Alabama Administrative Code › Title 300 - ALABAMA COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION › Chapter 300-4-7 - POLICE OFFICER'S AND FIREFIGHTER'S SURVIVOR'S EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM › Section 300-4-7-.04 - Definition Of Terms

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1)
			 Academic Qualifications and Satisfactory Progress of Eligible Students: A
			 student is considered academically qualified if he/she is currently enrolled
			 and matriculated, or has been enrolled in an eligible program of an eligible
			 institution, and is maintaining, or did maintain, satisfactory progress in a
			 course of study he or she is or was pursuing according to the standards and
			 practices of the institution in which the student is or was in attendance. A
			 participating institution must check whatever elements of its satisfactory
			 progress standards are applicable for each payment period.
(2) Board: Tuition Eligibility
			 Board.
(3) Educational Grant: A
			 grant is defined as a financial award by the state of Alabama to a Police
			 Officer's and Firefighter's Survivor's Educational Assistance Program applicant
			 who is designated to be an eligible student who was enrolled in, or is enrolled
			 in, or accepted for enrollment, in an eligible institution, and is to be
			 awarded to the student to defray direct educational-related expenses: tuition,
			 and mandatory fees as stated in the institution's catalog, plus the cost of
			 books and supplies.
(4) Cost of
			 Education: The cost of education is defined as the cost of instruction and fees
			 to the student, as stated in the institution's catalog, plus the cost of books
			 and supplies.
(5) Eligible
			 Institution: An eligible institution is a public postsecondary educational
			 institution -- a state college, state community college, state junior college,
			 state technical college, or state university -- in the state of Alabama and
			 which submits a complete application to the Police Officer's and Firefighter's
			 Survivor's Educational Assistance Program for grant assistance to its students
			 and complies with all regulations of the Alabama Commission on Higher
			 Education.
(6) Eligible Program: An
			 eligible program is any program leading to a diploma, certificate, or
			 undergraduate degree in a state college, state community college, state junior
			 college, state technical college, or state university, in the State of
			 Alabama.
(7) Eligible Student: An
			 eligible student is an applicant who completes a Police Officer's and
			 Firefighter's Survivor's Educational Assistance Program application, and
(a) Is classified as an undergraduate student
			 as defined in .04(15);
(b) Is
			 enrolled or accepted for enrollment, or was enrolled, in an eligible program
			 within an eligible institution for a minimum of 6 semester/quarter hour per
			 academic term;
(c) Is making
			 satisfactory academic progress as defined by the eligible institution and
			 consistent with guidelines applicable to Title IV programs at the institution
			 or institutions;
(d) Is the
			 dependent child, or spouse who has not remarried of a full-time law enforcement
			 officer or firefighter employed by the State, by any county, or by any
			 municipality, and any volunteer firefighter, as defined, or rescue squad
			 members, as defined and killed or totally and permanently disabled in the line
			 of duty.
1. Volunteer Firefighter - any person
			 who meets all requirements set forth by his or her department, as attested by
			 the chief of that department, and who is any of the following: a member of a
			 certified volunteer fire department as provided in
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, Section
			 9-3-17;
			 a volunteer firefighter of a fire department of an incorporated municipality; a
			 volunteer firefighter of a fire district established pursuant to state
			 law.
2. Rescue Squad Member - A
			 member of an organized rescue squad of a city, town, county, or other
			 subdivision of the state or of a public corporation, organized for the purpose
			 of providing, within the scope of his or her practice: First aid, treatment or
			 transport of the sick or injured; rescue or recovery operations at incidents of
			 drowning; search and rescue of individuals lost or incapable of self-rescue; or
			 any other emergency or non-emergency incident where the services provided by
			 the rescue squad are deemed necessary for incident stabilization. The term
			 includes all commanders, officers, and member of organized rescue squads that
			 are members of the Alabama Association of Rescue Squads.
(e) Dependent Children qualifying categories:
1. Natural born children of deceased
			 firefighters, police officers, volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members
			 who are under 21 at the time of death.
2. Adopted children of deceased firefighters,
			 police officers, volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members who are under
			 21 at the time of death.
3. Natural
			 born children of totally disabled firefighters, police officers, volunteer
			 firefighters and rescue squad members who are under 21 at the time total
			 disability is established.
4.
			 Adopted children of totally disabled firefighters, police officers, volunteer
			 firefighters and rescue squad members who are under 21 at the time permanent
			 disability is established. In order to receive benefits, an adopted dependent
			 of totally disabled firefighter, police officer, volunteer firefighter and
			 rescue squad member shall have been adopted and resided in the household for at
			 least five years prior to enrollment in undergraduate study.
(f) If a spouse, the applicant
			 must not have remarried and must enroll in an eligible program of an eligible
			 institution within five years of the death or total and permanent disability of
			 a law enforcement officer, firefighter as defined, or rescue squad member, as
			 defined or within five years from October 1, 2000 for persons whose spouses
			 became totally and permanently disabled in the line of duty on or after July
			 23, 1987.