Education; creating the Oklahoma Veterans Higher Education Access Act; providing certain waivers; providing for calculation of waiver amounts. Effective date. Emergency.
SB 1336 creates the Oklahoma Veterans Higher Education Access Act and establishes a state tuition-waiver program for certain Oklahoma veterans with service-connected disabilities. The bill defines an eligible veteran as an Oklahoma resident who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, received an honorable or general discharge under honorable conditions, and has a service-connected disability rating of at least 60 percent from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Armed Forces.
Under the bill, eligible veterans could receive partial or full waivers of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at institutions within the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, or tuition at technology center schools. The waiver percentage increases with the veteran’s disability rating: 50 percent at 60 percent disability, 75 percent at 70 percent, 80 percent at 80 percent, 90 percent at 90 percent or total disability based on individual unemployability, and 100 percent at 100 percent disability or permanent and total disability. The waiver is limited to undergraduate coursework up to 150 credit hours or up to three years at a technology center school, and it cannot be used for remedial, noncredit, excess coursework, textbooks, room, or board.
The bill requires veterans to exhaust available federal education benefits before using the state waiver. It also directs the Legislature, subject to available funding, to annually provide the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and the State Board of Career and Technology Education an amount equal to the waivers granted, and it requires those agencies to adopt rules for applications, deadlines, and verification of disability ratings. The bill is set to take effect July 1, 2026, and includes an emergency clause for immediate effectiveness upon passage and approval.
The available context shows the bill was referred to the Senate Education Committee, but no committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment in the supplied materials. Based on the bill text, the measure appears broadly supportive of veterans’ educational access and financial relief, with the main policy emphasis on targeting benefits to veterans with significant service-connected disabilities and coordinating state aid with federal benefits.
Any likely points of contention would center on the fiscal impact to the state, the requirement that the Legislature fund the waivers annually only subject to availability, and the administrative burden of verifying disability ratings and coordinating benefits across higher education and career technology systems. Another possible issue is whether the waiver structure is sufficiently generous or whether the credit-hour and program limits are too restrictive for some veterans.
The bill would add a new section to Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes creating a state tuition-waiver program for qualifying disabled veterans at public higher education institutions and technology center schools. It would require the State Regents and the State Board of Career and Technology Education to adopt implementing rules, and it would create an ongoing state funding obligation tied to the amount of waivers granted, subject to available appropriations. The measure would directly affect veterans, public colleges and universities, technology centers, and the state agencies responsible for administering education benefits.
No votes or committee testimony were provided, so there is no recorded legislative sentiment in the supplied context. The bill’s structure suggests a generally favorable posture toward veterans’ education benefits, with the policy goal of expanding access to postsecondary and career training for disabled veterans. At the same time, the inclusion of funding limits, benefit exhaustion requirements, and administrative verification procedures indicates attention to cost control and program administration.
The most likely areas of debate are fiscal and administrative. Supporters would likely emphasize the bill’s educational support for disabled veterans, while critics may question the cost of annual state reimbursement for waivers, especially because the bill ties funding to the amount of waivers granted and only “subject to the availability of funding.” There may also be concern about the need to verify disability ratings, coordinate with federal benefits first, and manage differing waiver percentages across institutions and program types. The credit-hour cap, exclusion of textbooks and housing, and limits on technology center use could also draw discussion from those seeking broader veteran assistance.