Sec. 54.354. EDUCATION BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN SURVIVORS. (a) A person is eligible to receive education benefits under this section if the person is:

(1) a surviving spouse; or

(2) a surviving minor child as defined by Section 615.001, Government Code.

(b) An eligible person who enrolls as a full-time student at an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003 is exempt from tuition and fees at that institution of higher education until the student receives a bachelor's degree or 200 hours of course credit, whichever occurs first.

(c) If the student elects to reside in housing provided by the institution of higher education and qualifies to reside in that housing, the institution shall pay from the general revenue appropriated to the institution the cost of the student's contract for food and housing until the student receives a bachelor's degree or 200 hours of course credit, whichever occurs first. If there is no space available in the institution's housing, the institution shall, from the general revenue appropriated to the institution, pay to the student each month the equivalent amount that the institution would have expended had the student lived in the institution's housing. The institution is not required to pay the student the monthly payment if the student would not qualify to live in the institution's housing.

(d) The institution of higher education shall, from the general revenue appropriated to the institution, pay to the student the cost of the student's textbooks until the student receives a bachelor's degree or 200 hours of course credit, whichever occurs first.

(e) A payment under this section is in addition to any payment made under Section 615.022, Government Code.

Transferred, redesignated and amended from Government Code, Section 615.0225 by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 359 (S.B. 32), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2012.