JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Program

Because this program is a tuition waiver for attendance at public universities in Illinois, awards are not subject to annual appropriations by the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor.

You may either scroll through this page, or click on any of the following links to go directly to a specific topic:

Program Description
Eligibility
Eligible Public Four-year Institutions in Illinois
How to Apply (and Obtaining the Application/Teaching Agreement/Master Promissory Note)
     Application/Teaching Agreement/Master Promissory Note Priority Consideration Date: March 1
Changes to Application Data
Details
Processing Updates
Comparison Chart

If you are a teacher or an academically talented student pursuing a career in special education, you may be eligible for the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Program if you teach at one of the following Illinois schools that has been approved by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE):

  • a nonprofit public, private or parochial preschool, or
  • a nonprofit public, private or parochial elementary school, or
  • a nonprofit public, private or parochial secondary school.

This program will exempt you from paying tuition and mandatory fees at an eligible institution for up to four calendar years, provided you have not yet obtained an initial licensure in any area of special education. Mandatory fees are those assessed by a college that are required to deliver educational services to students for each term, regardless if the student is attending on-campus or through distance education. Examples include fees for activities, facility operations, grants, health, registration, technology, transportation and – when applicable – fees associated with online learning. The college determines fees that are considered mandatory.

By receiving the tuition waiver, you must teach in Illinois in the field of special education. If this teaching commitment is not fulfilled, the amount of benefits received converts to a loan, and you must repay the entire amount plus interest. It is recommended that you monitor your college billing statements to keep track of the amount waived, in the unlikely event the tuition waiver converts to a loan. You can estimate the loan payments by accessing the Monthly Payment Estimates Calculator on this website. 

SETTW recipients, including those who are pursuing or have secured a position as a Speech-Language Pathologist, should take note that in order to fulfill the teaching requirements, their position must be that of a “teacher”, as certified by their employing school official.  A “teacher” is defined as a person who provides direct classroom-type teaching or classroom-type teaching in a non-classroom setting.

Accordingly, only if a Speech-Language Pathologist’s teaching position meets the above definition, and is certified as such by the school official, would the position be considered as fulfilling the SETTW teaching requirements.

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Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

  • be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen or meet the “undocumented student” criteria of the RISE Act
  • be an Illinois resident
  • meet one of the following conditions: you are a high school graduate; or you are scheduled to graduate from an approved high school by the end of the academic year in which the award is made and you performed in the upper half of your graduating class according to performance-based academic data provided by the high school; or you hold a valid teaching license that is not in the discipline of special education
  • be enrolled, or accepted for enrollment, at one of the eligible public four-year colleges in Illinois (providing the institution offers a concentration in Special Education) as an undergraduate or graduate student seeking initial licensure in any area of special education
  • be enrolled in a program of special education within 10 days after the beginning of the term for which the waiver was initially awarded
  • not at any time have received cumulative Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver benefits that equal or exceed the program maximum of four calendar years (note that, once you obtain an initial licensure in any area of special education, you are no longer eligible for this program regardless of how many years you have used the waiver)
  • complete the application process by:
    • submitting a fully-completed Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Program application, which includes the Teaching Agreement/Master Promissory Note (in order to receive priority consideration for an award, the complete application must be received at ISAC on or before the March 1 immediately preceding the academic year for which the tuition waiver is requested),
    • being certified as meeting eligibility requirements by the college at which you will use the tuition waiver, and
    • accepting the tuition waiver (if one is offered)*
  • sign the application's Teaching Agreement/Master Promissory Note promising to fulfill the teaching commitment or repay funds received plus interest
  • maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined by your college
  • remain in attendance at the college on a continuous basis for up to four years (unless granted an approved leave of absence, in which case the course of study must be completed within six years)
  • not be in default on any student loan, nor owe a refund on any state or federal grant. If you are in default, you may re-establish your eligibility.
  • not receive funds from the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program or the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program during the same term(s) for which you receive funds from the Illinois SETTW Program. Although recipients of the SETTW Program are not eligible to receive tuition assistance through the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program for the same term(s), qualified students may be eligible to participate with the Golden Apple Foundation. Interested students can contact the Golden Apple Foundation.

* Once an academic year has ended, adjustments to benefits received will not be made for individuals who originally had their expenses (e.g., tuition and fees) covered using those benefits (i.e., the applicant cannot choose to "pay back" the dollar amount of benefits used in order to reinstate eligibility for the future).

In addition to eligibility requirements, applicants should also be aware of the rights and responsibilities for program recipients. To view the rights and responsibilities for this program, click on the link for the appropriate academic year:

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Eligible Public Four-year Institutions in Illinois

(providing the institution offers a concentration in special education)

  • 001694 Chicago State University
  • 001674 Eastern Illinois University
  • 009145 Governors State University
  • 001692 Illinois State University
  • 001693 Northeastern Illinois University
  • 001737 Northern Illinois University
  • 001758 Southern Illinois University – Carbondale
  • 001759 Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville
  • 001776 University of Illinois – Chicago
  • 009333 University of Illinois – Springfield (beginning 2020-21 Academic Year)
  • 001775 University of Illinois – Urbana
  • 001780 Western Illinois University

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How to Apply

The Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Program Application/Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note is accessed online via the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the ISAC Student Portal.

In order to complete this online application, you must log in to the ISAC Student Portal (if you have not already done so, you may create a profile here). For priority consideration, your complete application must be submitted (i.e., electronically signed or postmarked) on or before March 1 preceding the academic year for which you are applying. Applications submitted after that date will be given consideration for the award if, after the initial round of awarding, all 250 available tuition waivers have not been awarded. If you are eligible for the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver, you will receive a notice of eligibility by July 1.

If you applied, but were not selected to receive the waiver or you did not use a waiver you had been awarded, you may reapply in subsequent years. However, once you've received and used a tuition waiver, you do not need to reapply for consideration for additional years.

Even if you are not certain where you will be attending college in the fall, you are strongly encouraged to submit a complete application on or before the March 1 priority application consideration date, listing the approved Illinois college you are most likely to attend. If you then decide to attend a different college after your application has been submitted, you must report that change to ISAC, as described below in the Changes to Application Data section.

When a new Illinois SETTW recipient is named, the college must provide ISAC with verification of the student's enrollment and program eligibility. The college is also asked to verify the recipient's enrollment and continued eligibility status for each academic year that the tuition waiver is renewed.

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Changes to Application Data

Only one Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Application/Teaching Agreement/Master Promissory Note (the application) may be submitted per academic year.  Consequently, if you need to change your response(s) to any item(s) and/or update any information after the application has been submitted, you will need to provide the information to ISAC.  Examples of items that may need to be updated include demographic information (i.e., name, address, telephone number, etc.), your college of record and the impacted terms (full year, fall, spring or summer).  These changes can be submitted to ISAC using one of the below methods, but cannot be done over the telephone.

The request must include the last four digits of your Social Security number (for identification purposes) and clearly state what change(s) need to be made.  These changes will not affect the application “received date”.  In order to allow adequate processing time and prevent a loss of benefits, changes to your college of record should to be reported prior to the beginning of the applicable term(s).

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Details

ISAC annually awards 250 tuition waivers.

  • A maximum of 40 tuition waivers is awarded to qualified applicants who hold valid teaching licenses that are not in the discipline of special education. If more than 40 applicants qualify under these provisions, a lottery is used to select 40 recipients.
  • A minimum of 105 tuition waivers is awarded to qualified applicants who graduated from high school prior to the academic year in which the award is made. If more than 105 applicants qualify under these provisions, a lottery is used to select 105 recipients.
  • A minimum of 105 tuition waivers is awarded to qualified applicants scheduled to graduate from an approved high school in the academic year in which the award is made and who perform in the upper half of their class according to performance-based academic data provided by the high school at the end of the sixth semester. Recipients for this group are selected from among qualified applicants based on the highest ACT or SAT test scores from the appropriate time period. Any of the 145 tuition waivers not awarded under the provisions outlined in the two preceding bullets are awarded to this group.

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Processing Updates

Note that ISAC routinely updates this section as new information becomes available. Be sure to check back periodically for the current processing status.

For the 2024-25 Academic Year

(last updated on March 4, 2024):

Please note: the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver is a program created by an Act of the Illinois General Assembly. Further action by the legislature could make changes to the program that affect the future availability of this benefit. Be sure to regularly visit this page for the latest updates regarding this program.

The application for the 2024-25 Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Program remains available online via the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the ISAC Student Portal. However, the priority application consideration date for the 2024-25 academic year was March 1, 2024. Complete applications submitted (i.e., electronically signed or postmarked) after that date will be considered for the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver only if available waivers remain after all timely complete applicants have been awarded.

Correspondence regarding the status of your application is mailed to you within three weeks after the date your application is received at ISAC.

The process from this point forward for all complete applications is as follows:

  • A Notice of Eligibility will be sent by July 1 to each qualified applicant who is selected to receive a tuition waiver. Included with this notice will be an Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Information and Rights and Responsibilities form.
  • ISAC will obtain verification of enrollment and program eligibility from the college of each qualified applicant selected to receive a tuition waiver. In addition, the qualified applicant is responsible for providing a copy of the Notice of Eligibility to the college.
  • ISAC will notify all other qualified applicants that they were not selected.

For the 2023-24 Academic Year

(last updated on June 29, 2023):

Please note: the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver is a program created by an Act of the Illinois General Assembly. Further action by the legislature could make changes to the program that affect the future availability of this benefit. Be sure to regularly visit this page for the latest updates regarding this program.

2023-24 tuition waivers have been awarded in accordance with ISAC Administrative Rules, with priority consideration given to those complete applications submitted (i.e., electronically signed or postmarked) on or before the priority application consideration date of March 1, 2023. Award notifications (dated June 29, 2023) and 2023-24 Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver (SETTW) Rights and Responsibilities documents are being mailed to eligible applicants. ISAC will notify all other qualified applicants that they were not selected.

ISAC is no longer accepting applications for the 2023-24 Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Program. Complete applications submitted after March 1, 2023 will be considered for the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver only if available waivers remain after all timely complete applicants have been awarded.

The process from this point forward for all complete applications is as follows:

  • ISAC will obtain verification of enrollment and program eligibility from the college of each qualified applicant selected to receive a tuition waiver. In addition, the qualified applicant is responsible for providing a copy of the Notice of Eligibility to the college.
  • If you receive a tuition waiver and then transfer to one of the other eligible colleges, you must maintain continuous enrollment and notify ISAC of the transfer prior to the beginning of the applicable term. If you do not do so, your continued eligibility for the waiver may be jeopardized.
  • Once all available tuition waivers are awarded, additional recipients will only be chosen if students decline the award or are determined ineligible through the college certification process.
    • Should this occur, ISAC will select recipients from the existing qualified pool of applicants who were not previously awarded.
  • ISAC will notify all other qualified applicants that they were not selected.

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Comparison Chart

ISAC offers two programs designed specifically for individuals studying to become teachers: the Illinois SETTW Program and the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship Program. A comparison chart provides a side-by-side view of the Illinois SETTW, MTI Scholarship, ECACE Scholarship, Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois, and federal TEACH Grant programs.

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