SEC. 5. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE AL-
LOWANCE. 
Subpart 2 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10301 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1219. COMPUTATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 
ALLOWANCE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) MONTHLY RATES.—The financial assist-
ance on behalf of an eligible person who is pursuing 
a program of education consisting of institutional 
courses shall be paid at the monthly rate of $2,000 
for full-time, $1,600 for three-quarter-time, or 
$1,160 for half-time pursuit. 
‘‘(2) LESS
THAN
HALF-TIME
BASIS.—The fi-
nancial assistance on behalf of an eligible person 
pursuing a program of education on less than a half- 
time basis shall be paid at the rate of the lesser of— 
‘‘(A) the established charges for tuition 
and fees that the educational institution in-
volved requires similarly circumstanced non-
eligible persons enrolled in the same program to 
pay; or 
‘‘(B) $788 per month for a full-time 
course. 
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‘‘(b) TRAINING.—The financial assistance to be paid 
on behalf of an eligible person who is pursuing a full-time 
program of education which consists of institutional 
courses and alternate phases of training in a business or 
industrial establishment with the training in the business 
or industrial establishment being strictly supplemental to 
the institutional portion, shall be computed at the rate of 
$2,000 per month. 
‘‘(c) FARM COOPERATIVE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible person who is 
enrolled in an educational institution for a ‘farm co-
operative’ program consisting of institutional agri-
cultural courses prescheduled to fall within 44 weeks 
of any period of 12 consecutive months and who 
pursues such program on— 
‘‘(A) a full-time basis (a minimum of 10 
clock hours per week or 440 clock hours in such 
year prescheduled to provide not less than 80 
clock hours in any three-month period); 
‘‘(B) a three-quarter-time basis (a min-
imum of seven clock hours per week); or 
‘‘(C) a half-time basis (a minimum of five 
clock hours per week), 
shall be eligible to receive financial assistance at the 
appropriate rate provided in paragraph (2) of this 
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subsection, if such eligible person is concurrently en-
gaged in agricultural employment which is relevant 
to such institutional agricultural courses as deter-
mined under standards prescribed by the Attorney 
General. In computing the foregoing clock hour re-
quirements there shall be included the time involved 
in field trips and individual and group instruction 
sponsored and conducted by the educational institu-
tion through a duly authorized instructor of such in-
stitution in which the person is enrolled. 
‘‘(2) MONTHLY AMOUNTS.—The monthly finan-
cial assistance to be paid on behalf of an eligible 
person pursuing a farm cooperative program under 
this subpart shall be $636 for full-time, $477 for 
three-quarter-time, or $319 for half-time pursuit. 
‘‘(d) PROGRAMS IN REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES.—If 
a program of education is pursued by an eligible person 
at an institution located in the Republic of the Philippines, 
the financial assistance computed for such person under 
this section shall be paid at the rate of $0.50 for each 
dollar. 
‘‘(e) LICENSING OR CERTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 
the amount of financial assistance payable under 
this subpart for a licensing or certification test de-
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scribed in section 3501(a)(5) of title 38, United 
States Code, is the lesser of $2,000 or the fee 
charged for the test. 
‘‘(2) NUMBER
OF
MONTHS.—The number of 
months of entitlement charged in the case of any in-
dividual for such licensing or certification test is 
equal to the number (including any fraction) deter-
mined by dividing the total amount paid to such in-
dividual for such test by the full-time monthly insti-
tutional rate of the financial assistance which, except 
for paragraph (1), such individual would otherwise 
be paid under this subpart. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—In no event shall payment 
of financial assistance under this subsection for such 
a test exceed the amount of the individual’s available 
entitlement under this subpart. 
‘‘(f) NATIONAL TESTS FOR ADMISSION.— 
‘‘(1) NATIONAL TEST FOR ADMISSION.—Subject 
to paragraph (3), the amount of financial assistance 
payable under this subpart for a national test for 
admission or national test providing an opportunity 
for course credit at institutions of higher learning 
described in section 3501(a)(5) of title 38, United 
States Code, is the amount of the fee charged for 
the test. 
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‘‘(2) NUMBER
OF
MONTHS.—The number of 
months of entitlement charged in the case of any in-
dividual for a test described in paragraph (1) is 
equal to the number (including any fraction) deter-
mined by dividing the total amount of financial as-
sistance paid such individual for such test by the 
full-time monthly institutional rate of financial as-
sistance, except for paragraph (1), such individual 
would otherwise be paid under this subpart. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—In no event shall payment 
of financial assistance under this subsection for a 
test described in paragraph (1) exceed the amount 
of the individual’s available entitlement under this 
subpart. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—Terms used in this section have 
the meanings given such terms in section 3501 of title 38, 
United States Code. 
‘‘(h) 
ADJUSTMENT
FOR
INFLATION.—Amounts 
under this section shall be indexed annually to the college 
tuition and fees component of the Consumer Price Index 
for All Urban Consumers.’’. 
SEC. 6. GAO STUDY. 
The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
study and identify ways to improve access to and the proc-
essing of claims under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit 
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program (34 U.S.C. §§ 10281–10308). In particular, the 
Comptroller General shall examine: 
(1) factors that may hinder access to the Public 
Safety Officers’ Education Assistance benefit, such 
as lack of awareness, delays in the application proc-
ess, or the timely processing of deaths and disability 
claims; and 
(2) the extent to which eligibility is commu-
nicated to officers upon employment and to eligible 
family members following the loss of a covered offi-
cer. 
Within 3 years of the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General shall issue a report, along with any 
recommendations, to the Senate Committee on the Judici-
ary; House Judiciary Committee; Senate Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and House Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce. 
Æ 
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