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Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Manual
Chapter 4: Certificate of Deafness for Tuition Waiver
Revised December 2013
4.1 Overview
A certificate of deafness for tuition waiver is a certificate provided to a person whose
sense of hearing is nonfunctional for tuition waiver at state-supported postsecondary
schools in Texas.
4.2 Eligibility
To be eligible for a Certificate of Deafness for Tuition Waiver, the applicant must
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
submit a completed DARS3900, Application for Certificate of Deafness for Tuition
Waiver,
be at least 17 years old at the time of application or, if younger than 17, provide
proof of being a high-school senior or having a high school diploma or equivalent,
and
establish proof of functional deafness in the sense that the applicant's sense of
hearing is nonfunctional, after all necessary medical treatment, surgery, and use
of hearing aids, for understanding normal conversation..
To establish proof of functional deafness, an applicant whose mode of communication
in the classroom is primarily visual must provide documentation verifying one of the
following:
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unaided average hearing loss in the better ear of 55 decibels (dB) or greater
using 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, as verified by a licensed audiologist or
licensed fitter and dispenser of hearing instruments;
aided average hearing loss in the better ear of 30 dB or greater using 500, 1000,
2000, and 4000 Hz, as verified by a licensed audiologist or licensed fitter and
dispenser of hearing instruments;
speech discrimination is less than 50 percent as verified by a licensed audiologist
or a licensed fitter and dispenser of hearing instruments; or
other disabling conditions (with or without hearing loss) that result in a person's
sense of hearing being nonfunctional as verified by a physician.
4.3 Duplicate Certificate of Deafness for Tuition Waiver
A certificate is kept for five years. An applicant may request a duplicate certificate when
needed (for example, a change to a different program of study, college, or university) by
contacting DHHS.
DHHS prints and mails a duplicate certificate with the same date of approval as that of
the original certificate.
After five years, a recipient must apply for a new certificate.
4.4 Name Change
To request a name change, an applicant
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submits the request, and
includes one of the following as proof of name change:
o marriage certificate,
o divorce decree, or
o legal name change document.
When DHHS receives the request and supporting document, DHHS prints and mails a
certificate with
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the new name, and
o
the same date of approval as that of the original certificate.