89R1329 CXP-D
By: Lujan H.B. No. 1634
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemptions at public institutions of
higher education for certain students who were under the
conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective
Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 54.366(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A student is exempt from the payment of tuition and fees
authorized in this chapter, including tuition and fees charged by
an institution of higher education for a dual credit course or other
course for which a high school student may earn joint high school
and college credit, if the student[:
[(1)] was under the conservatorship of the Department
of Family and Protective Services:
(1) [(A)] on the day preceding the student's 18th
birthday;
(2) [(B)] on or after the day of the student's 14th
birthday, if the student was also eligible for adoption on or after
that day;
(3) [(C)] on the day the student graduated from high
school or received the equivalent of a high school diploma;
(4) [(D)] on the day preceding:
(A) [(i)] the date the student is adopted, if
that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or
(B) [(ii)] the date permanent managing
conservatorship of the student is awarded to a person other than the
student's parent, if that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or
(5) [(E)] during an academic term in which the student
was enrolled in a dual credit course or other course for which a
high school student may earn joint high school and college credit[;
and
[(2) enrolls in an institution of higher education as
an undergraduate student or in a dual credit course or other course
for which a high school student may earn joint high school and
college credit not later than the student's 25th birthday].
(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
ensure that students in the conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services and in grades 7 through 12 [9-12] are
aware of the availability of the exemption from the payment of
tuition and fees provided by this section. The outreach programs
must include the provision of informational materials regarding the
exemption to each:
(1) residential child-care facility as defined by
Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
(2) foster parent or relative or other designated
caregiver for a student enrolled in grades 7 through 12; and
(3) school district, open-enrollment charter school,
and private school offering grade seven or above.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) [(a)(1)], a child who
exits the conservatorship of the Department of Family and
Protective Services and is returned to the child's parent,
including a parent whose parental rights were previously
terminated, may be exempt from the payment of tuition and fees if
the department determines that the child is eligible under
department rule. The executive commissioner of the Health and
Human Services Commission shall by rule develop factors for
determining eligibility under this subsection in consultation with
the department and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
SECTION 2. Section 54.367(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to
ensure that adopted students in grades 7 through 12 [9-12] formerly
in foster or other residential care are aware of the availability of
the exemption from the payment of tuition and fees provided by this
section. The outreach programs must include the provision of
informational materials regarding the exemption to each:
(1) residential child-care facility as defined by
Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
(2) adoptive parent of a student in grades 7 through 12
who was formerly in foster or other residential care; and
(3) school district, open-enrollment charter school,
and private school offering grade seven or above.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 54.3671 to read as follows:
Sec. 54.3671. STREAMLINED ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION AND
APPLICATION PROCESS FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS. The Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board and the Department of Family and
Protective Services shall jointly design and implement a
streamlined eligibility determination and application process for
the tuition and fee exemptions provided by Sections 54.366 and
54.367. The streamlined process must:
(1) be designed to decrease the administrative burden
on the department and students in determining exemption eligibility
by reducing data collection, data entry, and the copying and
recopying of applications;
(2) include a system through which a student may apply
for an exemption electronically through the department's Internet
website; and
(3) for a student determined by the department to be
eligible for an exemption, provide for the automatic submission by
the department to the institution of higher education indicated by
the student of the tuition waiver letter or other documentation
required by the institution to verify the student's eligibility.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
54.366, Education Code, apply beginning with tuition and fees
charged for the 2025 fall semester. Tuition and fees charged for a
term or semester before the 2025 fall semester are governed by the
law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. 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, 2025.