Hazlewood Act

veterans

The Hazlewood Act is a State of Texas benefit that provides qualified Veterans, spouses, and dependent children with an education benefit of up to 150 hours of tuition exemption, including most fee charges (except for the Student Service Fee), at public institutions of higher education in Texas. The Hazlewood Act also will NOT include living expenses, books, or supply fees.

Veteran Qualifications

A Veteran must:

Veterans who are granted their first Hazlewood Act exemption beginning fall 2011 must reside in Texas during the semester or term for which the exemption is claimed. This requirement does not apply to the Veterans who either received the exemption prior to the 2011-2012 academic year, have reenlisted into active duty, or reside with a spouse who is on active duty.

Hazlewood recipients are required to meet the GPA and excessive hour requirement of their institution's satisfactory academic progress policy in a degree or certificate program as determined by the institution's financial aid policy. Sec. 54.2001 of the Texas Education code states that any veteran or veteran’s dependent that fails to meet their institutions (Texas Southern University) Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements after one full academic year (Fall and Spring semesters), will placed on probation for the upcoming academic year. While on probation, the veteran and/or veteran’s dependent will be eligible for Hazlewood benefits. However, if failure to meet academic standards continues while on probation, the veteran and/or veteran’s dependent will be required to submit a Hazlewood Appeal ( refer to VA Forms) if they wish to apply for Hazlewood benefits going forward. The Hazelwood Appeal will be required and must be APPROVED each year benefits are applied for until Satisfactory Academic Progress has been reestablished. The standards are as follows:

Satisfactory Academic Progress
Total Undergraduate Hours Qualitative Quantitative Length
Undergraduate 2.0 67% 180
Post-Baccalaureate 2.0 67% 180
Graduate – beyond Bachelor’s 3.0 67% 63
Law – beyond Bachelor’s 2.0 67% 135
Doctoral 3.0 67% 108

Hazlewood Act application process

A Veteran must:

Applications and all supporting documentation must be received by the Veterans Affairs Office no later than the last day of class in order to be evaluated for the semester or term.

Determine Institution Eligibility for the Hazlewood Act

Eligible Institutions:

The Hazlewood Act is available only for use at a Texas public college or university. To access listings of Texas public colleges and universities, follow this link: Texas Institutions of Higher Education and select any of the schools listed under the Texas Public Institutions. The schools listed under Independent (Private) Institutions do NOT qualify for this exemption.

Legacy Act (Child)

Eligible Veterans may assign unused hours of exemption eligibility to a child under certain conditions

To qualify, a child (legacy recipient) must:

Legacy recipients will receive an exemption for the number of degree certified hours reported by the institution for that term or semester. Maximum degree certified hours awarded to the Legacy recipient will be dependent upon the degree or certificate program in which the student is enrolled for that term or semester and shall be consistent with the program length as defined within the school catalog as approved by the regional accreditation commission. *If a child to whom hours have been delegated fails to use all the assigned hours, a Veteran may re-assign the unused hours that are available to another child. Only one child will use Hazlewood Legacy benefits at a time.

Legacy Act Application Process

To qualify, a child (legacy recipient) of a Veteran must:

Applications and all supporting documentation must be received by the Veterans Affairs Office no later than the last day of class of a term in order to be evaluated for that semester or term.

Hazlewood Act for Spouse/Child

Spouses and dependent children of eligible Active Duty, Reserve, and Texas National Guard who died in the line of duty or because of injury or illness directly related to military service, are missing in action, or who became totally disabled for purposes of employability as a result of a service-related injury or illness are entitled to each receive a 150 credit hours exemption.

To qualify, a spouse must:

To qualify, a child must:

Application process for Spouse/Child

A spouse or child of a Veteran whose death was service connected, is MIA, or is/was 100% permanently disabled must:

Applications and all supporting documentation must be received by the institution no later than the last day of class of a term in order to be evaluated for that semester or term.

Additional Information

A checklist for all forms required for the Hazlewood application process can be found

Additional paperwork for dependents:

If veteran is deceased due to service-related circumstances:

If veteran is deceased due to non-service-related circumstances

If veteran is 100% disabled or unemployable due to service-related injury or illness

NOTE: Student and veteran (if not the student) must reside in the state of Texas in order to use this benefit and must register with the Hazlewood Online Database at the Texas Veterans Commission's website: https://hazlewood.tvc.texas.gov/students/Account/Register

All applications and supporting documentation must be submitted by the last class day of the term.