A vested or retired member of the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System with at least one full calendar year of covered wages may buy service credit for active duty military time, in calendar-quarter increments, at full actuarial cost. The bar is wide: you cannot buy if you are receiving, are eligible for, or may in the future be eligible for federal active duty retirement pay.
Vested or retired in IPERS with at least one full calendar year of covered wages. Iowa Code § 97B.80(1). Active duty service "at any time" qualifies, with no wartime period, residency, discharge or disability condition. The purchase is in increments of one or more calendar quarters and need not cover all of the service.
A private Iowa employer may give hiring and promotion preference to a veteran, to the spouse of a veteran with a permanent compensable service-connected disability, and to the surviving spouse of a member who died on active duty in a military conflict. The statute declares that doing so does not violate the Iowa civil rights act.
Permission for the employer, not a right for the veteran. Iowa Code § 35.3 says a private employer "may" grant preference. No duty is created and no remedy is attached, unlike the public employment preference in chapter 35C.
Five percentage points added to a passing examination score, and five more for a service-connected disability or for receiving any VA compensation, disability benefit or pension. A Purple Heart counts as a service-connected disability. The points do not apply to promotions or to appointment of a police or fire chief, and they cannot be what makes you pass.
Five points, and five more for a service-connected disability or any VA compensation or pension. Iowa Code § 400.10(1). The second five is reached by a service-connected disability or by receiving compensation, disability benefits, or pension under laws VA administers, so VA pension without any rating reaches it.
An honorary high school diploma, naming the school you attended, for a veteran of World War I, World War II, Korea or Vietnam who left school to enter military service and never went back. It reaches former Iowa residents as well as current ones and may be issued posthumously to the family.
Left high school before graduating to enter military service. Iowa Code § 256.9(40). The programme is for veterans who left high school prior to graduation to enter United States military service.
A business at least 51 percent owned, operated and actively managed by service-disabled veterans can be certified as an Iowa targeted small business, which carries state and school procurement goals, and can borrow through the treasurer’s linked investment programme, whose definition of veteran reaches any discharge other than dishonorable. Self-certification is not allowed.
Fifty-one percent owned, operated and actively managed. Iowa Code § 15.102(12)(a) requires all three. The business must be in Iowa, operated for profit, and have annual gross income under $4,000,000 averaged over the three preceding fiscal years.
New in 2026: the University of Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa must waive all tuition and mandatory fees for a veteran with a permanent 100 percent service-connected rating. It is last-dollar only, so a veteran with Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement left is not eligible until that entitlement is exhausted, and individual unemployability does not qualify.
A permanent 100 percent service-connected rating, certified by VA. 2026 Iowa Acts ch 1058, enacting Iowa Code § 262.9(43)(a). Recorded rather than enforced because the entry also describes what happens to a veteran paid at the 100 percent rate through individual unemployability, who does not meet these words.
Iowa classifies a qualified veteran, a service member stationed in the state or at the Rock Island arsenal, and their spouses and dependent children as residents for undergraduate tuition at Regents institutions and community colleges. The veteran route requires Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility, or exhausted eligibility, and unlike federal law it carries no deadline after discharge.
The veteran route requires Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility, or exhausted eligibility. Iowa Code § 262.9(17)(b)(2)(c)(i). A Montgomery GI Bill user or a veteran with no education entitlement does not meet the Iowa words; raise 38 U.S.C. § 3679(c) instead.
An Iowa employer must give a veteran employee time off on November 11 if the employee would otherwise have to work. The employer chooses whether it is paid, and may refuse only for public health or safety or significant economic or operational disruption. You must give one month of written notice and a discharge document, and the employer must answer ten days before the holiday.
Give written notice at least one month before November 11. Iowa Code § 91A.5A(3)(a) requires at least one month’s prior written notice plus a federal certificate of release or discharge from active duty or similar federal document. In practice the deadline is October 11.
Chapter 35C is an entitlement to the job over other applicants of no greater qualifications, not a points bonus. The appointing officer must investigate, must appoint a qualified veteran of good moral character, and must file written reasons for public inspection. A veteran already in a public position cannot be removed except for incompetency or misconduct after a hearing, with the burden on the employer.
Preference over applicants of no greater qualifications, not points. Iowa Code § 35C.1(1). Where the veteran is equally or better qualified, § 35C.3 directs the appointing officer to appoint the veteran if of good moral character and able to perform the duties.
Two tiers in one statute, split by September 11, 2001. A child of a service member who died before that date gets $600 a year and $3,000 for life. A child of one who died on or after it gets up to the highest Regents resident undergraduate tuition rate each year, five times over. The implementing rules were rescinded with no replacement on June 3, 2026.
September 11, 2001 splits the benefit in two. Iowa Code § 35A.13(9)(b) applies where the parent died before that date and caps assistance at $600 a year and $3,000 for life. § 35A.13(9)(c) applies on or after it and reaches the highest Regents resident undergraduate tuition rate, five times over.
Jackson County's Non-Union Handbook pays reservists called to active duty a three-month county wage supplement after their paid time off, keeps their medical insurance, seniority and USERRA retirement credit, and makes Veterans Day a paid county holiday; no veterans hiring preference is stated.
County employee ordered to active duty. A reservist or Guard member called to active duty gets the paid-time-off supplement and then a three-month county wage supplement capped at regular pay, with insurance, seniority and USERRA credit. No rating is needed.
On a Jackson County contract that carries a minority or women-owned business goal, the County also sets a voluntary goal for businesses majority-owned by veterans, equal to the lower of the two. It is a goal, not a set-aside or a bid preference.
Business majority-owned by veterans. The owners must be Missouri citizens separated under honorable conditions after six months of active duty, or qualifying Reserve or Guard members. No rating is needed.
The Jackson County Code carries no local business tax, and the Tax Collector publishes no business tax receipt service, so a veteran opening a business in unincorporated Jackson County owes the county no business tax and needs no exemption. A city inside the county that levies one applies section 205.055.
No county business tax; statute applies where a city levies one. Jackson County levies no local business tax, so no veteran exemption is needed at the county level. Any city tax follows section 205.055: honorable discharge, or a listed spouse.
The Jacksonville Ordinance Code still limits the county and municipal business tax exemption to a disabled wartime veteran and $50 (sections 770.202 and 772.202), the terms of the repealed section 205.171. Since 2018 section 205.055 exempts any honorably discharged veteran, spouse or unremarried surviving spouse, and PCS military spouse in full.
Honorable discharge, or a listed spouse. Under the statute: an honorably discharged veteran, a spouse or unremarried surviving spouse, or a PCS military spouse. No rating is needed.
Free job search help from veterans’ employment specialists at American Job Centers, with priority of service for veterans and eligible spouses in every Labor Department-funded job program.
Veteran or eligible spouse. Any veteran or eligible spouse; DVOP services target listed barriers.
The state sets a goal of awarding at least 3 percent of its service contracts to businesses at least 51 percent owned and actually controlled by veterans rated 30 percent or more.
Service-connected evaluation of 30% or more. Section 73-230(b)(1) sets the lowest disability threshold Kansas uses outside the recreation licence. The percentage is a service-connected evaluation under 38 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. or 10 U.S.C. 1201 et seq., which means a chapter 61 disability retirement rating counts as well as a VA rating.
Tuition and fees waived at Kansas public institutions for up to 10 semesters for a prisoner of war, or for the dependent or spouse of a Kansas resident who died in service, was medically separated, or is rated at least 80 percent.
Eighty percent reaches the family of a living veteran. Section 75-4364(c)(1)(B)(iii) covers the dependent or spouse of a Kansas resident entitled to VA compensation for a service-connected disability of at least 80 percent. Recorded rather than enforced because the death and medical-separation routes need no rating.
Three separate routes to resident tuition rates with no waiting period: using VA education benefits and living here, having been stationed in Kansas 11 months, or being a current member or their family.
A current member of the armed forces, or their spouse or dependent child. Section 48-3601(a). "Armed forces" includes the Kansas army or air national guard and any component of the military reserves, as well as the space force.
Tuition and required fees for up to 15 credit hours a semester for a serving Kansas Guard member, in exchange for 24 further months of service. Unused hours can now be transferred to a dependent.
A current Kansas National Guard member in clean standing. Section 74-32,146(b) defines an eligible guard member as a current member not under a suspension of favorable action flag and not currently on the unit unfavorable information file.
A Kansas private employer may adopt a written policy preferring veterans in hiring. It is permissive, it must be applied consistently, and it uses the wide 73-201 definition of veteran.
Honorable or general discharge under honorable conditions. The veteran submits proof of military service and of an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions to establish eligibility.
Thirty working days of paid military leave a year for a state employee in the Guard or reserves, plus, on a mobilization of more than thirty consecutive days, a pay differential of up to $1,000 a pay period and a one-time $1,500 activation payment.
A state employee in a reserve component or the National Guard. The leave runs to state employees who are members of a reserve component, National Guard included; the payments need benefits-eligible state employment when mobilized.
The strongest preference in this catalog. It binds cities and counties as well as the state, requires certified-mail notice to every veteran passed over within 30 days, and gives the veteran a right to sue in district court.
Honorable or general discharge under honorable conditions. Section 73-201(a)(1)(A) reaches active military, naval, air or space service including the groups and individuals listed under 38 C.F.R. 3.7. A Purple Heart recipient qualifies under (a)(1)(B) independently.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough pays for a full-time veteran services coordinator at Kenai Peninsula College ($74,710 in fiscal 2027), the first point of contact for veteran and active-duty students on their VA and military education benefits, based at the Kenai River Campus and travelling to the Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer.
Veteran and active-duty students at Kenai Peninsula College. The coordinator serves veteran and active-duty students; there is no rating test.
A local board of education shall award a diploma to a veteran who left high school to serve in WWII, Korea, or Vietnam. The implementing regulation still covers only the first two wars.
No disability rating required. Eligibility turns on era of service, honorable discharge, and having left high school before induction. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.
An active Kentucky National Guard member gets resident tuition by statute. A nonresident veteran using Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits gets a capped rate only if the university has adopted the optional policy.
No disability rating required. All three provisions turn on service status, GI Bill eligibility, or admission timing. No rating is involved, so the rating filter never hides this entry.
Kentucky gives veterans a guaranteed interview rather than points. If fewer than five preference-eligible applicants are qualified, all of them are interviewed; if five or more, at least five are.
No disability rating and no wartime service required. KRS 18A.150 requires no rating from the applicant and no wartime service. A general discharge qualifies alongside an honorable discharge and a discharge under honorable conditions. The rating filter never hides this entry.
A child whose own disability is a direct result of the parent's service gets a tuition waiver with no age limit at all, and the veteran parent needs no disability rating.
The veteran needs no disability rating. Nothing in KRS 164.512 requires the veteran parent to hold any rating. The qualifying disability is the child's. This is the only Kentucky education benefit where the veteran's own rating is irrelevant, so the rating filter never hides it.
Tuition waived at Kentucky public institutions for the spouse at any age and children under 26 of a veteran rated 100% service-connected, with no wartime service needed. Forty-five months, tuition only, and the student need not live in Kentucky.
Veteran rated 100% service-connected, wartime service not required. KRS 164.515(1) names a one hundred percent service-connected disabled veteran regardless of wartime service, so a peacetime veteran at one hundred percent qualifies. The alternative branches are a permanently and totally disabled war veteran, a permanently and totally disabled Kentucky National Guard or Reserve member injured on state active duty or duty for training, a prisoner of war, or a member declared missing in action.
Five percent of the score earned is added on a competitive open county examination for a veteran of wartime or an expedition with an honorable discharge, and five percent more for an honorably discharged veteran with any service-connected disability. Promotional examinations get no credit.
Disability credit at any service-connected rating. The first five percent needs wartime or expedition service and an honorable discharge. The second needs a service-connected disability, with no minimum rating named.
King County offers veterans a 12-month, full-time, paid fellowship in county government, with pay set by highest military rank or education and medical, dental and vision coverage, funded by the Veterans, Seniors and Human Services Levy.
Any active or reserve service. Active duty or reserve service in any branch, including the Guard. No rating is needed.
Knox County's site posts a monthly day for veterans' employment help at the Knox County Courthouse in Edina, the third Wednesday of each month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program specialist, Jeremiah Beamer (660-785-2400), for veterans with a service-connected disability or other barriers to work; the notice is undated, so call first.
Veteran with a barrier to employment. For a veteran, service member or eligible spouse who meets one of the listed barriers, such as a service-connected disability, recent separation with long unemployment, homelessness or past incarceration. No rating level is needed beyond a service-connected disability where that is the barrier.
Knox County Code 2-768 guarantees an honorably discharged veteran on the list of eligible applicants an interview for a county job or promotion, and gives the veteran the job when the veteran and another candidate are equally qualified. Claim it with proof of service on the application, or it is waived.
Honorably discharged, or reserve and Guard with more than 30 days of active federal service. Code 2-768 defines a veteran as honorably discharged from the armed forces, or a reserve or Guard member who performed more than 30 days of active federal service. Proof must come with the application.
Lake County adds five points to the final composite test score of a veteran honorably discharged from active duty, for the first appointment to a permanent county position only; submit a valid DD-214 by the final filing date.
Veteran honorably discharged from active duty. An honorable discharge from active duty and a DD-214 filed by the deadline; first permanent appointment only. No rating is needed.
A $300 to $500 grant per child for school clothes and shoes, with up to $75 of it for supplies, spent at Lake County stores, for the children of a Lake County veteran with an honorable or general discharge and financial need. 2026 applications are due November 6, 2026.
Honorable or general discharge, financial need. Children of a Lake County veteran with an honorable or general discharge and active duty other than training, in a household with demonstrated financial need. No rating is needed.
Lea County is an approved Department of Defense SkillBridge partner and offers service members in their last 180 days of active duty county training placements as a facilities maintenance technician, a fairgrounds operations technician and an IT technician.
Service member in the last 180 days of active duty. Needs the command's approval under the SkillBridge rules; no rating is involved.
The Levy County Code carries no local business tax, and the Tax Collector's site lists no business tax service, so a veteran opening a business in unincorporated Levy County owes the county no business tax and needs no exemption; a city inside the county that levies one applies section 205.055.
No county business tax; statute applies where a city levies one. Levy County levies no local business tax, so no veteran exemption is needed at the county level. Any city tax follows section 205.055: honorable discharge, or a listed spouse.
VA pays back the fees for a licensing or certification test, up to $2,000 a test, and for prep courses, out of GI Bill or DEA entitlement.
Covered by a VA education benefit. Chapter 33, 30, 1606 or 35.
Tuition of up to $5,000 a quarter, $1,500 for books, $2,000 a year for technology and $1,000 a quarter for on-campus meals, paid straight to the school, for a Licking County veteran, spouse, surviving spouse or child 25 or younger, applied for through the Veterans Service Commission once a quarter.
A county veteran, spouse, surviving spouse or child 25 or younger. A veteran under 5901.01(B) with 90 days in the county, a spouse living with the veteran, a child 25 or younger, or a surviving spouse, verified by an accredited service officer from a DD-214 or DD-215. No rating is needed.
The Lincoln County Clerk's fee schedule makes copies free for "veterans seeking GI benefits", against $0.25 a page and $7.75 for a certified document for everyone else. 225 W Olive Street, Newport, 541-265-4131.
Veterans seeking GI benefits. Any veteran using the copies for a GI benefit; no rating is needed.
Livingston County's Personnel Manual gives eligible veterans preference in filling vacant county positions, pays reserve and Guard employees the difference between military and county pay for up to ten training days a year, and makes Veterans Day a paid holiday.
Eligible veteran, filling a vacant county position. The county gives preference to eligible veterans in filling vacant positions, per Michigan and federal law; training-leave differential needs official orders. No rating is needed.
A credit of 10% of the total possible score on any open competitive county examination, for an honorably discharged veteran of a war, the Korean period, the 1955 to 1976 period, the Gulf War, the Iraq war period, or a campaign or expeditionary medal. There is no extra credit for a disability, and service after Operation Iraqi Freedom without a campaign medal does not count.
Qualifying service and an honorable discharge. The credit turns on the period of service or a campaign or expeditionary medal and an honorable discharge, not on a rating. Every eligible veteran gets the same 10%.
A 15% bid or price preference, capped at $150,000 a solicitation, for a business certified as a California DVBE or verified by VA as service-disabled veteran-owned, on county purchases of goods and services and on concession contracts (15% of the revenue component there, capped at $750,000).
Certified disabled veteran business. The business must hold a California DVBE certification or VA service-disabled veteran-owned verification. The State DVBE program sets its own disability test for the owner.
Loudoun considers an honorably discharged veteran for a county job, and gives additional consideration when VA has fixed a service-connected disability rating.
Service-connected disability. An honorably discharged veteran who meets the job requirements gets consideration. A service-connected rating adds consideration and can qualify a veteran who does not have 180 consecutive days of active duty.
Five points on the entrance test score for municipal fire and police jobs. Act 160 of 2026 widened this: 180 days of service now qualifies alongside wartime service, though the state agency described it as a new requirement.
Wartime service, or 180 days or more since Act 160 of 2026. Either service during times of war or service of 180 days or more qualifies, with an honorable discharge or a discharge under honorable conditions. Act 160 of 2026 added the 180-day alternative effective August 1, 2026; it did not impose a minimum on the wartime path. No disability rating applies, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.
Two complementary programs for drilling Louisiana Guard members: STEP exempts all tuition charges for up to five academic years, and the Patriot Scholarship pays all mandatory fees for up to four.
Drilling Louisiana National Guard member in good standing. Both programs require current drilling membership in the Louisiana National Guard, good standing, Louisiana residency, and maintained academic standing. No disability rating applies, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.
Five points on the eligible list for a veteran, ten for a disabled veteran or qualifying family member. Two limits decide most cases: new hires only, and the VA disability letter must be under six months old.
New hires only: probational and job appointments. Points are added only in new hiring situations, meaning probational appointments and job appointments, for all jobs. They are not added to promotions within the classified service. The five-point preference needs no disability rating, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.
A child of a living veteran rated 90 to 100% or unemployable attends any Louisiana public college free of tuition and school-imposed fees, including nonresidency fees. Spouses qualify only through death, POW or MIA.
Living veteran rated 90 to 100%, or unemployable. For a child of a living veteran the rating must be 90 to 100 percent service-connected on evaluation of the rating schedule, or the veteran must be determined unemployable as a result of a service-connected disability.
Certification as a veteran-owned small business adds up to 12% of the total evaluation points on a state RFP and lets agencies skip extra bid quotes under $25,000. Two separate programs, two separate applications.
51% veteran ownership and a Louisiana principal place of business. The Veteran Initiative requires at least 51 percent veteran ownership, a principal place of business in Louisiana, Louisiana resident owners and officers who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, independent ownership and operation, and that the business not be dominant in its field. No disability rating is required, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.