Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1634 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R1329 CXP-D
2	2	By: Lujan H.B. No. 1634
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
10	10	higher education for certain students who were under the
11	11	conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
12	12	Services.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Sections 54.366(a), (b), and (c), Education
15	15	Code, are amended to read as follows:
16	16	(a) A student is exempt from the payment of tuition and fees
17	17	authorized in this chapter, including tuition and fees charged by
18	18	an institution of higher education for a dual credit course or other
19	19	course for which a high school student may earn joint high school
20	20	and college credit, if the student[:
21	21	[(1)] was under the conservatorship of the Department
22	22	of Family and Protective Services:
23	23	(1) [(A)] on the day preceding the student's 18th
24	24	birthday;
25	25	(2) [(B)] on or after the day of the student's 14th
26	26	birthday, if the student was also eligible for adoption on or after
27	27	that day;
28	28	(3) [(C)] on the day the student graduated from high
29	29	school or received the equivalent of a high school diploma;
30	30	(4) [(D)] on the day preceding:
31	31	(A) [(i)] the date the student is adopted, if
32	32	that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or
33	33	(B) [(ii)] the date permanent managing
34	34	conservatorship of the student is awarded to a person other than the
35	35	student's parent, if that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or
36	36	(5) [(E)] during an academic term in which the student
37	37	was enrolled in a dual credit course or other course for which a
38	38	high school student may earn joint high school and college credit[;
39	39	and
40	40	[(2) enrolls in an institution of higher education as
41	41	an undergraduate student or in a dual credit course or other course
42	42	for which a high school student may earn joint high school and
43	43	college credit not later than the student's 25th birthday].
44	44	(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
45	45	Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
46	46	ensure that students in the conservatorship of the Department of
47	47	Family and Protective Services and in grades 7 through 12 [9-12] are
48	48	aware of the availability of the exemption from the payment of
49	49	tuition and fees provided by this section. The outreach programs
50	50	must include the provision of informational materials regarding the
51	51	exemption to each:
52	52	(1) residential child-care facility as defined by
53	53	Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
54	54	(2) foster parent or relative or other designated
55	55	caregiver for a student enrolled in grades 7 through 12; and
56	56	(3) school district, open-enrollment charter school,
57	57	and private school offering grade seven or above.
58	58	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) [(a)(1)], a child who
59	59	exits the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
60	60	Protective Services and is returned to the child's parent,
61	61	including a parent whose parental rights were previously
62	62	terminated, may be exempt from the payment of tuition and fees if
63	63	the department determines that the child is eligible under
64	64	department rule. The executive commissioner of the Health and
65	65	Human Services Commission shall by rule develop factors for
66	66	determining eligibility under this subsection in consultation with
67	67	the department and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
68	68	SECTION 2. Section 54.367(b), Education Code, is amended to
69	69	read as follows:
70	70	(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
71	71	Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
72	72	ensure that adopted students in grades 7 through 12 [9-12] formerly
73	73	in foster or other residential care are aware of the availability of
74	74	the exemption from the payment of tuition and fees provided by this
75	75	section. The outreach programs must include the provision of
76	76	informational materials regarding the exemption to each:
77	77	(1) residential child-care facility as defined by
78	78	Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
79	79	(2) adoptive parent of a student in grades 7 through 12
80	80	who was formerly in foster or other residential care; and
81	81	(3) school district, open-enrollment charter school,
82	82	and private school offering grade seven or above.
83	83	SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
84	84	amended by adding Section 54.3671 to read as follows:
85	85	Sec. 54.3671. STREAMLINED ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION AND
86	86	APPLICATION PROCESS FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. The Texas Higher
87	87	Education Coordinating Board and the Department of Family and
88	88	Protective Services shall jointly design and implement a
89	89	streamlined eligibility determination and application process for
90	90	the tuition and fee exemptions provided by Sections 54.366 and
91	91	54.367. The streamlined process must:
92	92	(1) be designed to decrease the administrative burden
93	93	on the department and students in determining exemption eligibility
94	94	by reducing data collection, data entry, and the copying and
95	95	recopying of applications;
96	96	(2) include a system through which a student may apply
97	97	for an exemption electronically through the department's Internet
98	98	website; and
99	99	(3) for a student determined by the department to be
100	100	eligible for an exemption, provide for the automatic submission by
101	101	the department to the institution of higher education indicated by
102	102	the student of the tuition waiver letter or other documentation
103	103	required by the institution to verify the student's eligibility.
104	104	SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
105	105	54.366, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees
106	106	charged for the 2025 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a
107	107	term or semester before the 2025 fall semester are governed by the
108	108	law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
109	109	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
110	110	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
111	111	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
112	112	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
113	113	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
114	114	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.