By: Birdwell, et al. S.B. No. 1735
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
higher education for certain military personnel and their
dependents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 54.341, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (e), (k), and (l) and adding Subsections
(a-0), (a-5), (c-1), (k-2), (l-1), and (p) to read as follows:
(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
education shall exempt the [following] persons described by
Subsection (a-0) from the payment of tuition, dues, fees, and other
required charges, including fees for correspondence courses but
excluding general deposit fees, student services fees, and any fees
or charges for lodging, board, or clothing, provided the person
seeking the exemption currently resides in this state and the
person:
(1) entered the service at a location in this state;
(2) [,] declared this state as the person's home of
record in the manner provided by the applicable military or other
service;
(3) [, or] would have been determined to be a resident
of this state for purposes of Subchapter B at the time the person
entered the service; or
(4) has resided in this state continuously for the
eight years immediately preceding the first class date of the
semester or academic term to which the exemption would apply.
(a-0) The following persons are exempted from the payment of
tuition, dues, fees, and other required charges under Subsection
(a):
(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the
Spanish-American War or during World War I;
(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
of the United States who served during World War II except those who
were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
person be discharged from service;
(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the national
emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
the Korean War; and
(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
portion of their active duty during:
(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3);
(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first;
(F) the national emergency by reason of certain
terrorist attacks that began on September 11, 2001; or
(G) any future national emergency declared in
accordance with federal law.
(a-5) A person who received an exemption under this section
for a semester or other academic term before the 2017 spring
semester continues to be eligible for the exemption provided by
this section as this section existed on January 1, 2015.
(c-1) This subsection does not apply to a person who is
eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection (a-2) or (b) or to
continue to receive an exemption under Subsection (a-1), (a-3),
(a-4), or (a-5). In addition to the limitation prescribed by
Subsection (c), a person who qualifies for an exemption under
Subsection (a) based on the person's military service may not
receive the exemption for a semester or other academic term the
first class date of which is later than the 15th anniversary of:
(1) the date of the person's honorable discharge from
active military duty; or
(2) if the person subsequently serves in the Texas
National Guard or in the reserve component of the armed forces of
the United States, the date of the person's latest discharge from
the Texas National Guard or the reserve component, as applicable.
(e) The exemption from tuition, fees, and other charges
provided for by this section does not apply to a person who at the
time of registration is entitled to receive state or federal grant
aid or educational benefits under federal legislation that may be
used only for the payment of tuition and fees if the value of the
grant aid and [those] benefits received in a semester or other term
is equal to or exceeds the value of the exemption for the same
semester or other term. If the value of state or federal grant aid
or federal benefits that may be used only for the payment of tuition
and fees and are received in a semester or other term does not equal
or exceed the value of the exemption for the same semester or other
term, the person is entitled to receive both the grant aid or
[those] federal benefits and the exemption in the same semester or
other term. The combined amount of the state or federal grant aid
or federal benefit that may be used only for the payment of tuition
and fees plus the amount of the exemption received in a semester or
other term may not exceed the cost of tuition and fees for that
semester or other term. An institution of higher education may not
require a person eligible for an exemption under Subsection (a) to
apply for or obtain a student loan.
(k) Subject to the limitation prescribed by Subsection
(k-2), the [The] Texas Veterans Commission by rule shall prescribe
procedures to allow:
(1) a person who becomes eligible for an exemption
provided by Subsection (a) to waive the person's right to any unused
portion of the number of cumulative credit hours for which the
person could receive the exemption and assign the exemption for the
unused portion of those credit hours to a child of the person; and
(2) following the death of a person who becomes
eligible for an exemption provided by Subsection (a), the
assignment of the exemption for the unused portion of the credit
hours to a child of the person, to be made by the person's spouse or
by the conservator, guardian, custodian, or other legally
designated caretaker of the child, if the child does not otherwise
qualify for an exemption under Subsection (b).
(k-2) A person who becomes eligible for an exemption
provided by Subsection (a) must have served on active military
duty, excluding training, or on active service or active status in
the Texas National Guard or the reserve component of the armed
forces of the United States for a cumulative total of at least six
years before any portion of the exemption may be assigned to a child
of the person under Subsection (k).
(l) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
(k), the child must:
(1) be a student who is classified as a resident under
Subchapter B when the child enrolls in an institution of higher
education;
(2) be an [as a graduate or] undergraduate student[,
maintain a grade point average that satisfies the grade point
average requirement for making satisfactory academic progress in a
degree, certificate, or continuing education program as determined
by the institution at which the child is enrolled in accordance with
the institution's policy regarding eligibility for financial aid];
[and]
(3) maintain:
(A) a course load of at least 24 semester credit
hours per academic year; and
(B) a cumulative grade point average of at least
2.5 on a four-point scale or the equivalent;
(4) claim the exemption for a semester or other
academic term the first class date of which is no later than the
15th anniversary of the honorable discharge date from active duty
of the parent from whom the exemption is being assigned;
(5) no later than the last class date of each semester
or other academic term to which the exemption would apply, perform
at least 20 hours of community service approved by the Texas
Veterans Commission for purposes of this subdivision; and
(6) be 25 years of age or younger on the first class
date [day] of the semester or other academic term for which the
exemption is claimed.
(l-1) If a person fails to meet any of the requirements of
Subsection (l)(3) after the completion of any semester or other
academic term, the person is not eligible to receive an exemption
under Subsection (k) during the next semester or other term in which
the person enrolls. A person may become eligible to receive an
exemption in a subsequent semester or other academic term if the
person:
(1) completes a semester or other academic term during
which the person is not eligible for the exemption; and
(2) satisfies the requirements of Subsection (l)(3).
(p) An institution of higher education shall require a
person receiving an exemption under this section to complete a Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The institution may
not use the information obtained from a person's FAFSA to encourage
or require the person to obtain a student loan, but may use the
information to make a person aware of grant opportunities.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 434, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 434.00792 to read as follows:
Sec. 434.00792. STUDY AND REPORT REGARDING CERTAIN TUITION
AND FEE EXEMPTIONS FOR VETERANS AND FAMILY MEMBERS. (a) The
commission, in coordination with the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board and the Legislative Budget Board, shall conduct
a study observing and comparing the implementation and effects,
including the costs to institutions of higher education, of the
exemption from the payment of tuition and fees at institutions of
higher education under Section 54.341, Education Code:
(1) before the enactment of Chapter 1340 (S.B. 93),
Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, allowing a
person eligible for an exemption under Section 54.341, Education
Code, to assign the exemption to a child of the person;
(2) after the enactment of the Act described by
Subdivision (1); and
(3) after the enactment and becoming law of S.B. 1735,
84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, amending Section 54.341,
Education Code.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2018, the commission shall
report its findings from the study conducted under this section to
the legislature.
(c) This section expires January 1, 2019.
SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, the changes in law made by this Act to Section 54.341,
Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees charged for
the 2017 spring semester. Tuition and fees charged for a term or
semester before the 2017 spring semester are covered by the law in
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act in amending Section
54.341(a) and adding Section 54.341(a-0), Education Code, apply
beginning with tuition and fees charged for the first academic
semester beginning on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.