Texas State’s faculty-led study abroad programs are a popular choice for students, but for many, the cost is prohibitive. These programs, which can cost up to $6,300, include about $1,845 in tuition fees — an expense many students cannot afford without additional financial aid.
While the Hazlewood Act provides educational benefits for eligible Texas veterans, it cannot be applied to study abroad programs.
The Hazlewood Act is a benefit program available to veterans in Texas who have served at least 181 days of active duty and were Texas residents when they enlisted. Before veterans can use their Hazlewood benefits, they must first exhaust any other educational benefits they are eligible for.
The Hazlewood Act can also be passed onto a veteran’s child or spouse, making it an incredibly useful tool for veterans and their families. However, this benefit cannot be applied to study abroad programs at Texas State.
Study abroad programs can have great impacts on a student’s success in their future endeavors. According to a national study done by IES Abroad, a not-for-profit internship provider, 50% of alumni felt a study abroad program helped them get their first job out of school.
Not only do study abroad programs look great on resumes, they also provide real-life experiences difficult to find elsewhere. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad wrote, “Disciplinary learning in another cultural context can correct culturally ingrained research biases. Students gain knowledge difficult to capture without the cultural exposure provided by the experience abroad, which informs their work with nuances of first-hand research, moving it beyond the intellectual.”
Learning how to navigate others’ opinions, lifestyles and cultures is a crucial part of joining the professional workforce. This is an opportunity missed by too many students who do not have the means to spend over $6,000 for a semester abroad.
John Connors, a construction science and management freshman and a dependent of a U.S. veteran, is one of those students. Connors said while he would love to study abroad, his family’s financial situation makes that impossible without the help of the Hazlewood Act.
“I would absolutely consider studying abroad if Hazlewood covered the cost of tuition,” Connors said. “Coming from a family without much disposable income, I’ll never have that opportunity otherwise. If Hazlewood covered a portion of the cost that would certainly allow me to be able to explore that possibility.”
The Hazlewood Act provides 150 credit hours to either a veteran or a dependent of that veteran, to be used at any public Texas institution. Because of these benefits, it does not make sense that the Hazlewood Act does not translate to study abroad programs.
Texas State offers numerous types of aid for study abroad programs, including scholarships, grants and opportunities for tuition waived entirely. These recourses are available to any student who applies, making education abroad possible. Depending on how much aid a student is eligible for, students are only required to pay $200 upfront, as an application fee. If that student is accepted, that fee is applied to the total cost of the program.
According to Texas State’s undergraduate website, the average cost for a 12-hour semester is more than $3,000, while tuition for a study abroad program is less than $2,000. Since the study abroad courses are still part of a public Texas institution, it seems logical to allow Hazlewood benefits to apply to these programs as well.
While the Hazlewood Act is a significant privilege, expanding its flexibility to cover study abroad tuition would open new educational opportunities for students who rely on this aid. It would allow them to gain invaluable global experience that they might otherwise miss.
–Emma Bean is a public relations junior
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Texas Veterans Commission • Dec 9, 2024 at 7:55 am
You may already know that Hazlewood typically covers the standard tuition and fees for study abroad programs. However, it won’t cover additional study abroad-specific tuition or fees.
It’s also important to note that eligibility depends on whether the program is institution-sponsored, meaning the tuition and fees are paid directly to the home institution. Some study abroad programs require tuition and fees to be paid to the host institution, which may affect Hazlewood coverage.