Section 3333.26. Waiving tuition for child or spouse of public service officer killed in line of duty

(A) Any citizen of this state who has resided within the state for one year, who was in the active service of the United States as a soldier, sailor, nurse, or marine between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, and who has been honorably discharged from that service, shall be admitted to any school, college, or university that receives state funds in support thereof, without being required to pay any tuition or matriculation fee, but is not relieved from the payment of laboratory or similar fees.

(B)

(1) As used in this division:

(a) "Volunteer firefighter" has the meaning as in division (B)(1) of section 146.01 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Public service officer" means an Ohio firefighter, volunteer firefighter, police officer, member of the state highway patrol, employee designated to exercise the powers of police officers pursuant to section 1545.13 of the Revised Code, or other peace officer as defined by division (B) of section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, or a person holding any equivalent position in another state.

(c) "Qualified former spouse" means the former spouse of a public service officer, or of a member of the armed services of the United States, who is the custodial parent of a minor child of that marriage pursuant to an order allocating the parental rights and responsibilities for care of the child issued pursuant to section 3109.04 of the Revised Code.

(d) "Operation enduring freedom" means that period of conflict which began October 7, 2001, and ends on a date declared by the president of the United States or the congress.

(e) "Operation Iraqi freedom" means that period of conflict which began March 20, 2003, and ends on a date declared by the president of the United States or the congress.

(f) "Combat zone" means an area that the president of the United States by executive order designates, for purposes of 26 U.S.C. 112, as an area in which armed forces of the United States are or have engaged in combat.

(2) Any resident of this state who is under twenty-six years of age, or under thirty years of age if the resident has been honorably discharged from the armed services of the United States, who is the child of a public service officer killed in the line of duty or of a member of the armed services of the United States killed in the line of duty during operation enduring freedom or operation Iraqi freedom, and who is admitted to any state university or college as defined in division (A)(1) of section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, community college, state community college, university branch, or technical college shall not be required to pay any tuition or any student fee for up to four academic years of education, which shall be at the undergraduate level.

A child of a member of the armed services of the United States killed in the line of duty during operation enduring freedom or operation Iraqi freedom is eligible for a waiver of tuition and student fees under this division only if the student is not eligible for a war orphans scholarship authorized by Chapter 5910. of the Revised Code. In any year in which the war orphans scholarship board reduces the percentage of tuition covered by a war orphans scholarship below one hundred per cent pursuant to division (A) of section 5910.04 of the Revised Code, the waiver of tuition and student fees under this division for a child of a member of the armed services of the United States killed in the line of duty during operation enduring freedom or operation Iraqi freedom shall be reduced by the same percentage.

(3) Any resident of this state who is the spouse or qualified former spouse of a public service officer killed in the line of duty, and who is admitted to any state university or college as defined in division (A)(1) of section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, community college, state community college, university branch, or technical college, shall not be required to pay any tuition or any student fee for up to four academic years of education, which shall be at the undergraduate level.

(4) Any resident of this state who is the spouse or qualified former spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States killed in the line of duty while serving in a combat zone after May 7, 1975, and who is admitted to any state university or college as defined in division (A)(1) of section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, community college, state community college, university branch, or technical college, shall not be required to pay any tuition or any student fee for up to four years of academic education, which shall be at the undergraduate level. In order to qualify under division (B)(4) of this section, the spouse or qualified former spouse shall have been a resident of this state at the time the member was killed in the line of duty.

(C) Any institution that is not subject to division (B) of this section and that holds a valid certificate of registration issued under Chapter 3332. of the Revised Code, a valid certificate issued under Chapter 4709. of the Revised Code, or a valid license issued under Chapter 4713. of the Revised Code, or that is nonprofit and has a certificate of authorization issued under section 1713.02 of the Revised Code, or that is a private institution exempt from regulation under Chapter 3332. of the Revised Code as prescribed in section 3333.046 of the Revised Code, which reduces tuition and student fees of a student who is eligible to attend an institution of higher education under the provisions of division (B) of this section by an amount indicated by the chancellor of higher education shall be eligible to receive a grant in that amount from the chancellor.

Each institution that enrolls students under division (B) of this section shall report to the chancellor, by the first day of July of each year, the number of students who were so enrolled and the average amount of all such tuition and student fees waived during the preceding year. The chancellor shall determine the average amount of all such tuition and student fees waived during the preceding year. The average amount of the tuition and student fees waived under division (B) of this section during the preceding year shall be the amount of grants that participating institutions shall receive under this division during the current year, but no grant under this division shall exceed the tuition and student fees due and payable by the student prior to the reduction referred to in this division. The grants shall be made for four years of undergraduate education of an eligible student.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2015.

Effective Date: 02-20-2002; 08-11-2004; 09-04-2006; 2007 HB2 05-15-2007