Public Safety Officers Memorial Scholarship Act

Summary: Public Safety Officers Memorial Scholarship Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award scholarships to surviving spouses and dependent children of State or local public safety officers who are killed in performance of their official duties.  Provides that such scholarships may be for public or private kindergarten, or elementary or secondary school, or for an institution of higher education.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Officers Memorial 
Scholarship Act''.

SEC. 2. SCHOLARSHIPS AUTHORIZED.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Scholarship awards.--The Secretary is authorized to 
        award a scholarship to--
                    (A) any eligible applicant who is attending, or who 
                has been accepted for attendance at, any eligible 
                institution providing instruction for one or more of 
                grades kindergarten through 12; or
                    (B) any eligible applicant who is enrolled, or has 
                been accepted for enrollment, in an eligible 
                institution as a full-time or part-time postsecondary 
                level student.
            (2) Application.--To receive a scholarship award under this 
        Act, each eligible applicant shall submit an application to the 
        Secretary in such time and manner as may be determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary, accompanied by a certification 
        from the head of the agency that employed the public safety 
        officer to whom the applicant was married (in the case of a 
        surviving spouse), or with whom the applicant was living or 
        from whom the applicant was receiving support contributions (in 
        the case of a dependent child), stating that such officer died 
        as a result of the performance of the officer's official 
        duties.
    (b) Maximum Award.--
            (1) Elementary and secondary awards.--For any academic 
        year, the maximum amount of a scholarship award under this 
        section for a kindergarten or elementary or secondary school 
        student may equal, but not exceed, the lesser of the following:
                    (A) The average per pupil expenditure for 
                elementary and secondary education of the local 
                educational agency for the geographic area in which the 
                eligible applicant resides.
                    (B) The actual cost to the student for attendance 
                at the school, including expenses such as tuition, 
                fees, books, transportation costs, and other related 
                expenses determined by the Secretary.
            (2) Postsecondary awards.--For any academic year, the 
        maximum amount of a scholarship award under this section for a 
        postsecondary student may equal, but not exceed, the lesser of 
        the following:
                    (A) The average cost of attendance (as defined in 
                section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965), at a 
                State university in the State in which the student 
                resides, for a State resident carrying the same 
                academic workload as the student, with the same number 
                of dependents as the student, and residing in the same 
                type of housing as the student.
                    (B) The actual cost of attendance (as defined in 
                section 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) of 
                such student.
    (c) Award Period.--The duration of each award under this Act--
            (1) for a kindergarten or elementary or secondary school 
        student, shall be the period of time normally required for the 
        completion of a high school diploma by a student in the grade 
        that the recipient is in at the time the award commences; and
            (2) for a postsecondary student, shall be the lesser of--
                    (A) the time actually required by the student to 
                complete a course of study and obtain a diploma; and
                    (B) 6 years in the case of a student engaged in 
                undergraduate studies and 3 years in the case of a 
                student engaged in postgraduate studies.
    (d) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify the recipient and the 
eligible institution of the applicant's selection for receipt of an 
award under this Act, the conditions pertaining to award eligibility 
and continuance.
    (e) Fiscal Agent.--The Secretary shall, if practicable, use the 
eligible institution as fiscal agent for payment of an award.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AWARD REQUIREMENTS.

    A student awarded a scholarship grant under this Act, as a 
condition for initial receipt of such award and periodically thereafter 
as a condition for its continuation, shall demonstrate to the 
satisfaction of the Secretary that the student is--
            (1) maintaining satisfactory progress in the course of 
        study the student is pursuing--
                    (A) in the case of a kindergarten or elementary or 
                secondary school student, as determined by the 
                Secretary; and
                    (B) in the case of a postsecondary student, 
                consistent with section 484(c) of the Higher Education 
                Act of 1965;
            (2) committed to remaining drug-free; and
            (3) attending class on a regular basis as to not interfere 
        with normal course of studies except for excused absence for 
        vacation, illness, military service and such other periods 
        deemed good cause by the eligible institution or the Secretary.

SEC. 4. AGREEMENTS WITH ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary is authorized to enter 
into agreements with eligible institutions in which any student 
receiving a scholarship award under this Act has enrolled or has been 
accepted for enrollment. Each such agreement shall--
            (1) provide that an eligible institution will cooperate 
        with the Secretary in carrying out the provisions of this Act, 
        including the provision of information necessary for a student 
        to satisfy the requirements in section 3;
            (2) provide that the institution will conduct a periodic 
        review to determine whether students enrolled and receiving 
        scholarship awards continue to be entitled to payments under 
        this Act and will notify the Secretary of the results of such 
        reviews; and
            (3) provide for control and accounting procedures as may be 
        necessary to assure proper disbursements and accounting of 
        funds paid under to the institution under section 2(e).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Dependent child.--The term ``dependent child'' means a 
        child who is either living with or receiving regular support 
        contributions from a public safety officer at the time of the 
        officer's death, including a stepchild or an adopted child.
            (2) Eligible applicant.--The term ``eligible applicant'' 
        means a person residing in a State who is--
                    (A) a surviving spouse; or
                    (B) a dependent child.
            (3) Eligible institution.--The term ``eligible 
        institution'' means a public or private kindergarten or 
        elementary or secondary school, or any institution defined in 
        section 435(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, if the 
        kindergarten, school, or institution--
                    (A) is located in a State; and
                    (B) complies with the antidiscrimination provisions 
                of section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and does 
                not discriminate on the basis of race.
            (4) Public safety officer.--The term ``public safety 
        officer'' means a person serving a public agency of a State or 
        of a unit of general local government, with or without 
        compensation, as--
                    (A) a law enforcement officer, including a 
                corrections or a court officer engaged in--
                            (i) apprehending or attempting to apprehend 
                        of any person--
                                    (I) for the commission of a 
                                criminal act; or
                                    (II) who at the time was sought as 
                                a material witness in a criminal 
                                proceeding; or
                            (ii) protecting or guarding a person held 
                        for the commission of a criminal act, or held 
                        as a material witness in connection with a 
                        criminal act; or
                            (iii) lawfully preventing of, or lawfully 
                        attempting to prevent the commission of, a 
                        criminal act or an apparent criminal act in the 
                        performance of his official duty; or
                    (B) a firefighter.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United 
        States.
            (7) Surviving spouse.--The term ``surviving spouse'' means 
        the legally married husband or wife of a public safety officer 
        at the time of the officer's death.
            (8) Unit of general local government.--The term ``unit of 
        general local government'' means any city, county, township, 
        town, borough, parish, village, or any other general purpose 
        subdivision of a State, or any Indian tribe which the Secretary 
        of the Interior determines performs law enforcement functions.