The purpose of the Hazlewood Exemption (Hazelwood Act) is to provide an education benefit to honorably discharged or separated Texas veterans and to eligible dependent children and spouses of Texas veterans.

Eligibility requirements for Veterans are as follows:

• Who, at the time of entry into the U.S. Armed Forces:
  • Are Texas residents,
  • Designated Texas as Home of Record, or
  • Entered the service in Texas
    
• Have served at least 181 days of active military duty excluding training, as indicated as "net active service" on the DD214
• Have received an honorable discharge or separation or a general discharge under honorable conditions
• Have no federal veteran's education benefits, or have federal veterans education benefits dedicated to the payment of tuition and fees only (such as Chapter 33 or 31; Pell and SEOG are not relevant) for term or semester enrolled that do not exceed the value of Hazlewood benefits,
• Are not in default on a student loan made or guaranteed by the State of Texas, and
• Enroll in classes for which the college receives tax support
  
  New! Veterans who are granted their first Hazlewood 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 veterans who received the exemption prior to the 2011-2012 academic year.

Eligibility requirements for Children and Spouses are as follows:

• Are the child or spouse of a veteran who, at the time of entry into the U.S. Armed Forces was:
      A Texas Resident, or
      Designated Texas as their Home of Record, or
      Entered the service in Texas

• Have a parent or is the spouse of a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, Texas National Guard, or Texas Air National Guard who died as a result of service-related injuries or illness, is missing in action, or became totally disabled for purposes of employability as a result of service-related injury or illness
  
• Have no federal veteran's education benefits, or have federal veterans education benefits dedicated to the payment of tuition and fees only (such as Chapter 33 or 31; Pell and SEOG are not relevant) for term or semester enrolled that do not exceed the value of Hazlewood benefits,

• Are residents of Texas as of the term or semester in which they enroll 
  
  New!  Eligible children who receive the Hazlewood exemption for the first time beginning fall, 2011 must be 25 years of age or younger on the first day of the semester or term for which the exemption is claimed (unless granted an extension due to a qualifying illness or debilitating condition).  This requirement does not apply to children who receive the exemption prior to the 2011-2012 academic year. Chap

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


Transferability of Benefits (Legacy Program)

Eligible veterans may assign unused hours of exemption eligibility to a child under certain conditions.  To be eligible, the child must:

• Be a Texas resident
• Be the biological child, stepchild, adopted child, or claimed as a dependent in the current or previous tax year
• Be 25 years or younger on the first day of the semester or term for which the exemption is claimed (unless granted an extension due to a qualifying illness or debilitating condition) and
• Make satisfactory academic progress in a degree, certificate, or continuing education program as determined by the institution.
  
  New!  Effective with tuition and fee charges fall, 2011 a veteran's spouse or child's guardian, conservator, custodian, or other legally designated caretaker may re-assign unused hours to an eligible child (through Legacy) on behalf of the veteran if the veteran died prior to requesting the transfer of hours. 

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.

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.

Application Process

To be considered for the exemption, a veteran or qualified dependent must do the following:

• Complete the appropriate application for Hazlewood.
• Provide a copy of the veteran's DD-214 (Member 4 copy.)

• Submit a benefit letter from the VA showing the value of the federal tuition and fees benefits (Chapter 33's ONLY). 
• Must not be on default on student loan.

• Must be a resident of Texas at time of application.  (Spouses and Dependents Only)
• At least once each year, provide a copy of the Hazlewood hours used which can be obtained through the student's Hazlewood account on THECB's web site.  See below for web site link.

Hazlewood Exemption Forms

To use Hazlewood benefits or to transfer unused benefits to an eligible child, applicants must complete an application/release form.
HE-V Application Packet for Veterans - Use this application if you are the veteran.

HE-D Application Packet for Eligible Children and Spouses - Children receiving the transfer from the Veteran must also submit the HE-V application packet.

For All Hazlewood Exemption Students

Note:  All students must apply for Hazlewood each semester they intend to use the tuition exemption
Note: You MUST be enrolled in classes in order for the exemption to be posted. Please do NOT submit the application before enrolling.

Hazlewood Hours Account:   To create an account for your Hazlewood benefits, or to log in to your account to obtain your hours used, click here.

Legislature:  To see the actual Hazlewood Act rules adopted July 2009, click here.

Back to VA