Texas officials have revised state rules that had prevented some immigrant veterans from receiving free tuition at state colleges and universities. The decision, by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, “opens up the doors for hundreds of persons who otherwise would be excluded just because of their national origin,” David Hinojosa, a staff lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, was quoted as saying in an Associated Press report.

Mr. Hinojosa’s group sued the coordinating board in June on behalf of veterans who had been excluded from benefits contained in the Texas Hazlewood Act. That law exempted veterans who were U.S. citizens and residents of Texas at the time they entered the military from paying tuition and some fees at state colleges, but denied those benefits to veterans who were not citizens, even though they were legal permanent residents when they entered the military.

In a response to a recent court filing in the case, the Texas attorney general’s office revised its opinion on the issue on Monday, and said the citizenship requirement should not be included in the Hazlewood Act. The Higher Education Coordinating Board adopted temporary rules today to put that interpretation into effect. —Charles Huckabee