Hazlewood Exemption (Hazlewood Act) VETERANS CIVIC COUNCIL OCTOBER 14-16, 2015 RALPH DEVAUL, PhD, THERESA A. GIBSON & MELANIE A. MOYNAHAN, LMSW

2 Hazlewood Act  Provides exemptions from tuition, dues, most fees and other required charges for up to150 credit hours at a public college or university in Texas.  At time of entry into service, member must: be a Resident of Texas, or Entered the service in the State of Texas, or Declared Texas as his or her home of record in the manner provided by the military or other service  Was honorably discharged from service (Honorable or General, Under Honorable Conditions discharge)  Served more than 180 days of active duty excluding training.  Is not default on an education loan made or guaranteed by the State of Texas  Currently resides in the state of Texas (S.B. 639 effective 6/17/11)  Allows children of deceased eligible veterans to have unused Hazlewood hours assigned to them by the deceased veteran’s spouse or by the conservator, guardian, custodian, or other legally designated caretaker of the child. Meet the GPA requirement of the institution's satisfactory academic progress policy in a degree or certificate program as determined by the institution's financial aid policy and, as an undergraduate student, not be considered to have attempted an excessive amount of credit hours.

Hazlewood Legacy Act Allows eligible veteran to assign unused hours to a child; The veteran must reside in Texas in order to transfer unused hours to the child Only one child at a time can use the exemption Child must be: Member’s stepchild, biological child, adopted child or claimed as dependent (previous or current year); a resident of Texas Be 25 years or younger on the first day of the semester; and Meet the GPA requirement of the institution's satisfactory academic progress policy in a degree or certificate program as determined by the institution's financial aid policy and, as an undergraduate student, not be considered to have attempted an excessive amount of credit hours. 3

Hazlewood Act for Dependents Children and spouses(as of the Fall 2009 school term) of service members who were: * killed or die in the line of duty * are missing in action, * who die as a result of injury or illness directly related to military service, * who became totally disabled or is deemed un-employability as a result of a service-related injury or illness (1) the child must have been a dependent of the eligible service member when the member died, sustained the disabling injury or when the service member was declared to be 100% unemployable by the VA. (2) the spouse or child must be able to provide official documentation from the VA indicating that the service member has a 100% unemployable rating, if applicable (3) the spouse must provide proof that he/she was the legal spouse of the eligible service member at the time the service member died, sustained his/her disabling injury, or was classified as missing in action. The spouse and each child will receive 150 credit hours 4

Stacking with Federal Benefits Texas Attorney General’s opinion no. GA-969, dated September 24, 2012 allows stacking by a veteran with multiple federal benefits. Hazlewood Rule (f): Persons eligible for more than one federal veterans education benefit must select which federal program to stack with the Hazlewood Act Exemption

Hazlewood Funding HB1025: Appropriated $30M (Fy2013) to offset FY2012 Legacy: Allocations based on each institution’s proportionate share of FY2012 Legacy. SB1158: Created a permanent fund supporting military and veterans exemptions.

GI Bill vs. Hazlewood Roles Comparison GI Bill / SAAHAZLEWOOD ACT VA determines eligibility of veteran or dependent; not TVC. School may lose approval for non-compliance. SAA approves eligible programs by CFR criteria. VA pays money to the student/school up to one year in arrears. School determines eligibility of veteran or dependent; not TVC. Mandated for Texas public schools. Eligible classes set by Tex. Ed. Code. School not required to grant exemption after term ends.

Hazlewood Database Reports Reporting Features Enables accurate tracking and monitoring of Hazlewood hours used; Allows institutions to report Hazlewood recipients directly into the database; Enables schools to report retroactive awards and make revisions to student accounts. Reporting Deadlines: January 31 st - Fall Semester June 30 th - Spring Semester September 30 th -Summer Sessions

Hazlewood Database updates. Current upload process is retained. Schools will be able to send reports via webpage upload. Rulemaking planned to standardize disbursal process and update rules. Hazlewood Future

Please Direct Student Hazlewood Questions to Visit our Homepage Before Calling Us with Questions or...

Please Direct Student Hazlewood Questions to Visit our Hazlewood Page Before Calling Us with Questions.

Contact Information Hazlewood Points of Contact: Charles Bryant TVC HQ Program Specialists: Texas Veterans Commission: VA Educational Toll-Free Line: (Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm) 12

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