Sec. 54.241. MILITARY PERSONNEL AND DEPENDENTS. (a) Military personnel are classified as provided by this section.

(b) A person who is an officer, enlisted person, selectee, or draftee of the Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Navy, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserve, Coast Guard, or Coast Guard Reserve of the United States, who is assigned to duty in Texas, and the spouse and children of such an officer, enlisted person, selectee, or draftee, are entitled to register in a state institution of higher education by paying the tuition fee and other fees or charges required of Texas residents, without regard to the length of time the officer, enlisted person, selectee, or draftee has been assigned to duty or resided in the state. However, out-of-state Army National Guard or Air National Guard members attending training with Texas Army or Air National Guard units under National Guard Bureau regulations may not be exempted from nonresident tuition by virtue of that training status nor may out-of-state Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard Reserves training with units in Texas under similar regulations be exempted from nonresident tuition by virtue of that training status. It is the intent of the legislature that only those members of the Army or Air National Guard or other reserve forces mentioned above be exempted from the nonresident tuition fee and other fees and charges only when they become members of Texas units of the military organizations mentioned above.

(c) The spouse or child of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who has been assigned to duty elsewhere immediately following assignment to duty in Texas is entitled to pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges provided for Texas residents as long as the spouse or child resides continuously in Texas.

(d) A spouse or dependent child of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, who is not assigned to duty in Texas but who has previously resided in Texas for a six-month period, is entitled to pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges provided for Texas residents for a term or semester at an institution of higher education if the member:

(1) at least one year preceding the first day of the term or semester executed a document with the applicable military service that is in effect on the first day of the term or semester and that:

(A) indicates that the member's permanent residence address is in Texas; and

(B) designates Texas as the member's place of legal residence for income tax purposes;

(2) has been registered to vote in Texas for the entire year preceding the first day of the term or semester; and

(3) satisfies at least one of the following requirements:

(A) for the entire year preceding the first day of the term or semester has owned real property in Texas and in that time has not been delinquent in the payment of any taxes on the property;

(B) has had an automobile registered in Texas for the entire year preceding the first day of the term or semester; or

(C) at least one year preceding the first day of the term or semester executed a will that has not been revoked or superseded indicating that the member is a resident of this state and deposited the will with the county clerk of the county of the member's residence under Subchapter A, Chapter 252, Estates Code.

(e) A Texas institution of higher education may charge to the United States government the nonresident tuition fee for a veteran enrolled under the provisions of a federal law or regulation authorizing educational or training benefits for veterans.

(f) The spouse or child of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who dies or is killed is entitled to pay the resident tuition fee if the spouse or child becomes a resident of Texas within 60 days of the date of death.

(g) If a member of the Armed Forces of the United States is stationed outside Texas, an institution of higher education shall:

(1) permit the member's spouse or child to pay the tuition, fees, and other charges provided for Texas residents without regard to the length of time that the spouse or child has resided in Texas if the spouse or child establishes residence in Texas by residing in Texas and by filing with the Texas institution of higher education at which the spouse or child plans to register a letter of intent to establish residence in Texas; and

(2) permit the member's spouse to pay the tuition, fees, and other charges provided for Texas residents if the spouse:

(A) graduated from a public or private high school in this state or received the equivalent of a high school diploma in this state; and

(B) maintained a domicile in this state continuously for at least one year before the member was assigned to duty outside Texas.

(h) The governing board of Midwestern State University may set the resident and nonresident tuition rates for United States military personnel enrolled in the bachelor of science or master of science degree program in radiological sciences at Midwestern State University at the rates the governing board considers appropriate, notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, and may exempt those military personnel from all or part of required fees and charges while enrolled in one of those programs. The total amount of tuition and required fees charged to a resident member of the armed forces under this subsection may not be less than the total amount of tuition and required fees charged to other resident students in the same program. United States military personnel enrolled in one of those programs by instructional telecommunication are entitled to pay tuition fees and other fees or charges provided by the board for United States military personnel residing in Texas if they began the program while stationed at a military base or other installation in Texas as a member of the United States Armed Forces. In this subsection, "instructional telecommunication" means instruction delivered primarily by telecommunication technology, including open-channel television, cable television, closed-circuit television, low power television, communication and/or direct broadcast satellite, satellite master antenna system, microwave, videotape, videodisc, computer software, computer networks, and telephone lines.

(i) A former member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the former member's spouse or dependent child is entitled to pay the tuition fees and other fees or charges provided for Texas residents for any term or semester at a state institution of higher education that begins before the first anniversary of the member's separation from the Armed Forces if the former member:

(1) has retired or been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces; and

(2) has complied with the requirements of Subsection (d).

(j) A member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the child or spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents under another provision of this section while enrolled in a degree or certificate program is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents in any subsequent term or semester while the person is continuously enrolled in the same degree or certificate program. For purposes of this subsection, a person is not required to enroll in a summer term to remain continuously enrolled in a degree or certificate program. The person's eligibility to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for Texas residents under this subsection does not terminate because the person is no longer a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or the child or spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States.

(k) A person is entitled to pay tuition and fees at an institution of higher education at the rates provided for Texas residents without regard to the length of time the person has resided in this state if the person files with the institution at which the person intends to register a letter of intent to establish residence in this state and resides in this state while enrolled in the institution and the person:

(1) is eligible for benefits under the federal Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (38 U.S.C. Section 3301 et seq.) or any other federal law authorizing educational benefits for veterans;

(2) is the spouse of a person described by Subdivision (1); or

(3) is a child of a person described by Subdivision (1) who is 25 years of age or younger on the first day of the semester or other academic term for which the person is registering, except that the Texas Higher Education 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 benefit provided by this subsection before reaching that age may be granted additional time to use the benefit corresponding to the time the person was unable to use the benefit because of the illness or condition.

(l) In this section, "child" includes a stepchild.

Transferred and redesignated from Education Code, Section 54.058 by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 359 (S.B. 32), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2012.

Amended by:

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 675 (S.B. 2104), Sec. 5, eff. June 10, 2019.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 846 (H.B. 2780), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2019.