1. (a) Authority. Authority for this section is provided in the Texas Education Code, §54.353.
2. (b) Participating Institutions. An institution of higher education, as defined in §13.1 of this chapter (relating to Definitions) shall provide an exemption to an eligible student for tuition and laboratory fees associated with eligible courses in accordance with this section. The exemption does not apply to security deposits for the return or proper care of property loaned to the student.

3. (c) Eligible Students. To be eligible for an exemption under this section, a student must:

   1. (1) be enrolled at a participating institution;

   2. (2) be either:

      1. (A) a paid firefighter employed by a political subdivision of the State of Texas; or

      2. (B) a volunteer firefighter who:

         1. (i) is currently, and has been for the past year, an active member of an organized volunteer fire department in this state that participates in the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System or a retirement system established under the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act (Article 6243e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); and

         2. (ii) holds one of the following credentials:

            1. (I) an Accredited Advanced level of certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas volunteer certification program; or
            2. (II) a Phase V (Firefighter II) certification, or an equivalent successor certification, under the Texas Commission on Fire Protection's voluntary certification program under Texas Government Code, §419.071;
   3. (3) meet applicable standards outlined in §22.3 of this title (relating to Student Compliance with Selective Service Registration); and
   4. (4) meet the satisfactory academic progress requirements described by §13.463 of this subchapter (relating to Satisfactory Academic Progress) unless granted a hardship waiver by the institution in accordance with §13.464 of this subchapter (relating to Hardship Provisions).
4. (d) Eligible Degree or Certificate Program. Each institution of higher education shall identify fire science degree or certificate programs offered by the institution and submit a list of the identified programs to the Coordinating Board. The Coordinating Board shall compile and publish a list of all institutions' identified programs on its website.

5. (e) Eligible Courses.

   1. (1) An exemption provided under this section applies only to courses pertaining to fire science degree or certificate programs published by the Coordinating Board in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.
   2. (2) An institution shall not apply an exemption to courses that make up the general education core curriculum required for all degrees unless such courses are identified by the institution as being part of the fire science curriculum.

6. (f) Exception. Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, an exemption applied under this section does not apply to any amount of tuition the institution:

   1. (1) elects to charge a resident undergraduate student under Texas Education Code, §54.014(a) or (f); or
   2. (2) charges a graduate student in excess of the amount of tuition charged to similarly situated graduate students because the student has a number of semester credit hours of doctoral work in excess of the applicable number provided by Texas Education Code, §61.059(l)(1) or (2).

Source Note:The provisions of this §13.469 adopted to be effective November 13, 2025, 50 TexReg 7253.