(1) As used in this section: (a) "Child" means an individual who: (i) is a natural or adopted child of a deceased peace officer or deceased firefighter; and (ii) was under the age of 25 at the time of the peace officer's or firefighter's death. (b) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety. (c) (i) "Fees" means general course fees, in addition to tuition, that are: (A) imposed by an institution of higher education; and (B) required to be paid by a student to engage in a course of study at the institution of higher education. (ii) "Fees" does not include a special course fee. (d) "Killed" means that the peace officer's or firefighter's death is the direct and proximate result of a traumatic injury incurred in the line of duty. (e) "Line of duty" means an action that a peace 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 peace officer or firefighter is assigned to or compensated for by the public agency being served. (f) "Occupational disease" means a disease that routinely constitutes a special hazard in, or is commonly regarded as concomitant of, the peace officer's or firefighter's occupation. (g) "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. (h) "Tuition" means tuition and fees at the rate charged for residents of the state. (i) (i) "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. (ii) "Utah firefighter" or "firefighter" does not include a person whose job description, duties, or responsibilities do not include direct involvement in fire suppression. (j) "Utah peace officer" or "peace officer" means an employee of a law enforcement agency that is part of or administered by a private postsecondary educational institution, 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 statutes or ordinances of this state or any of its political subdivisions. (2) Subject to the limitations in Subsections (3), (4), and (5), an institution of higher education shall waive tuition for each child and surviving spouse of a Utah peace 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 53H-11-202; (c) applies to the department for a waiver of tuition under this section and provides evidence satisfactory to the department that: (i) the applicant is the surviving spouse or child of a peace 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 (3); and (iii) the applicant meets the other requirements of this section; (d) for a child of a peace officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty, applies under Subsection (2)(c) for the first time before turning 25 years old; (e) 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 the definition used for federal student assistance programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965; and (f) has not achieved a bachelor's degree and has received tuition reimbursement under this section for less than 124 semester credits or 180 quarter credits at an institution of higher education. (3) A child or surviving spouse of a peace 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. (4) 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 section. (5) An institution of higher education shall waive tuition under this section only for courses that are applicable toward the degree or certificate requirements of the program in which the child or surviving spouse is enrolled. (6) Upon receiving an application under Subsection (2)(c), the department shall determine whether the applicant and the courses for which tuition waiver is sought meet the requirements of this section and, if so, shall approve the application and notify the institution that the application has been approved. (7) The department shall provide the necessary forms and applications and cooperate with the institution of higher education in developing efficient procedures for the implementation of this section. (8) The Legislature may annually appropriate the funds necessary to implement this section, including money to offset the tuition waivers at each institution.
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