Hazlewood Act

The Hazlewood Act is a State of Texas tuition exemption created to provide education benefits to honorably discharged or separated Texas veterans and to eligible dependent children and spouses of Texas veterans.

While veterans and dependents using VA federal education benefits CAN use Hazlewood concurrently, with Chapter 33 and Chapter 31, the value of the two combined cannot exceed the student's tuition and fees.

The 83rd Texas Legislative Session authorized new provisions which are effective May 2016. 

Eligibility requirements for Veterans are as follows:

• Were either:

• Have served more than 180 days of active military duty (excluding training), as indicated by "net active service" (box 12(c) on the DD214)
  

• Have received an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions
  

• Are not in default on a student loan made or guaranteed by the State of Texas
  

• Enroll in classes for which the college receives tax support

• Reside in Texas during term of enrollment

• Effective Fall 2014, veterans must be making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) in accordance with the institutions financial aid policy.  Specifically, this means that veterans must:

                 - maintain a financial aid GPA of at least a 2.0 (Financial Aid GPA includes grades from
                   developmental courses), and

         - cannot be reported by the institution as being in access hours according to Education Code
           54.014. 

 SAP is run at the end of EACH semester.

Note: Chapter 33 and 31 Veterans who are eligible for Hazlewood can use Hazlewood to "stack" on top of their 33/31 benefits to pay any remainder of tuition and fees ONLY not paid by Chapter 33/31 benefits.

Eligibility requirements for Children and Spouses of Veterans who are 100% disabled for
reasons of employability:

• Are the child or spouse of a veteran who was either:  

               -  A Texas resident at the time of entry into the U.S. Armed Forces, or
               - Designated Texas as their Home of Record, or
               - Entered the service in Texas, and

       - Received an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions, and

              - Is rated by the VA as 100% disabled for reasons of employability

      The child or spouse:

• Must be a resident of Texas as of the term or semester in which they enroll 

• Must not be in default on a student loan made or guaranteed by the State of Texas 

• Must enroll in classes for which the college receives tax support 

• For each subsequent semester that they apply, are making satisfactory academic progress (SAP) per the institution's financial aid policy. Specifically, this means that the dependent must:

                     - maintain a financial aid GPA of at least a 2.0 (Financial Aid GPA includes grades from 
                       developmental courses), and

                     -  cannot be reported by the institution as being in excessive hours according to Education
                       Code 54.014.   

 SAP is run at the end of EACH semester.

Note: Chapter 33 Dependents who are eligible for Hazlewood can use Hazlewood to "stack" on top  of their 33 benefits to pay any remainder of tuition and fees ONLY not paid by Chapter 33 benefits.

The benefit may not be used for correspondence courses unless the courses are part of the student's degree plan.

Eligibility requirements for Children and Spouses of Veterans who are MIA, KIA, or died of a service-related illness or injury

• Are the child or spouse of a veteran who was either: 

             The child or spouse:

Note: Chapter 33 Dependents who are eligible for Hazlewood can use Hazlewood to "stack" on top of their 33 benefits to pay any remainder of tuition and fees ONLY not paid by Chapter 33 benefits.

The benefit may not be used for correspondence courses unless the courses are part of the student's degree plan.

This category of Hazlewood students (and only this category) are exempt from the SAP rules.

Transferability of Benefits (Legacy Program)

Eligible veterans (see above for veteran eligibility requirements) may assign unused hours of exemption eligibility to a child under certain conditions.  To be eligible, the child must:

                 - maintain a financial aid GPA of at least a 2.0 (Financial Aid GPA includes grades from
                  developmental courses), and

                 - cannot be reported by the institution as being in excessive hours according to Education
                  Code 54.014. 

Note: Chapter 33 Veterans who are eligible for Hazlewood can use Hazlewood to "stack" on top of their 33 benefits to pay any remainder of tuition and fees ONLY not paid by Chapter 33 benefits.

Veterans who transfer benefits to an eligible dependent must reside in Texas during the semester or term for which the exemption is claimed.

If a child to whom hours have been delegated fails to use all of the assigned hours, a veteran may
re-assign the unused hours that are available to another dependent child. Only 1 person may use benefits at a time.  All parties only have 150 hours between them, not each.

Veteran's spouses are not eligible to receive a transfer of unused hours.

Award Amount

Eligible veterans, their children and spouses may receive an exemption from the payment of tuition, dues and fees, excluding deposit fees, student services fees, and any fees or charges for books, lodging, board or clothing for *up to 150 semester credit hours.  (*Cannot go over max. hours at the institution).

Important: Please check with the cashier's office after Hazlewood posts each semester to pay the student services fee.  If you do not pay this fee, you could be dropped for non-payment.

Application Process

1)  To apply for Hazlewood benefits, or to transfer unused hours to an eligible child, students must
      complete the following:

        Texas Hazlewood Act Exemption Application - Initial

• Veterans applying for the exemption for their own use:   

           Note: Chapter 33 students MUST be enrolled at the time they submit their application because
           we have to calculate what percentage of tuition and fees the Hazlewood exemption will pay for.

            Any other category (non-Chapter 33) students do NOT have to be enrolled to submit
            application.

• Dependents and Spouses with their own benefits (i.e. NOT Legacy):

                       -  The Term and Year must be filled in 
                       -  Sections labeled, "I am applying as:" and, "I am:" must be filled in
                       -  Parts A (with the exception of veteran's ID number and the address, phone and
                         email IF the veteran is deceased), B, C and D; all spaces must be completed
                       -  Form must be signed and dated (does NOT need veteran's signature)

            Note: Chapter 33 students MUST be enrolled at the time they submit their application because
            we have to calculate what percentage of tuition and fees the Hazlewood exemption will pay
            for.

            Any other category (non-Chapter 33) students do NOT have to be enrolled to submit
            application.

•  Legacy students:

                         -  The Term and Year must be filled in               
                         -  Sections labeled, "I am applying as:" and, "I am:" must be filled in                  
                         -  Parts A (with the exception of veteran's ID number), B, C, D and E; all spaces 
                            must be completed                  
                         -  Form must be signed and dated by BOTH parties (student and veteran)

            Note: Chapter 33 students MUST be enrolled at the time they submit their application because
            we have to calculate what percentage of tuition and fees the Hazlewood exemption will pay
            for.

            Any other category (non-Chapter 33) students do NOT have to be enrolled to submit
            application.

2) AND provide the following:

• Provide a copy of the veteran's DD-214 (Member 4 copy.)
  
  
• Submit a Certificate of Eligibility from the VA (Veterans and Dependents alike) showing the value of the federal tuition and fees benefits (Anyone who served AFTER September 11, 2001). Certificate of Eligibility may be obtained by completing an application on the Veterans Online Application (VONAPP) website at http://www.vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/default.asp
  
  
• If the veteran's final discharge is prior to 9/11/2001, the certificate of eligibility is not required.
  
  
• If the veteran died while in service: Report of Casualty, Form DD 1300
  
  
• If the veteran is deceased (not service connected): Death Certificate (for a Legacy transfer by legal guardian)
  
  
• If the veteran is totally disabled or rated 100% disabled for reasons of employability: You must have a current (within 1 year) disability ratings letter from the VA indicating that rating
  
  
• If you are not the veteran, you must provide relationship documentation: Submit either a marriage license (for spouses), a birth certificate, adoption paperwork or a recent tax return transcript showing dependent status (for children).
  
  
• Veterans must reside in the State of Texas during the term the exemption will be used by themselves and in the case of transfer of benefits to an eligible child (Legacy).
  
  
• Hazlewood Online Database Registration:  To comply with the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requirements, all applicants (Veteran and dependents) must register into the Hazlewood online database to use the Hazlewood exemption.  In addition, at least once each year, all Hazlewood recipients must provide a copy of the Hazlewood hours used which can be obtained through the student's Hazlewood account. To register or log into your account, go here: https://hazlewood.tvc.texas.gov/students/
  
  

For All Hazlewood Exemption Students

Renewal Each Semester:    All students must apply for Hazlewood each semester they intend to use the tuition exemption.

For the renewal application, click here.

Note on SAP:  Please realize that each subsequent semester, your exemption MAY be posted prior
to SAP running for that semester. If, upon the SAP program running, you  are NOT meeting the SAP requirements, the exemption will be removed from your  account and you will be responsible for paying your tuition and fees out-of-pocket.

Submitting in a Timely Fashion: Please realize that the Hazlewood Exemption takes time to process, especially with all the changes. Please submit  your application as early as possible to prevent delays.  If you submit your application a day or two or even a week before payment deadline, we cannot guarantee it will be posted to your account in time to hold your classes.  

Hazlewood Hours Account:

To create an account for your Hazlewood benefits, or to log in to your account to obtain your hours used,
go here:  https://hazlewood.tvc.texas.gov/students/ 

NEW! - Beginning May 2016

Please note that beginning May 2016, students using Hazlewood for (forumula funded) Continuing Education classes will have those hours count against their 150 hour total.  Prior to this date, CE classes were not counted against the Hazlewood maximum.  Beginning in May 2016, these hours WILL NOW COUNT against the total number of hours available.

Reporting of Courses Measured in CEUs.

   (1) Courses exempted under this subchapter that are measured in CEUs shall be reported to the Commission after conversion to semester credit hours.

   (2) Based on the definitions of this subchapter and by the course instruction criteria listed in 19 Texas Administrative Code §4.6(a), the conversion ratio of CEUs to semester credit hours shall be one (1) CEU equaling 0.625 semester credit hours.

   (3) When reporting the converted hours to the Commission, institutions shall round any fraction of a semester credit hour up to the nearest whole number.

Legislature:

To see the actual Hazlewood Act rules effective May 2016, click here.   

To visit the Texas Veterans Commission website and read more about the Hazlewood Exemption,
go to: http://www.tvc.texas.gov/Hazlewood-Act.aspx

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