~~EATTOMNEY GENERAL
Q,F TEXAS
PRICE DANIEL
September
Hon, James C. Jones
?kecutive Director
Veterans Affairs Commis8;1~~1
Austin, Texas
ter e*ustion, of
#lG$bi. ity”una?.r the
Dear SrLr: * * $111 *
We refer to your lsttar frpa yhhich ve quote as
f!O~~@VS :
‘We respectfully re@.iest from you ati opin-
ton uhich we hdpe Vi,11 olnrrry ,$Qe )i)roai-
s&oim df Set, 4, A,rte 2634-1, Tbxtd ‘@&ivil
Statutes:
“I * If a veteran has exhausted his
e~llgibllitg fop eduoation upae,r Ptibllc Law
16, 78th Congress, Public Law 346, 78th Cm-
gress, or an3 amenamehts thereto; $8 he then
eligible for exemption from ‘paytkent of tui-
tion fees in State Supported schools under
ii:;i,w in erclcr to pwiiue aaaitional eau-
“2, If the ansver to our iipat quea-
tion is yes, for hov lopg may a veteran at-
tend a State supported school vhile receiving
exemption from payment of tuition under this
ll%W? If he receives a B. A. degree, may he
continue his education In the same school,
or another school, in order to receive his
Mataters and/w Ph,D? If he receives his
Pre-Medical degree In one school, arrayhe
receive exemption from pbJ*nt of tuition
under this law in order to contiffue on in
nealcal school until graduation?
Section 1 of Article 2654b-1, Vernon’s Civi
Statutes, (Acts 1933, 43ra Leg, 1st C .S b Ch, 6, p* 10 t
conoerning the exemption of war V8teraneC@ the Spanlah-
. . .
Hon, Jsmes C, Jones, page 2 (V-688)
American Wap ana w0Pia War I f~on payment of tuition r806
in State suppopted inrtltutlons of hlgheP learning, r8adS,
in party as follows:
nsec, 1, me governing borPds of the
several institutions Of COll8giat8 Pank,
supported in whole OP ln pat-t by public
funds appropriated from the State !lTreasury,
Sre hereby authorized and diP8Ctea to ex-
cept ana exempt all citizens of Texas, who
have resided in Texas for a period of not
less than twnlve (12) months prior to the
aat of Pegistration, aa who S8PVea aur
the Spanish-American alas/or auPlng the Wor ? a
WaP as nurses or in th8 rpmeqforceS of the
United States auplDg the world war, ma vho
are honorably aiSChP68a theP8fr@8s rrom
the p8yment of all dueS, 1808, 8ma charges
vhatsoev8P9 including fees for correspon-
dence copses; ppovidea, howeveP, ttit th8
fOr8gOing 8XemptiOn shall not be COnStPU8a
to apply to deposita, such as llbrug, or
laboratopj deposits, vhlch nary be requlzed
in the nature of a security for the return
of or popes cape Of ppopepty loaned for
the US.3 Of StubentS, 19OP to WJ f8eS OP
ch&PgeS for loagkng, board OP clothing. The
gooe~nlna; boaras of eala institutions ry
and it shall bs theip duty te Prqulrb every
app~lcmt claim.% the benefit of the above
exemption to sub ii! t s8tfafactoPf evidence
that the applicant IS a o3tizen of Texas
ana Ii othe~wlse entitled to said exemption
D B 0
In Acts 1943, (48th Leg, ch, 337, p. 568) the
above Section vaS Pe8n@@t8a to cOntSaue in iat.ropoe
ana effect, subjeot only to the adaltiola or l nev eec -
tlon to be knovn as Sectlon 3O This sew S8CtiOm ooa-
cernlng the exemption of certain veterans Of woP&a %r
II from payment of tuition In State Sup$orted loptitt+
tlons of collegiate PaaL Peeas:
“Set, 30 All of the above ana fore-
going provliaions, conditfon5 u&d benefit8
hefelnabove in this &ticle peovlded fop
In Section S, e 9 m shm appiy.ana ~?CPU~
to the benefit of all nur+esp members of
the Women's &ry Auxllirpy Cgpps, WOUB'B
Boa. JJ.UIISS
C, Jones, page 3 (V-688)
Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency Service, and
all members of the United States armed
forces, regardless of whether members of
the United States Army or of the United
States Navy or the United States Coast
Guard, who have er are nov samlng, or who
may after the parsaga of thlia Act, S~PVB
In the arMd forces of the United States
of hwlca duNa~~ the present H0,rld W8r
Sumber II, beiag the war nov being press-
cuted, and vhlah vas entered into on or
ahmtiy mm Deeembbr 7, Wkl, IBY the
Wa ttaStr
d tes
0Ph a r iea
lgd.nat vhat are
aonomly known ao the Azlr Povsrr; wevld-
ed, furthw, that all the rbevo and io~e-
go- pe~aans nanod &re bean komo&l~
dfraharged srom the swv1oaa In laliok thy
vere engqed. kid, ,rerldod IU’tllcrr, tbBt
the benefits and peviriur~ef tlf8 Aat
shall also apply aad lmrr to the benefit
of the children of members of the &ilted
States Armed Ferces, vhare 8u& members
vepe killad IM aotle8 w dimd ihi la the
8ervlao0 The p~ovimioar of this Aat ah111
not rmly to oao Iralmdo a87 umba of such
thlted Statoe Aawad Fe~oos~ OF bth@r wr-
sons hereinabove Mmo&, vho ve~e PisCh&rg-
ed iron the sorvlce in Wah thourf w&e en-
gaged because of being WOP the age of
thlPty+lght (38) years or bec8uss af a
gcrsanal request on the part of such POP-
son te be discharged from suah service, o
s 0 (I
Aaethor mctiea, cedlfiad ~8 Sbotlaa 4 of the
mme Artlole vaa added by Acts 1945, 49th Legislature,
Ohrpter 338, page 552, and provides a8 follovsn
"Sec. 4, The exemption fram the pay-
ment of dues, fees, and charges as provld-
ed hereinabove In Section 1 and Sectfon 3
of this Article shall not apply to or ln-
elude honorably discharged nembers OP such
United States Apmed Forces, 0~ ether pcr-
sons hereinabove named, who are ellglble
for education or training benefits provid-
ed by the United States government under
public Lav go, 16, 78th Co rem, or mead-
meats thereto, or under Pub7 lc Lav So. 346,
:*.
w
Bon. James Co Jones, page 4 Qv-6881
78th Cong~esa, OP 8mndments thereto, OP
under any o%heln Fe&Pal legislation that
may be in foluas at the tlm of @eglstpatlon
in the college conospnsd OS irruohrx-servloe
nun 0~ voman. As to all ax-service men OP
vomon as dei’ined in this se&Son, the govsra-
lng boards of each o$ the sewral lartltu-
tions of collegiate rank9 euppopted in whole
or is par8 bj publlo Sunde a pPopriate& fpom
the’stats %easwy, are hrz=eg y authoplr;ed to
entry lute contracts with the United States
Government, or an7 of its agexnoies, to f~-
nlsh instruction to such ax-repvice men and
vomen at a tuition pate vhloh oove~~ the es-
timated cost of euch instructken oP, ln the
altepnatlve, at a tuition pate oi One Hun-
dred Ddllars ($lQQ,QO) a semester, a8 rsag be
detepmlned by the govermlng board of the ln-
stltution concerned; ppovlded, however, that
if suoh pates a8 herein specified lpe wohlbit-
sd by Federal law %OP an7 pr~tic~ulalr ola8e of
ox-se~vloe men OP wow& then, also in -&hat
event, the tultlon Pete ah811 be raaoh pate
aa may b@ agmed to b isaid govr~ialag beamIn,,
but IJB aay wont not 3 088 than the latabllrh-
ed rates fop oivilirn rtudents; pevidti fw-
hher th%t should the Fedma law pmvlde am
to mnr class of vetspans that euch tuitfon
payments ape to be deduoted fpom any sub-
sequent benefits which said setupan may be
hepeaftep entitled to receive, the educa-
tional Institution concerned is hereby auth-
orized and directed to Fefund to any vetsPan
who lm a resident of Texas within the taean-
Qng of thir Act the amount by whloh anf ad-
Qu.ated oorpensation payment is hersafteP
aatually ~cduead on account of tuitlaa pap-=
w&B made by the FadePal gOvePaADbZ& to 8!0h
sducatlonal fnstitution for sneh vetePan.
In Opfnion Non O-7316, a prloP admlnistP~tloa
of this of’fica had occasion to expz~ss it8 viewpl vith
respect to pertinent questions conoernlng the srMA.o~8
of Artiole 265&b-1 above quoted and Pub110 Laws 16 aad
346, 78th cOngPeS~~ We enclose a copy thereof for JWW
use and convenlenoe.
Among other matters, Opinion O-7316 advleod
that a veteran OS World Wap II, honorably dl8chaPged,
.
Hon. James C. Jones, page 5 (V-688)
eligible t0 SBCuP8 tralnirIg Or %dUi?atiOMl benO?tts Un-
der Public Law No. 346, 78th Congress, as amended, is not
entitled to the benefits conferred on veterans of World
War II under State statute, Artlo 265&b-l, as areended,
and is not exempt from payment of tuition in a Stat8 sup-
;r;dl;;stitution of higher learning under any existing
i!i That Opinign appli8.9 t0 VetSmXUS who 8r8 8li-
glble to ;8our8 "G. I. Bill educational benefits.
As to thOS8 veterans, however, who have 8x-
hauatsd the benefits to vhich they ver8 eligible under
the %. I." Bill, ve think they should nov b8 tr8ated
for purposes of the Stat8 exemption lav, Article 2654b-1
as amended, as are those other V8t8ran.S vho are not or
vere never entitled to benefits under th8 VG* 1." Bill.
/
The purpose of S8ctiOn 4 of Article 2654b-1 is
Clearly to allow the governing boards of eaah of the sev-
eral Institutions of aollegiate rank to realize tuition
payments Q?on the Government on those veterans entltled
to "0. I. Bill 8dUCational benefits. We find no fntencl-
ment in said Section 4, or other provision of Article
2654b-1, that the exeaptlon provided ther8in should go
Only to those V8t8raIM,,CitiZ8ns Of Texas, who V8rd en-
titledto no "0. I." Bill eclucatlonal bsnsflts.
we thiak Article 265423-l, as amended, is clear-
ly to the effsot that all veterans, cltleens of Texas, be-
Sigllat8d therein, are entitled to the ex8qtion provided
ther8in vher8 they are not, or where they are no longer,
entltle+to rlceive 88u8atlOMl benefits under the Bo-
called G. I. Bill. To oonstrue Article 2654b-1 to th8
8ff8Ct that only those veteran8 drsignated therein vho
may not realize the benefits afforded under the G. I,"
Bill or who never may have participated in the benefits
of that bill are entitled to exemption provided In the
State law would be to read Into said law provlsione vhich
simply are not contained therein, Accordingly, we ansver
your first question in the effirmatlve.
With respeot to our second question, a close
examination of Article 265 3:
b-l, as am8na8d, vi11 reveal
no provision thersln limiting the length of tlm8 during
which a veteran exempt und8r said law mar attend our
State institutiona of higher learning vlthout payment of
tu1t10n. Of course, he must ma& the saholastia rrquire-
ments and other rules and regulations applicable to ~11
students entering or desiring to continue eoucational
pursuits in said institutions. But having met those re-
..
. ^
Hon. James C, Jones, page 6 (V-688)
quirements, he may continue his education exempt from
the payment Of tuit-lon under Artiole 2654b-1, as amena-
ed, until such time as the Legislature may pass &ews fix-
ing a definite duration of time or limiting his rights.
SUlvlMARY
A veteran, citizen of Texas, who has
exhausted his eligibility foP eduCatiOnal
benefits under Public Laws 16 and 346, 78th
Congress, and amendments thereto, is eltgl-
bl8 for exemption from payment of tuition
in State institutions of higher learting as
provided in ArtYCle 2654b-1, V. C. S., as
amended.
Article 2654b-1, V. C. S., does not
limit the th
18 of time during uhiah a
veteran 81i 1 18 and designated thevein,
may attend Gtate institutions of higher
Tearnine vlthout payment of tuition.
Yours very truly,
ATTORtf#iYGl!iKBMLBP TEXAS
.