Wisconsin GI Bill: Fee Remission for Spouses and Children

Section 36.27(3n) extends the Wisconsin GI Bill to the family of an eligible veteran: full remission of academic fees and segregated fees for 128 credits or 8 semesters, whichever is longer, at UW System institutions, with the parallel technical college provision in 38.24(7). Three people can claim: the spouse of an eligible veteran, the unremarried surviving spouse of an eligible veteran, and a child of an eligible veteran who is at least 17 but not yet 26 years of age. An eligible veteran for this purpose is one of two things. The first is a veteran who died. The person served on active duty under honorable conditions in the armed forces, the national guard or a reserve component; was a Wisconsin resident at entry into that service or resided in Wisconsin for at least three consecutive years after attaining the age of 18; and, while a Wisconsin resident, died on active duty, died as the result of a service-connected disability, or died in the line of duty while on active or inactive duty for training purposes. The second is a living veteran rated at least 30 percent. The person satisfies the same entry residency test, or resided in Wisconsin for at least three consecutive years immediately preceding the semester for which the spouse or child registers, and VA has awarded at least a 30 percent service-connected disability rating under 38 USC 1114 or 1134. Thirty percent is a low threshold for a dependent tuition benefit. Most states in this catalog that extend tuition to the family of a living veteran ask for a total rating or nothing at all, and Wisconsin's 30 is the most reachable figure among them. One residency trap. Section 36.27(3n)(bd) provides that if the eligible veteran was not a Wisconsin resident at the time of entry into service, the remission may be granted only if the spouse or child has themselves resided in Wisconsin for at least three consecutive years immediately preceding enrolment. A family that moved to Wisconsin recently, with a veteran who enlisted elsewhere, has to wait three years. The student must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0. Post-9/11 entitlement transferred to the dependent must be applied first, under the same rule that applies to veterans: a credit or semester fully covered by 38 USC 3319 assistance does not count against the 128 credit or 8 semester limit, and partial coverage counts proportionally. A child using transferred entitlement is therefore not spending Wisconsin credits at the same time. Unlike the veteran's own remission, this one covers academic fees and segregated fees but not nonresident tuition. A dependent who is not a Wisconsin resident for tuition purposes still faces the nonresident differential under state law, but federal law often removes it. 38 U.S.C. 3679(c) requires a public institution, as a condition of VA approval, to charge the resident rate to a covered individual living in the state and using Chapter 33, Chapter 35 or, from academic periods beginning August 1, 2026, Chapter 1606 assistance, which takes in a child or spouse using transferred Post-9/11 entitlement, a Fry Scholar and a Chapter 35 survivor or dependent. There has been no window after the veteran's discharge since August 1, 2021. A dependent drawing one of those benefits while living in Wisconsin should not be paying the nonresident differential at a UW campus or technical college. The residency periods in this section were shortened by 2025 Wisconsin Act 155, enacted April 2, 2026: the five consecutive years that the veteran route, the 30 percent route and paragraph (bd) used became three, for the first semester or session beginning after April 4, 2026. Guidance printed before then still says five.