(a) Subject to the following provisions, an institution
shall exempt an eligible person from the payment of tuition, mandatory
fees, dues, and other required charges, including fees for correspondence
courses and distance education courses, but excluding general deposit
and student services fees and any fees or charges for lodging, board,
or clothing.
(b) An institution is not required to provide the Hazlewood
Act Exemption for tuition and fees related to courses for which the
institution does not receive state formula funding, unless the governing
board of the institution specifically chooses to provide the exemption
for such courses.
(c) Generally, the Hazlewood Act Exemption provides
for both resident or nonresident tuition and fees for those who meet
all requirements to receive the benefit.
(d) A person's eligibility for the Hazlewood Act Exemption
is not impacted by federal veterans' education programs that provide
for benefits not specifically designated for the payment of tuition
and fees.
(e) The Legacy recipient will receive an exemption
for the number of degree certified hours reported by the institution
for that term or semester. Maximum degree certified hours awarded
to the Legacy recipient will be dependent upon the degree or certificate
program in which the student is enrolled for that term or semester
and shall be consistent with the program length as defined within
the school catalog as approved by the regional accreditation commission
(Texas Government Code §434.0079(c)(1)).
(f) Stacking state and federal veterans education benefits
is permitted. Persons eligible for more than one federal veterans
education benefit must select which federal program to stack with
the Hazlewood Act Exemption. Persons eligible for federal veterans
benefits not specifically designated for the payment of tuition and
fees, or eligible for federal veterans education benefits at less
than the 100% entitlement level, may stack those benefits with the
Hazlewood Act Exemption. If the person elects to apply federal benefits
that provide for payment of tuition and fees, this federal benefit
will be applied prior to the application of Hazlewood. At no time
will the total of federal and state benefits exceed 100% of the tuition
and fees for the term.
(g) An eligible person is not entitled to receive the
Hazlewood Act Exemption for more than 150 attempted semester credit
hours, except that it may be less as described in subsection (e) of
this section.
(h) If the Hazlewood Act Exemption is used to pay for
only a portion of the hours taken during a given term or semester,
an institution shall deduct only the proportion used from the 150
hours of eligibility. When reporting the proportional hours to the
Commission, institutions shall round any fraction of an hour up to
the nearest whole number.
(i) The governing board of a public junior college,
public technical institute, or public state college, as those terms
are defined by Texas Education Code §61.003, may establish a
fee for extraordinary costs associated with a specific course or program
and may determine that the exemption does not apply to this fee.
(j) In determining whether to admit a person to any
certificate program or to any baccalaureate, graduate, postgraduate,
or professional degree program, an institution may not consider the
fact that the person is eligible for an exemption through this subchapter.
(k) An application for the Hazlewood Act Exemption
shall be denied if it is determined that the applicant is in default
on an educational loan made or guaranteed by the State of Texas.
(l) If the institution is unable to determine eligibility
of an applicant in accordance with this subchapter, the institution
shall consult with the Commission to resolve the matter.
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