ING Grant Eligibility Units

Illinois National Guard (ING) Grant may receive benefits limited to the equivalent of four or six academic years of full-time enrollment, which includes summer terms.

• Qualified applicants who have completed less than ten years of active duty ING service may receive ING Grant benefits for a maximum of the equivalent of four academic years of full-time enrollment (i.e., these recipients may continue to reapply and accumulate up to 120 eligibility units).
• Qualified applicants who have completed ten years or more of active duty ING service may receive ING Grant benefits for a maximum of the equivalent of six academic years of full-time enrollment (i.e., these recipients may continue to reapply and accumulate up to 180 eligibility units). Note that the six-year equivalent maximum (180 eligibility units) is cumulative, and includes benefits received when the qualified applicant had less than ten years of active duty ING service.

With the exception of veterans who are eligible for Post -9/11 GI benefits at less than 100% (based on length of service) and choose to use those benefits during the same term that ING Grant benefits are used, ING Grant eligibility units are based on the enrolled hours for a particular term, not the dollar amount of the benefits paid.

Credit and noncredit hours, for which benefits are used, are converted to eligibility units according to the chart below.

Note: When ING is used with the Post-9/11 GI Bill, ING is the “last payer.”  Eligibility units used are prorated based on the percentage of ING benefits that are needed to cover remaining tuition and allowable fees.

• The school should enter the actual credit hours and the percentage of Post-9/11 GI Benefits being used into the GAP system. The system will multiply the number of credit hours the student is enrolled in by the percentage that ING Grant is covering (after Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits have been applied) and the result is converted to eligibility units. (i.e., A student enrolled for 12 credits receives 80%  in Post-9/11 GI benefits and 20% ING Grant benefits. Multiply .20 by 12 credit hours = 2.4% which converts to 1 unit.)

Full program benefits may be extended for one additional term if the recipient has accumulated fewer than the maximum number of eligibility units but does not have enough units remaining for the number of hours in which he or she is enrolled for that term.

If an eligible recipient withdraws from enrollment after the expiration of the tuition refund/withdrawal adjustment period, the recipient will receive a grant for costs incurred up to the term award provided the institution’s tuition refund policy indicates the recipient has incurred charges in the amount of the claim. Eligibility Units will be adjusted accordingly.

The Illinois National Guard member must repay any ING grant benefits received if the National Guard enlistment commitment is not fulfilled.