FACILITATION OF TRANSITION TO INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

(a) In this section, "community resource coordination group" means a coordination group established under a memorandum of understanding under Subchapter D, Chapter 522, Government Code. (b) A department employee who is a member of a community resource coordination group shall inform the group about the tuition and fee waivers for institutions of higher education that are available to eligible children in foster care under Section 54.366, Education Code. (c) Each school district, in coordination with the department, shall facilitate the transition of each child enrolled in the district who is eligible for a tuition and fee waiver under Section 54.366, Education Code, and who is likely to be in the conservatorship of the department on the day preceding the child's 18th birthday to an institution of higher education by: (1) assisting the child with the completion of any applications for admission or for financial aid; (2) arranging and accompanying the child on campus visits; (3) assisting the child in researching and applying for private or institution-sponsored scholarships; (4) identifying whether the child is a candidate for appointment to a military academy; (5) assisting the child in registering and preparing for college entrance examinations, including, subject to the availability of funds, arranging for the payment of any examination fees by the department; and (6) coordinating contact between the child and a liaison officer designated under Section 61.0908, Education Code, for students who were formerly in the department's conservatorship.