Hazlewood Disability Purpose: The Hazlewood Disability provides up to 150 credit hours* of support to children of eligible veterans’ that are 100% Totally & Permanently Disabled per the VA as they pursue higher education at colleges and universities in the state of Texas without paying tuition and mandatory fees.
How to be eligible for Hazlewood Disability A Spouse /Child must:
- Be classified by the institution as a Texas resident; (40 TAC §461.70)
- Be the biological child, stepchild, adopted child, or claimed as a dependent in the current or previous tax year;
- Be 25 years old 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
- Have no federal Veteran’s education benefits, or have no federal Veterans education benefits dedicated to the payment of tuition and fees only (such as Chapter 33) for term or semester enrolled that do not exceed the value of Hazlewood benefits; (40 TAC §461.70) & (40 TAC §461.90)
- Not be in default on a student loan made or guaranteed by the State of Texas;
- Enroll in classes for which the college receives tax support (i.e., a course that does not depend solely on student tuition and fees to cover its cost), unless the college’s governing board has ruled to let Veterans receive the benefit while taking non-funded courses; and
- Meet the GPA requirement of the institution’s satisfactory academic progress policy in a degree or certificate program as determined by the institution’s financial aid policy and, as an undergraduate student, not be considered to have attempted an excessive amount of credit hours.
*Eligible Veterans may assign or transfer unused hours of exemption eligibility to a child under certain conditions as drawn from the Hazlewood Act Statute and 40 Texas Administrative Code §461. Recipients will receive an exemption for the number of degree certified hours reported by the institution for that term or semester. Maximum degree certified hours awarded to the recipient will be dependent upon the degree or certificate program in which the student is enrolled for that term or semester and shall be consistent with the program length as defined within the school catalog as approved by the regional accreditation commission. (40 TAC §461.30) 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 child.
Hazlewood Disability Exemption Application Checklist
Complete & submit a Hazlewood Initial Exemption Application via the MVP Forms Portal for the semester they intend to use benefits at TTU for the very first time. You will need to upload the following supporting documents to your Hazlewood Exemption Request by selecting “My Applications Tab” via the MVP Forms Portal
ALL STUDENTS MUST UPLOAD THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTATION (Illegible, altered & damaged documents are not permissible)
- DD214 A legible, unaltered & complete DD214 (Member 4 or Service 2 versions) that indicates the following:
- Veteran’s Home of Record or Place of Entry is listed as Texas
- Veteran’s served at least 181 days of active duty (Does NOT include initial entry training time).
- Veteran received an Honorable or Under Honorable Conditions discharge.
If you do not have a permissible DD214: Create an account via VA.gov and request a DD214 or request a Service Verification Letter. Another option is to order a copy of you DD214 from the National Archives archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records If the DD 214 lists the veteran’s DoD ID number and not the veteran's Social Security Number (SSN), your application will require a copy of the veteran's SSN card as an alternative form of verification.
- Disability Rating Letter showing veteran is 100% TOTALLY & PERMANENTLY DISABLED
- You must have a current (within one year) disability ratings decision letter from the VA. This letter must state the veteran is totally and permanently disabled or meet the eligibility requirements for individual unemployability according to the disability ratings of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Proof of Dependency to the Veteran, legible copy of one of the following:
- Child’s birth certificate listing the veteran as a parent
- legal court documents or adoption papers showing the veteran is the child’s legal guardian
- If a stepchild, attach a copy of a marriage license connecting the veteran with the parent on the child’s birth certificate.
- The veteran’s most recent IRS Tax Transcript listing the student as a dependent.
- if the veteran and the spouse are Common law married, Per section FAMILY CODE CHAPTER 2. THE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP A Declaration of Informal Marriage must be signed on a form prescribed by the bureau of vital statistics and provided by the county clerk.
- If the Veteran Served After 08/01/2009 attach a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) for
- CH 33: Post 9/11 GI Bill, OR a CH 33 denial letter issued by the VA
- Students must exhaust ALL 100% Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits before Hazlewood can be utilized. If the veteran still has remaining Chapter 33: Post 9/11 benefits a denial letter must be in the student’s name.
- Chapter 35 Dependent’s Education Assistance COE in the Student’s name
If veteran served before September 11, 2001, no denial letter is needed. Legacy recipients whose veteran parent separated between 9/10/2001 and 8/1/2009 do not need to submit a VA CoE of Eligibility if the type of discharge is listed as “Discharge or Retirement”, this includes medically retired, temporary or permanent.
- DD1300 for KIA, MIA, or Service-Related Death (ONLY IF APPLICABLE): Upload a Report of Casualty (Killed in Action or Missing in Action Report) in place of DD214 if applicable. If you do not have a DD1300, you may request the document from the VA at va.gov/survivors/faqs.asp.
Official communication is done through TTU Email.
The MVP Office will contact you via TTU email if additional documentation is required.
This checklist is a guide to successfully completing a Hazlewood Initial Exemption application.
Students have up to the last day of classes to submit their application, please see the Texas Tech Academic Calendar.
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STUDENT TO ENSURE THEY HAVE SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION & UPLOADED NEEDED DOCUMENTS EACH SEMESTER.