PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (Sept. 15, 2026) — Prairie View A&M University will receive about $2.6 million for the 2026-27 academic year through a new initiative from The Texas A&M University System that will help universities cover the unreimbursed cost of serving Texas veterans under the Hazlewood Act.
The funding will help offset the tuition and mandatory fee revenue Prairie View A&M forgoes when eligible veterans receive Hazlewood benefits. This support will allow the University to direct additional resources toward instruction, student services and other priorities that benefit all students.
“Texas made a promise to the men and women who wore our nation’s uniform, and we intend to keep it,” said Robert L. Albritton, chairman of the A&M System’s board of regents. “But keeping that promise should not weaken the universities that serve so many veterans and military families. This initiative gives those campuses meaningful relief while protecting the education of every student who walks through their doors.”
“Our veterans have already made an extraordinary investment in this country. When they pursue a degree at Prairie View A&M, our responsibility is to ensure that the benefits they have earned translate into genuine educational opportunity and a clear path toward their goals,” said Prairie View A&M University President Tomikia P. LeGrande. “The A&M System’s investment helps us fulfill that responsibility while keeping University resources focused on the quality of instruction, support and experiences our students receive. Every dollar we can preserve for our academic mission is a dollar we can invest where it has the greatest return—in the education and success of our students.”
The Hazlewood Act provides qualifying Texas veterans with up to 150 semester credit hours of tuition exemption, including most mandatory fees, at public colleges and universities. Eligible veterans may transfer unused hours to a qualifying child through the Hazlewood Legacy program. Benefits are also available to certain spouses and dependent children of veterans who are disabled, missing or killed as a result of military service.
Based on fiscal 2025 data, state funding reimbursed about 67% of the cost of exemptions transferred to children through the Legacy program. Exemptions used directly by veterans are currently not reimbursed, leaving public universities to absorb those costs.
The board authorized up to $30 million annually for three years for the Hazlewood Veteran Initiative. Funding for the systemwide initiative will come from the Available University Fund. The $2.6 million allocation to Prairie View A&M applies only to the initiative’s first year. Allocations for the second and third years will be determined separately in those years.
The initiative does not change Hazlewood eligibility or benefits. It provides institutional support so that universities can continue to serve eligible veterans without shifting the unreimbursed costs to other campus priorities.
-PVAMU-