By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 774
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to tuition and fee exemption and course credit in
connection with military service or military training.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.3041 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.3041. AWARD OF COURSE CREDIT FOR MILITARY TRAINING.
(a) In this section, "institution of higher education" has the
meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) An institution of higher education shall consider, in
determining whether to award to a student course credit toward a
degree offered by the institution for the student's completion of
certain military training:
(1) any official military record presented to the
institution by the student that:
(A) describes the substance of the training
completed by the student; and
(B) verifies the student's successful completion
of that training; and
(2) whether the substance of that training satisfies
the purpose of the course for which the student seeks credit as
described in the institution's course catalog.
(c) This section applies to a student who has completed
certain military training regardless of whether the student is
exempt from the payment of any dues, fee, or charges under Section
54.203(a).
SECTION 2. Section 54.203, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (e), and (g) and adding Subsections (h)
and (i) to read as follows:
(a) The governing board of each institution of higher
education shall exempt the following persons from the payment of
all dues, fees, and charges, including fees for correspondence
courses but excluding property deposit fees, student services fees,
and any fees or charges for lodging, board, or clothing, provided
the persons seeking the exemptions were citizens of Texas at the
time they entered the services indicated and have resided in Texas
for at least the period of 12 months before the date of
registration:
(1) all nurses and honorably discharged members of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the
Spanish-American War or during World War I;
(2) all nurses, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary
Corps, members of the Women's Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency
Service, and all honorably discharged members of the armed forces
of the United States who served during World War II except those who
were discharged from service because they were over the age of 38 or
because of a personal request on the part of the person that the
person [he] be discharged from service;
(3) all honorably discharged men and women of the
armed forces of the United States who served during the national
emergency which began on June 27, 1950, and which is referred to as
the Korean War; and
(4) all persons who were honorably discharged from the
armed forces of the United States after serving on active military
duty, excluding training, for more than 180 days and who served a
portion of their active duty during:
(A) the Cold War which began on the date of the
termination of the national emergency cited in Subdivision (3) and
ended on December 26, 1991 [of this subsection];
(B) the Vietnam era which began on December 21,
1961, and ended on May 7, 1975;
(C) the Grenada and Lebanon era which began on
August 24, 1982, and ended on July 31, 1984;
(D) the Panama era which began on December 20,
1989, and ended on January 21, 1990;
(E) the Persian Gulf War which began on August 2,
1990, and ends on the date thereafter prescribed by Presidential
proclamation or September 1, 1997, whichever occurs first; or
(F) any future national emergency declared in
accordance with federal law.
(e) An [The] exemption from fees provided for in Subsection
(a) or (h) [of this section] does not apply to a person if at the
time of the person's [his] registration the person [he] is eligible
for educational benefits under federal legislation in effect at the
time of [his] registration if the value of those benefits is equal
to or exceeds the value of the exemption, except that the person
must first utilize the federal benefit for which the person [he] is
eligible and the combined amount of the federal benefit plus the
amount of this waiver shall not exceed the maximum value of the
waiver. A person is covered by the exemptions if the person's [his]
right to benefits under federal legislation is extinguished at the
time of [his] registration, except that a person is not eligible for
an exemption from fees under this section if the person's right to
benefits under federal legislation is extinguished because the
person is in default of repayment of a loan made to the person under
a federal program to provide or guarantee loans for educational
purposes. A person is not eligible for the exemption if the person
is in default on a loan made or guaranteed for educational purposes
by the State of Texas.
(g) The governing board of a junior college district may
provide that the exemptions provided by Subsections (a), [and] (b),
and (h) do not apply to a course fee or training fee charged a
student by the junior college district to cover the flight time
costs associated with a course in aircraft flight training, to the
extent those costs are incurred by a student:
(1) who does not have a private pilot rating; or
(2) who has a private pilot rating but is not actively
seeking to fulfill the requirements of the Federal Aviation
Administration for an additional certification or rating.
(h) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by rule
shall prescribe procedures to allow a person who becomes eligible
for an exemption provided by Subsection (a) before September 1,
2015, to waive the person's right to any unused portion of the
maximum number of cumulative credit hours for which the person
could receive the exemption and assign the exemption for the unused
portion of those credit hours to one of the person's children. The
procedures shall provide:
(1) the manner in which a person may waive the
exemption and designate a child to receive the exemption;
(2) a procedure permitting the person to designate a
different child to receive the exemption if the child previously
designated to receive the exemption has never received an exemption
under this section; and
(3) a method of documentation to enable institutions
of higher education to determine the eligibility of the designated
person to receive the exemption.
(i) To be eligible to receive an exemption under Subsection
(h), a person must:
(1) be an undergraduate student who is classified as a
resident under Subchapter B when the person enrolls in an
institution of higher education;
(2) make satisfactory academic progress toward a
degree or certificate as determined by the institution at which the
person is enrolled, except that the institution may not require the
person to enroll in a minimum course load;
(3) in each academic year in which the person receives
an exemption for any of the credit hours assigned to the person
under Subsection (f), perform a number of hours of community
service equal to one-third of the total number of credit hours
assigned to the person under Subsection (f) for each of the
following:
(A) a veterans organization; and
(B) the institution in which the person is
enrolled; and
(4) be less than 28 years old, except that the
coordinating board by rule shall prescribe procedures by which a
person who suffered from a severe illness or other debilitating
condition that affected the person's ability to use the exemption
before reaching that age may be granted additional time to use the
exemption corresponding to the time the person was unable to use the
exemption because of the illness or condition.
SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
Subdivision (4), Subsection (a), Section 54.203, Education Code,
applies only to a person who is honorably discharged from the armed
forces of the United States on or after the effective date of this
Act.
(b) Section 54.203, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
applies beginning with tuition and other fees charged for the 2005
fall semester. Tuition and other fees charged for an academic
period before the 2005 fall semester are covered by the law in
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
prescribe the procedures required by Subsections (h) and (i),
Section 54.203, Education Code, as added by this Act, as soon as
practicable after the effective date of this Act. For that purpose,
the coordinating board may adopt the initial rules prescribing
those procedures in the manner provided by law for emergency rules.
SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
Chapter 51, Education Code, takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 54.203,
Education Code, takes effect September 1, 2005.