Senate passes bill limiting tuition benefits for children of veterans

By Benjamin Wermund

The Texas Senate took a step Tuesday toward limiting a program that provides free tuition to veterans and their children in an effort to rein in the ballooning costs of the program.

The bill, passed on a 24-7 vote, would adjust residency requirements ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in a case involving a University of Houston student earlier this year. Veterans would now have to live in Texas for eight years to earn benefits under the Hazlewood Act, which provides tuition and fee exemptions from state public universities for military veterans, their spouses and their children.

The bill would also require veterans to serve six years to pass on up to 120 credit hours to their children. And veterans only have a 15-year window to take advantage of the benefits after service under the bill.

The move comes as the Hazlewood Act, expanded in 2009 to allow veterans to transfer unused college credits to their children, has become an “unsustainable” financial burden on universities. Thousands more students took advantage of the benefits after the act was expanded, and the cost to colleges and universities soared from $24.7 million to $69.3 million in the first year alone. Costs have continued to rise steadily, with Texas public universities spending $169 million in tuition for Hazlewood benefits in 2014.

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