I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6521 

To authorize a Law Enforcement Education Grant program to encourage 

students to pursue a career in law enforcement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2023 

Mrs. FISCHBACH (for herself, Mr. STAUBER, and Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To authorize a Law Enforcement Education Grant program 

to encourage students to pursue a career in law enforcement. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Law Enforcement 

5 Education Grant Program Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 Part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

9 at the end of subpart 7 the following new subpart: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 8—Law Enforcement Education Grants 

2 ‘‘SEC. 420. LAW ENFORCEMENT EDUCATION GRANT PRO3 GRAM ESTABLISHED. 

4 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS REQUIRED.—The Secretary is 

6 authorized to carry out a Law Enforcement Edu7 cation Grants program to pay to each law enforce8 ment candidate who is selected by the Secretary, on 

9 a competitive basis, to participate in such program, 

10 a Law Enforcement Education Grant in the amount 

11 of $4,000 for each year during which that candidate 

12 is eligible. 

13 ‘‘(2) REFERENCES.—Grants made under para14 graph (1) shall be known as ‘Law Enforcement Edu15 cation Grants’. 

16 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—Of the amounts otherwise au17 thorized to be appropriated to carry out this title, 

18 such sums as may be necessary are authorized to be 

19 made available to carry out this subpart, except 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(A) none of the sums made available to 

22 carry out this subpart may be derived from 

23 amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry 

24 out the Federal Pell Grants program under sec25 tion 401 or the Federal Direct Loan Program 

26 under part D; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to the extent that insufficient 

2 amounts are made available in any fiscal year 

3 to carry out all programs authorized under this 

4 title, the Secretary shall give priority to fully 

5 funding the program under this subpart. 

6 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS TO LAW ENFORCE7 MENT CANDIDATES.—Payments under this subpart shall 

8 be made, in accordance with regulations promulgated by 

9 the Secretary for such purpose, in such manner as will 

10 best accomplish the purposes of this subpart. 

11 ‘‘(c) REDUCTIONS IN AMOUNT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) PART-TIME STUDENTS.—In any case 

13 where a law enforcement candidate attends an eligi14 ble institution on less than a full-time basis (includ15 ing a law enforcement candidate who attends an eli16 gible institution on less than a half-time basis) dur17 ing any year, the amount of a grant under this sub18 part for which that law enforcement candidate is eli19 gible shall be reduced in proportion to the degree to 

20 which that law enforcement candidate is not attend21 ing on a full-time basis, in accordance with a sched22 ule of reductions established by the Secretary for the 

23 purposes of this subpart, computed in accordance 

24 with this subpart. Such schedule of reductions shall 

25 be established by regulation and published in the 


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1 Federal Register in accordance with section 482 of 

2 this Act. 

3 ‘‘(2) NO EXCEEDING COST.—The amount of a 

4 grant awarded under this subpart, in combination 

5 with Federal student assistance and other student 

6 assistance the law enforcement candidate may re7 ceive, shall not exceed the cost of attendance (as de8 fined in section 472) at the eligible institution at 

9 which that law enforcement candidate is in attend10 ance. 

11 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The period during which a 

13 student may receive grants under this subpart shall 

14 be the period required for the completion of the first 

15 associate or baccalaureate course of study related to 

16 law enforcement or criminal justice being pursued by 

17 the law enforcement candidate at the eligible institu18 tion at which the law enforcement candidate is in at19 tendance, except that— 

20 ‘‘(A) any period during which the law en21 forcement candidate is enrolled in a noncredit 

22 or remedial course of study as described in 

23 paragraph (2) shall not be counted for the pur24 pose of this paragraph; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the total amount that a law enforce2 ment candidate may receive under this subpart 

3 shall not exceed $16,000. 

4 ‘‘(2) REMEDIAL COURSE.—Nothing in this sub5 part shall be construed to exclude from eligibility 

6 courses of study which are noncredit or remedial in 

7 nature (including courses in English language acqui8 sition) which are determined by the eligible institu9 tion to be necessary to help the law enforcement 

10 candidate be prepared for the pursuit of a first asso11 ciate or baccalaureate degree or, in the case of 

12 courses in English language instruction, to be nec13 essary to enable the law enforcement candidate to 

14 utilize already existing knowledge, training, or skills. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 421. APPLICATIONS; ELIGIBILITY; SELECTION. 

16 ‘‘(a) APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall periodi17 cally set dates by which students shall file applications to 

18 complete for grants under this subpart. Each student de19 siring to compete for a grant under this subpart for any 

20 year shall file an application containing such information 

21 and assurances as the Secretary may determine necessary 

22 to enable the Secretary to carry out the functions and re23 sponsibilities of this subpart. 

24 ‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION OF GRANT ELIGIBILITY.— 

25 Each application submitted under subsection (a) shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Dec 07, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6521.IH H6521

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1 tain such information as is necessary to demonstrate that 

2 the applicant is a student who— 

3 ‘‘(1) is enrolled at an eligible institution; 

4 ‘‘(2) is an eligible student for purposes of sec5 tion 484; 

6 ‘‘(3) is completing coursework and other re7 quirements necessary to begin a career in law en8 forcement or criminal justice, or plans to complete 

9 such coursework and requirements prior to grad10 uating; and 

11 ‘‘(4) has not obtained an associate or bacca12 laureate degree related to law enforcement or crimi13 nal justice before receiving a Law Enforcement Edu14 cation grant. 

15 ‘‘(c) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall award grants 

16 under this subpart competitively on the basis of criteria 

17 determined by the Secretary by regulation. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 422. AGREEMENTS TO SERVE. 

19 ‘‘(a) SERVICE AGREEMENTS.—Each application 

20 under section 421(a) shall contain or be accompanied by 

21 an agreement by the applicant that— 

22 ‘‘(1) if selected to be a law enforcement can23 didate, the applicant will— 

24 ‘‘(A) serve as a full-time law enforcement 

25 officer for a total of not less than 4 years withVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Dec 07, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6521.IH H6521

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1 in 8 years after completing the course of study 

2 for which the candidate received a Law En3 forcement Education Grant under this subpart; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) submit evidence of such employment 

6 in the form of a certification by the chief officer 

7 of the law enforcement agency or department 

8 employing the candidate upon completion of 

9 each year of such service; 

10 ‘‘(2) in the event that a law enforcement can11 didate is determined to have failed or refused to 

12 carry out such service obligation, the sum of the 

13 amounts of any Law Enforcement Education Grants 

14 received by such candidate will be treated as a loan 

15 and collected from the candidate in accordance with 

16 subsection (b) and the regulations thereunder; and 

17 ‘‘(3) contains, or is accompanied by, a plain18 language disclosure form developed by the Secretary 

19 that clearly describes the nature of the Law En20 forcement Education Grant award, the service obli21 gation, and the loan repayment requirements that 

22 are the consequence of the failure to complete the 

23 service obligation. 

24 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLETE

25 SERVICE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event that law en2 forcement candidate fails or refuses to comply with 

3 the service obligation in the agreement under sub4 section (a), the sum of the amounts of any Law En5 forcement Education Grants received by such can6 didate shall, upon a determination of such a failure 

7 or refusal in such service obligation, be treated as a 

8 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under 

9 part D of this title, and shall be subject to repay10 ment, together with interest thereon accruing from 

11 the date the grant is converted to such a Loan, in 

12 accordance with terms and conditions specified by 

13 the Secretary in regulations under this subpart. 

14 ‘‘(2) EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 

15 Secretary shall establish, by regulation, categories of 

16 extenuating circumstances under which a law en17 forcement candidate who is unable to fulfill all or 

18 part of the candidate’s service obligation may be ex19 cused from fulfilling that portion of the service obli20 gation. Such categories shall ensure that a law en21 forcement candidate who is hired and serves as a 

22 full-time law enforcement officer but is unable to ful23 fill part of the candidate’s service obligation due to 

24 medical discharge by a law enforcement agency or 

25 department because of a medical issue resulting 


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1 from service as a law enforcement officer shall be ex2 cused from fulfilling the remaining portion of the 

3 service obligation. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 423. DEFINITIONS. 

5 ‘‘For the purposes of this subpart: 

6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi7 ble institution’ means an institution of higher edu8 cation, as defined in section 102, that— 

9 ‘‘(A) provides an associate or baccalaureate 

10 degree in a field related to law enforcement or 

11 criminal justice; and 

12 ‘‘(B) has been approved by the Police Offi13 cer Standard and Training Board of the State 

14 in which the institution is located or related 

15 State agency. 

16 ‘‘(2) LAW ENFORCEMENT CANDIDATE.—The 

17 term ‘law enforcement candidate’ means an indi18 vidual who is selected by the Secretary to receive a 

19 Law Enforcement Education Grant under this sub20 part. 

21 ‘‘(3) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 

22 ‘law enforcement officer’ means any officer, agent, 

23 or employee of a State, unit of local government, of 

24 Indian tribe who is authorized to supervise the preVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Dec 07, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6521.IH H6521

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1 vention, detection, or investigation of any violation 

2 of criminal law.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY PRO4 GRAMS. 

5 Part U of title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161u) is repealed. 

Æ 


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