Sec. 3.

(1) The police officer's and fire fighter's survivor tuition program is created, to be administered by the department.

(2) Beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year,the department shall provide a survivor's tuition grant in an amount determined by the department under subsection (3) to each eligible student if all of the following requirements are met:

(a) The student applies, qualifies, and is admitted as a full-time, part-time, or summer school student in a program of study leading to a degree or certificate at a state institution of higher education.

(b) The student is a legal resident of the state for at least the 12 consecutive months immediately preceding his or her application. For an individual who is a dependent of his or her parent, residency status shall be determined by the parent's residency. For an individual who is not a dependent, residency status is determined in the same manner as under title IV of 20 USC 1070 to 1070h.

(c) The student applies to the department for a survivor's tuition grant under this act and provides evidence satisfactory to the department that he or she is an eligible student, that the course or courses for which he or she is seeking a survivor's tuition grant meet the requirements of subsection (3), and that he or she meets the other requirements of this section.

(d) If the student is a child of a Michigan police officer or Michigan fire fighter who was killed in the line of duty, he or she applies for a survivor's tuition grant under subdivision (c) for the first time before the age of 26.

(e) The financial aid officer at the state institution of higher education certifies to the department that the student needs the survivor's tuition grant in order to meet eligible tuition expenses; certifies the amount that the student needs for those tuition expenses; and certifies that the tuition rate or rates used to determine the amount of those expenses do not exceed the rate or rates charged to residents of this state. If the eligible student's family income, excluding any income from death benefits attributable to the Michigan police officer's or Michigan fire fighter's death, is below 400% of poverty level under federal poverty guidelines published by the United States department of health and human services, the institution shall not include income from any death benefits accruing to the eligible student as a result of the Michigan police officer's or Michigan fire fighter's death as family income in determining financial need under this subdivision.

(f) The student maintains satisfactory academic progress, as defined by the state institution of higher education, for each term or semester in which he or she is enrolled. The satisfactory progress definition used by an institution for federal student assistance programs under 20 USC 1070 to 1070h is acceptable for the purposes of this act.

(g) The student has not received a bachelor's degree and has received tuition assistance under this act for fewer than 124 semester credits or 180 term credits at an institution of higher education.

(h) The student has not received a survivor's tuition grant in more than a total of 9 semesters or the equivalent number of terms or quarters.

(3) The amount of a survivor's tuition grant in an academic year is the amount of the student's eligible tuition in that academic year that is not covered or paid by any scholarship, trust fund, statutory benefit, or any other source of tuition coverage available to the eligible student. The department may reduce the amount of a survivor's tuition grant if it determines that the tuition rate or rates used to determine the amount that the state institution of higher education certifies under subsection (2)(e) that the student needs exceed the tuition rate or rates charged by the institution in that academic year to residents of this state.

History: 1996, Act 195, Imd. Eff. May 15, 1996 ;-- Am. 2012, Act 470, Imd. Eff. Dec. 27, 2012