The student must provide a Member-4 copy of their DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) for each period of service and complete the Illinois Veterans Grant (IVG) Application. This application is available from the SIUC Veterans Educational Services, or can be downloaded from CollegeZone. The completed form and appropriate supporting documents should be mailed to: D-3A, IVG Processing, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, 1755 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield, IL 60015-5209.

The student must have served in the active military service for at least one year unless discharged for medical reasons. All discharges must be honorable. The student must have resided in Illinois within six months before entering the service and return to Illinois within six months of leaving the service. The student must be living in Illinois and attending an Illinois state-supported school. Students who have had at least one discharge but are still on active duty can attend Illinois-based schools at out-of-state and overseas locations.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission reviews the application and determines if the student is eligible. An award letter is provided to the student, which must be submitted to the SIUC Veterans Educational Services before the award will be posted to the student's account.

The amount of the award is equal to the student's charges for tuition and selected fees. Fees not covered by IVG are the responsibility of the student.

IVG recipients do not receive a cash award. Appropriate charges based on the credit hours the student is enrolled in are billed to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the amount credited to the student's SIUC account. The recipient is entitled to full payment of tuition and certain fees to any state-supported Illinois institution of higher learning for the equivalent of four calendar years of full-time enrollment including summer terms (120 points).

This award can be used for both undergraduate and graduate work. If the student is also eligible for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission MAP Grant, the IVG award must be used first.