Military reserve members get in-state tuition at public schools
H.R. 983 — Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserves Tuition Fairness Act of 2025 · Filed by Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) · Introduced Feb 5, 2025 · Signed
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What it does
This bill makes the VA stop approving courses at public schools. Schools must charge in-state tuition to military reserve members. These members use Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve or chapter 1606 money to pay for school. Public schools must give reserve members the same tuition price as in-state students.
Who it affects
Military reserve members who use money to pay for school are affected. Public schools are affected because they must charge reserve members in-state tuition rates.
One thing to notice
Public schools have until August 1, 2026, to follow this rule. Some schools might stop offering certain courses instead of lowering tuition for reserve members.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Feb 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 5, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Armed Services and House Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a…”
- Apr 7, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H1432)”
- Apr 7, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Bost moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Nov 20, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent”
- Nov 20, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8400)”
- Dec 3, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Dec 12, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-55”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve — Money the government gives military reserve members to pay for school.
- chapter 1606 — Money the government gives military reserve members to pay for school.
- in-state tuition — The lower price schools charge students who live in that state.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,588 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-11-02.
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