A look at the military-connected community at the University of Illinois and the Chez Veteran Center’s impact during the Fall 2025 semester.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is home to a vibrant and diverse military-connected community. From student veterans pursing graduate degrees to military-connected dependents beginning their college journey, each student brings unique experiences and perspectives to campus. Here’s what we learned about our community this fall— and how the Chez Veterans Center supported them.

Who makes up our community?

Military-connected students are not all the same. Our community includes veterans who have served, reservists balancing military and academic responsibilities, ROTC cadets preparing for future service, and dependents whose families serve. During the Fall 2024 semester, we provided support for 804 military-connected students including 274 Veterans, 351 dependents, 153 Guard/Reserve members, and 52 ROTC cadets.

Many of our students gravitate toward service-oriented fields and are pursuing degrees in Labor and Employment Relations, Social Work, and the Applied Health Sciences. A significant number of students are also enrolled in new, flexible online programs with a delivery format for education that fits real life.

The Center’s impact.

During the Fall 2025 semester, we provided comprehensive support. Our team had 1,287 service interactions with students, including engagement of 99% of undergraduate National Guard and Reserve members. Students engaged had an average of 4.31 touch points with a practitioner during the semester.

Some of these interactions included questions about financial aid and benefits (162), transition and social support (110), academic success support (91), residential programs (70), and career development (63).

For most groups, we achieve near-universal engagement. We look forward to, in the coming year, expanding outreach to better engage students in flexible online coursework such as the new Bachelor of Liberal Studies program.