Issue 80 | 2/6/26

Welcome back, Flames!

Hello, I’m Dr. Mia Garcia-Hills, Director of UIC Student Veterans Affairs. Student Veterans Affairs provides a welcoming and supportive environment for our military-connected community via the Císar Student Veterans Center. We provide resources, assistance, and programming to ease the transition to academic life and promote academic success.

Stars and Stripes will help you stay up to date with Federal policies, 

UIC Student Veterans Affairs news, events, and announcements. We thank you for being part of our community and hope you enjoy reading our newsletter. Archived newsletter editions are available on our website.

Joint Services Transcript

To have official transcripts sent to post-secondary institutions, create an account on the JST website. Enter University of Illinois Chicago in the school search bar. Using the electronic submission process will allow service members to check on the status of the transcript and confirm when University personnel access the document.

Monthly Housing and Disability Payments Have Increased

If you are receiving VA education benefits like the Post-9/11 GI Bill® (Chapter 33) or VA disability compensation, your payments automatically increased this year.

• The Increase: A 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) was applied
• Effective Date: The increase started with your January 2026 payment
• Action Item: Log into your bank account or VA.gov profile to verify your most recent payment amounts

Important for GI Bill® Users: This COLA applies to your Monthly Housing Allowance (MHA). The basic allowance rates for the academic year are set separately. If you also receive VA disability compensation, that monthly payment increased by 2.8% as well.

Accessing Care On and Off Campus

The VA is working on long-term changes to make it easier for student veterans to see doctors, whether at a VA facility or a local community provider.

• Community Care Updates: The VA is finalizing a massive new contract (called "CCN Next Gen") to improve its network of private doctors. The goal is to give you more choice and better coordinated care if you need to see a specialist near your school
• Electronic Health Records: The VA plans to resume rolling out a new nationwide computer system for medical records. The intent is to create a single record that follows you if you move or get care at a different VA facility, which is useful for students who split time between home and school

What This Means for You: These are large, multi-year projects. For now, your process for scheduling appointments through your local VA facility or the community care office remains the same.

New Rules for Sharing Your Disability Benefits

If you have a dependent (like a spouse or child) and have ever considered sharing part of your VA disability payment with them due to financial need, the rules have changed.

• The Change: Starting February 9, 2026, the VA will no longer accept new applications for this type of need-based benefit split (called "apportionment")
• What Stays the Same: Existing arrangements are protected. If a state family court orders you to share your benefits for child support or alimony, the VA will still process those requests

If This Applies to You: If you or a dependent had plans to file such a request, you must do so before February 9, 2026. For any new need-based requests after that date, dependents would need to go through their local state family court system.

Important Spring 2026 Academic Deadlines
Sunday, February 8: Campus Care waiver
Monday, February 9: Grade entry begins (Part of Term LF)
Friday, February 13: Withdraw deadline (Part of Term A)

Receiving a W grade may negatively impact VA education benefits and could result in a debt to the VA or UIC. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with a School Certifying Official before withdrawing.

Enrollment Certification Processing Calendar
Summer 2026 certification processing begins: Week of April 1
2026 - 2027 Annual Benefit Form available: June 1
Fall 2026 certification processing begins: Week of June 15

Once processing opens for a given semester, the office of Student Veterans Affairs strives to complete submissions within 4 - 6 weeks. If a student submits an incomplete application, SVA work study team members reach out to request missing documentation and will continue to follow up until the file is complete and ready for processing. This processing time may be delayed due to holidays, including Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

If you have any questions, contact us at 312-413-5112 or studentveteransaff@uic.edu.

Chapter 33 Attendance Verification
Chapter 33 students are required to verify enrollment each month. If students do not verify their enrollment for two consecutive months, monthly housing allowance (MHA) and/or kicker payments will be withheld. Enrollment verification messaging will go out via text or email based on the student’s opt-in status. Students who opt out of text and email may call the Education Call Center (ECC) at 888-442-4551 to verify their enrollment status.

Use Up-To-Date Forms
Visit our website to ensure you download and submit current forms to Student Veterans Affairs for processing benefits and notifying staff of registration changes. We continue to make updates and improvements to our website, forms, and online submission platform to streamline our process and improve our students’ experience. Remember, forms are only accepted via our website submission; email is not permitted.

Chapter 33 Beneficiary Tuition and Fees Payment Processing
Dual certification for Spring 2026 Term B will begin on March 16. Tuition and fees are reported as part of the VA’s dual certification requirement that begins after the add/drop deadline. Dependent upon a beneficiary's entitlement rating, the Post 9/11 GI Bill® pays a percentage of tuition and fees to the University of Illinois System, which is then directed to the appropriate campus for processing. Once tuition and fees are reported to the VA, it may take up to 6 weeks to receive and apply payment(s) to student accounts. Tuition and fee-specific scholarships, waivers, and grants, as well as non-mandatory fees, are deducted from the total reported to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. In cases when students opt to use Chapter 33 in conjunction with the Illinois Veterans Grant (IVG) or the Illinois National Guard Grant (ING), IVG and ING are the last payer. Questions regarding ING or IVG should be directed to your Financial Aid counselor.

William N. Pagan Ortiz
Meet William “Will” N. Pagan Ortiz, one of our incredible upcoming graduates this year!

Will is a U.S. Navy veteran who served on active duty from 2019 – 2022 and continues his service today as part of the Navy Reserves. During his time on active duty, he deployed aboard the aircraft carrier CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson to the Pacific and South China Sea as part of VFA-147 (the Argonauts) — the first-ever F-35C Navy squadron to deploy. Talk about making history! Outside of uniform, Will has always lived an active life. He grew up competing in all types of sports and even represented Puerto Rico as part of the U16 Puerto Rican Beach Handball National Team, competing in the Youth Pan American Games in Paraguay. That drive and discipline still show up in everything he does today.

Will is currently an undergraduate student at UIC majoring in Finance, with big goals ahead. He plans to apply the knowledge he’s gained through the College of Business toward owning his own businesses and investing in real estate.

As a member of our SVA staff, Will is deeply committed to supporting veteran and military-connected students. Having gone through the transition himself, he understands that navigating benefits and higher education isn’t always smooth, especially for dependents who may be unfamiliar with the process. His work at SVA helps make that transition a little more manageable, welcoming, and human.

Will’s advice to fellow veterans and military-connected students is, "Stay involved with the community. Go to events. There’s a lot of help available that we don’t always know about, and a little can go a long way."

IBM SkillsBuild Program

The VA, in partnership with IBM, offers the IBM SkillsBuild Program, a free online learning platform designed to help Veterans, service members, and eligible dependents gain in-demand career skills.

• Free, self-paced online courses
• Training in:
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data analysis
  • Cloud computing
  • Artificial intelligence (AI)
  • Professional and workplace skills
• Digital credentials and certificates upon completion
• Does not use or affect GI Bill® entitlement

This program is ideal for those exploring career transitions, strengthening resumes, or building new technical skills.

Upcoming Events
Join the Student Veterans Affairs Group to stay up to date on all our events and programs. We look forward to seeing you!

Grow Your Career
Military members, veterans, and spouses in the Chicago area can attend several hiring and networking events, including the Freeman Company Veteran Fellowship Program (February 2–May 15), a paid 15-week fellowship with potential full-time employment, the RecruitMilitary Virtual Career Fair on February 10, and the Red, White & You Hiring Event on February 28 in Hillside. Additional opportunities include regional job fairs and professional networking events designed specifically for the military community.

The Císar Student Veterans Center (CSVC) is located on the second floor of Student Center East (SCE) room 248. Go through the Inner Circle food court, turn right (west) at the entrance to the Wellness Center, go past the Wellness Center front desk down the hall through the Commuter Student Resource Center, and you will see the CSVC entrance on the back wall.

Check out this step-by-step guide to the center: VIDEO

Spring hours: 

Monday – Friday, 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM


Contributing Editor: Nicolle Velasquez