Judge decides on UH veterans tuition benefits

In a ruling that could add to Texas universities' financial challenges, a judge on Monday struck down a clause in a state law limiting veterans' tuition benefits to those who enlisted in the military while living in Texas.

U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. ordered the University of Houston not to exclude the plaintiff, Keith Harris, from benefits under the Texas Hazlewood Act solely because he enlisted in the Army while living outside Texas.

The Hazlewood Act provides tuition and fee exemptions from state public universities for military veterans, their spouses and their children. The clause in question limits the benefits to veterans who were Texas residents when they enlisted, but Ewing found that this provision violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"Texas may not discriminate against its more recent residents in favor of more established residents simply to control costs," Werlein wrote in his ruling, which cites three Supreme Court rulings against similar requirements in other states.

The ruling could have broad implications for Texas schools, which bear most of the costs of the benefit. Hazlewood cost universities $169 million in 2014 and is projected to reach $379.1 million by 2019, according to the Legislative Budget Board. About 39,000 students were covered by the Hazlewood Act in 2014, according to the budget board. That was up from 29,000 in 2012 and 36,000 in 2013.

The UH System paid $9.9 million under Hazlewood in 2014, according to a statement from the university.

"While Hazlewood provides great benefits to veterans, the economic implications of this decision are significant for the University and public state institutions in Texas," Dona Cornell, UH's vice president for legal affairs, said in a statement.

The leaders of the state's six public university systems want the state to foot the bill, which will likely grow after the ruling. Gov. Greg Abbott's higher education plan called for the state to assume these costs.

Sen. Jane Nelson, the chair of the Senate's finance committee, said the ruling will "obviously have an impact on our budget."

"We will be working to determine what exactly that is and how Texans can continue to best take care of our veterans," said Nelson, a Republican from Flower Mound.

The Legislature should also do away with the residency requirement this session, said John Sheppard, the attorney who represented Harris in the case.

"The message has just been delivered that the law on the books is unconstitutional and we need to treat all of our veterans equally," Sheppard said. "We need to bring the law in accordance with the Constitution."

Harris was born and grew up in Georgia and joined the U.S. Army at 18, according to the lawsuit. During his four years of service, he started taking college courses and continued his education after discharge under the federal GI Bill.

In November 2004, he and his family moved to Texas, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 2011 from the University of Houston-Downtown.

He enrolled in law school in August 2012. According to court documents, Harris had exhausted his education benefits under the GI Bill and was paying tuition and fees on his own. When he tried to apply for benefits under the Hazlewood Act, he found he was excluded.

Harris has not been charged tuition and fees this year as part of an agreement with UH after the lawsuit was filed, Sheppard said.

"He's very, very happy with the outcome," Sheppard said. "We think it's the right outcome, we think it's the right thing under the law. These are Texas veterans. Keith's been here 10 years."