EXEMPTIONS FOR STUDENTS UNDER CONSERVATORSHIP OF DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES.

(a) A student is exempt from the payment of tuition and fees authorized in this chapter, including tuition and fees charged by an institution of higher education for a dual credit course or other course for which a high school student may earn joint high school and college credit, if the student:

(1) was under the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services:

(A) on the day preceding the student's 18th birthday;

(B) on or after the day of the student's 14th birthday, if the student was also eligible for adoption on or after that day;

(C) on the day the student graduated from high school or received the equivalent of a high school diploma;

(D) on the day preceding:

(i) the date the student is adopted, if that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or

(ii) the date permanent managing conservatorship of the student is awarded to a person other than the student's parent, if that date is on or after September 1, 2009; or

(E) during an academic term in which the student was enrolled in a dual credit course or other course for which a high school student may earn joint high school and college credit; and

(2) enrolls in an institution of higher education as an undergraduate student or in a dual credit course or other course for which a high school student may earn joint high school and college credit not later than the student's 27th birthday.

(b) The Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall develop outreach programs to ensure that students in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services and in grades 9-12 are aware of the availability of the exemption from the payment of tuition and fees provided by this section.

(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), a child who exits the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services and is returned to the child's parent, including a parent whose parental rights were previously terminated, may be exempt from the payment of tuition and fees if the department determines that the child is eligible under department rule. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall by rule develop factors for determining eligibility under this subsection in consultation with the department and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.