Soldiers in the reserves 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
The bill tells the Veterans Affairs office to stop paying for courses at public schools. These schools must charge in-state tuition to soldiers in the reserves using the Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve. This is a federal education fund for reserve soldiers. Public schools have until August 1, 2026 to follow this rule.
Who it affects
Soldiers in the reserves who use the Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve to pay for school gain help. Public schools must change their tuition rules for these soldiers.
One thing to notice
Public schools that do not give reserve soldiers in-state tuition will lose Veterans Affairs money. Fewer students may enroll at those schools using these funds.
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 — A federal education fund that helps soldiers in the reserves pay for school.
- in-state tuition — The lower school cost for 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 14,342 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 2026-09-18.
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