Hazlewood Exemption
(Hazlewood Act)
VETERANS CIVIC COUNCIL
OCTOBER 14-16, 2015
RALPH DEVAUL, PhD, THERESA A. GIBSON & MELANIE A. MOYNAHAN, LMSW
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.
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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.
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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
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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 461.30(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 / SAA
HAZLEWOOD 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;
Reporting Deadlines:
January 31st -
Fall Semester
June 30th -
Spring Semester
September 30th - Summer Sessions
• Enables schools to report retroactive awards and make revisions to
student accounts.
Hazlewood Future
• 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.
Please Direct Student
Hazlewood Questions to
Visit our Homepage
Before Calling Us with
Questions or...
http://www.tvc.texas.gov/Home.aspx
Please Direct Student
Hazlewood Questions to
Visit our Hazlewood Page
Before Calling Us with
Questions.
http://www.tvc.texas.gov/Hazlewood-Act.aspx
Contact Information
• Hazlewood Points of Contact:
• Charles Bryant
charles.bryant@tvc.texas.gov
(512)-463-8189
• TVC HQ Program Specialists:
• 877-898-3833
• 512-463-3168
• Texas Veterans Commission:
1-877-898-3833
• http://www.tvc.texas.gov
• VA Educational Toll-Free Line:
1-888-442-4551
• (Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm)
• http://www.gibill.va.gov
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QUESTIONS?