H.B. 346 Enrolled

TUITION WAIVER FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
1997 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Gene Davis
Melvin R. Brown
Susan J. Koehn
Sheryl L. Allen
Joseph G. Murray
Perry Buckner
Brad King
Gary F. Cox
Judy Ann Buffmire
Loretta Baca
Mary Carlson
Duane Bourdeaux
Trisha S. Beck
Neal B. Hendrickson
Brent H. Goodfellow
Ralph Becker
Bryan D. Holladay
Lloyd W. Frandsen
Ron Bigelow
Keele Johnson
Patricia B. Larson
Richard M. Siddoway
Dave Hogue
Steve Barth
David M. Jones

AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR WAIVER OF TUITION
AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN AND SURVIVING
SPOUSES OF POLICE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF
DUTY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
ENACTS:
53B-8b-101, Utah Code Annotated 1953
53B-8b-102, Utah Code Annotated 1953
53B-8b-103, Utah Code Annotated 1953
53B-8b-104, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 53B-8b-101 is enacted to read:
CHAPTER 8b. POLICE OFFICER'S AND FIREFIGHTER'S SURVIVOR
TUITION ACT
53B-8b-101. Title.
This chapter is known as the "Police Officer's and Firefighter's Survivor Tuition Act."
Section 2. Section 53B-8b-102 is enacted to read:
53B-8b-102. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:
(1) "Child" means an individual who:
(a) is a natural or adopted child of a deceased police officer or deceased firefighter; and
(b) was under the age of 25 at the time of the police officer's or firefighter's death.
(2) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety.
(3) "Killed" means that the police officer's or firefighter's death is the direct and proximate
result of a traumatic injury incurred in the line of duty.
(4) "Line of duty" means an action that a police officer or firefighter is obligated or
authorized to perform by rule, regulation, condition of employment or service, or law, including a
social, ceremonial, or athletic function that the police officer or firefighter is assigned to or
compensated for by the public agency being served.
(5) "Occupational disease" means a disease that routinely constitutes a special hazard in, or
is commonly regarded as concomitant of, the police officer's or firefighter's occupation.
(6) "State institution of higher education" means those institutions designated in Section
53B-1-102.
(7) "Traumatic injury" means a wound or the condition of the body caused by external force,
including an injury inflicted by bullet, explosive, sharp instrument, blunt object, or other physical
blow, fire, smoke, chemical, electricity, climatic condition, infectious disease, radiation, or bacteria,
but excluding an occupational disease.
(8) "Tuition" means tuition at the rate charged for residents of the state.
(9) "Utah firefighter" or "firefighter" means a member, including volunteer members and
members paid on call, of a fire department or other organization that provides fire suppression and
other fire-related services, of a political subdivision who is responsible for or is in a capacity that
includes responsibility for the extinguishment of fires. It does not include a person whose job
description, duties, or responsibilities do not include direct involvement in fire suppression.
(10) "Utah police officer" or "police officer" means an employee of a law enforcement
agency that is part of or administered by the state or any of its political subdivisions, and whose
duties consist primarily of the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of criminal

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statutes or ordinances of this state or any of its political subdivisions.
Section 3. Section 53B-8b-103 is enacted to read:
53B-8b-103. Tuition waivers for surviving spouses and children of police officers and
firefighters killed in the line of duty -- Qualifications -- Limitations.
(1) Beginning in the 1997-98 academic year, and subject to the limitations in Subsections
(2), (3), and (4) of this section, a state institution of higher education shall waive tuition for each
child and surviving spouse of a Utah police officer or Utah firefighter who has been killed or is
killed in the line of duty if the individual meets the following requirements:
(a) 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;
(b) is a resident student of the state as determined under Section 53B-8-102;
(c) applies to the department for a waiver of tuition under this chapter and provides evidence
satisfactory to the department that:
(i) the applicant is the surviving spouse or child of a police officer or firefighter who was
killed in the line of duty;
(ii) the course or courses for which the applicant is seeking a tuition waiver meet the
requirements of Subsection (2); and
(iii) the applicant meets the other requirements of this section;
(d) for a child of a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty, applies under
Subsection (1)(c) for the first time before the age of 25;
(e) is certified by the financial aid officer at the higher education institution as needing the
tuition waiver in order to meet recognized educational expenses, with the understanding that if the
applicant's family income, excluding any income from death benefits attributable to the police
officer's or firefighter's death, is below 400% of the poverty level under federal poverty guidelines,
income from any death benefits accruing to the applicant as a result of the death may not be counted
as family income in determining financial need under this Subsection (1)(e);
(f) maintains satisfactory academic progress, as defined by the institution of higher
education, for each term or semester in which the individual is enrolled, which may be measured by

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the definition used for federal student assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education
Act of 1965; and
(g) has not achieved a bachelor's degree and has received tuition reimbursement under this
chapter for less than 124 semester credits or 180 quarter credits at an institution of higher education.
(2) A child or surviving spouse of a police officer or firefighter who was killed in the line
of duty is eligible for a tuition waiver under this section of not more than nine semesters or the
equivalent number of quarters.
(3) Tuition shall be waived only to the extent that the tuition is not covered or paid by any
scholarship, trust fund, statutory benefit, or any other source of tuition coverage available for a
waiver under this chapter.
(4) An institution of higher education shall waive tuition under this chapter only for courses
that are applicable toward the degree or certificate requirements of the program in which the child
or surviving spouse is enrolled.
Section 4. Section 53B-8b-104 is enacted to read:
53B-8b-104. Notice of tuition waiver approval -- Annual appropriation.
(1) Upon receiving an application under Subsection 53B-8b-103(1)(c), the department shall
determine whether the applicant and the courses for which tuition waiver is sought meet the
requirements of Section 53B-8b-103 and, if so, shall approve the application and notify the higher
education institution that the application has been approved.
(2) The department shall provide the necessary forms and applications and cooperate with
the state's institutions of higher education in developing efficient procedures for the implementation
of this chapter.
(3) The department shall annually report to the Legislature's Higher Education
Appropriations Subcommittee on the number of individuals for whom tuition has been waived at
each institution and the total amounts paid under this chapter for the fiscal year.
(4) The Legislature may annually appropriate the funds necessary to implement this chapter,
including moneys to offset the tuition waivers at each institution.
Section 5. Effective date.

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This act takes effect on July 1, 1997.

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