pays an effective four percent. Who is a veteran here is much wider than the general definition, which is the point of 37-14-01.1. It covers an individual who is a veteran under 37-01-40(1), an individual to whom VA has assigned a service-connected disability rating whatever their length of service, current members of the national guard or reserve, and former members of the national guard or reserve discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. A serving Guard member who has never deployed can borrow from this fund. The one carve-out is that the Guard and reserve limbs do not apply to section 37-14-14, which is the postwar trust fund rather than the loan program. The applicant must be a citizen and resident of North Dakota, and the Department applies criteria set by rule. Two collection provisions to know about. The Department may take legal action to collect where it forms the opinion that the person has the means to repay and deliberately refuses to, and it may assess a late payment penalty. Against that, it "may release from financial liability any person it determines is financially unable to repay the loan through no fault of the person". A borrower whose circumstances collapse should write to the Department rather than default quietly. And an interaction that surprises people: under the adjusted compensation chapters, if a veteran who is owed a state bonus payment is indebted to the veterans' aid fund, the adjutant general certifies the debt and it is paid to the fund out of the bonus before the veteran receives the remainder. Applications go through a county veterans' service officer rather than direct to the Department.

Thresholds

Thresholds for North Dakota Veterans Aid Loan
GateRule
A serving Guard or reserve member qualifiesChapter 37-14 defines veteran to include a veteran under 37-01-40(1), anyone VA has assigned a service-connected disability rating, current members of the national guard or reserve, and former members discharged under other than dishonorable conditions.
$8,000 total, up to four years, half the interest backThe total of all loans may not exceed eight thousand dollars, raised from five thousand in 2025. Repayment runs up to four years from the last advance, interest is capped by statute at ten percent and currently published at eight, and one-half of the interest must be waived on timely repayment.
Means to repay, and residencyThe applicant must be a citizen and resident of North Dakota and must satisfy the Department that they can repay. The Department may release a borrower who becomes unable to repay through no fault of their own, and may pursue one who can repay and refuses.

Sources

Legislation

Law the tracker is watching for this entry. See the legislation tracker for every jurisdiction.

Ch. 333, L. 2025 (Senate Bill 2198) Widened the core definition of veteran from military duty to uniformed services duty

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

Signed

  1. Introduced Done, , step 1 of 6
  2. In committee Done, , step 2 of 6
  3. Passed one chamber Done, , step 3 of 6
  4. Passed both chambers Done, , step 4 of 6
  5. Signed by the governor Done, , step 5 of 6
  6. In effect Done, , step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Widens the definition of veteran from federalized active military duty to uniformed services duty.

Amended 37-01-40(1) to replace "federalized active military duty" with "federalized active uniformed services duty", and amended 37-01-25 on public employee military leave and 37-14-01.1 on the veterans’ aid chapter definition. The uniformed services are wider than the armed forces and include the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service and of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Because 37-01-40 is the definition the property tax credit, the dependent tuition waiver, resident tuition status, the employment preference and the veterans’ home all reach back to, one phrase widened every one of them at once. Declared an emergency measure, approved and filed April 17, 2025.

Sponsor

  • BoscheeSenate

And 5 co-sponsors

Touches N.D.C.C. § 37-01-40 · N.D.C.C. § 37-01-25 · N.D.C.C. § 37-14-01.1

Also touches

Official record

Ch. 337, L. 2025 (House Bill 1135) Raised the veterans aid loan ceiling from $5,000 to $8,000

Catalog reconciledEnactedFigure moved

Signed

  1. Introduced Done, , step 1 of 6
  2. In committee Done, , step 2 of 6
  3. Passed one chamber Done, , step 3 of 6
  4. Passed both chambers Done, , step 4 of 6
  5. Signed by the governor Done, , step 5 of 6
  6. In effect Done, , step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Raises the ceiling on veterans' aid fund loans to a veteran or surviving spouse from $5,000 to $8,000.

Amended 37-14-04 and 37-14-06 to raise the maximum total of all loans from the veterans’ aid fund to a veteran or surviving spouse from five thousand dollars to eight thousand. The rest of the program is unchanged: repayment within four years, interest capped by statute at ten percent and currently published at eight, and one-half of the interest waived on timely repayment. Tracked because the five thousand dollar figure is still the one printed in the federal benefits libraries and in older state guidance, and a veteran told the ceiling is five thousand may not ask for what they need.

Sponsor

  • PyleHouse

And 6 co-sponsors

Touches N.D.C.C. § 37-14-04 · N.D.C.C. § 37-14-06

Official record

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Disclaimer

VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.