1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to higher education; establishing a grant program for postsecondary students 
1.3 	preparing to become licensed peace officers in Minnesota; requiring a report; 
1.4 	appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.5 	136A.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [136A.1285] ASPIRING PEACE OFFICER GRANTS.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Program established. The office shall establish a grant program for 
1.9 	eligible students preparing to become licensed peace officers in Minnesota. Grants under 
1.10 	this section are available from the 2023-2024 academic year through the 2026-2027 academic 
1.11 	year.
1.12 		Subd. 2.Eligible students. (a) A student is eligible for a grant under this section if the 
1.13 	student:
1.14 	(1) is a resident student;
1.15 	(2) is a citizen of the United States;
1.16 	(3) attends an eligible institution;
1.17 	(4) is in good academic standing and making satisfactory academic progress;
1.18 	(5) passes a criminal history screening to determine the student has not been convicted 
1.19 	of a crime that is a bar to licensure as a peace officer; and
1.20 	(6) meets either of the two following criteria:
2.1 	(i) for a student who has not already earned a bachelor's degree or associate's degree 
2.2 	from a regionally accredited postsecondary institution, be enrolled full time in a 
2.3 	degree-granting professional peace officer education program certified by the Board of 
2.4 	Peace Officer Standards and Training; or
2.5 	(ii) for a student who has already earned a bachelor's degree or associate's degree from 
2.6 	a regionally accredited postsecondary institution, be enrolled full time in a certificate-granting 
2.7 	professional peace officer education program for degree holders certified by the Board of 
2.8 	Peace Officer Standards and Training.
2.9 	(b) To receive a grant under this section, a student must:
2.10 	(1) apply in the form and manner specified by the commissioner; and
2.11 	(2) sign a contract agreeing to fulfill the employment obligation under subdivision 4.
2.12 		Subd. 3.Grant amounts. (a) The amount of a grant awarded under this section must 
2.13 	be equal to the recipient's recognized cost of attendance after deducting:
2.14 	(1) the amount of the federal Pell grant award for which the recipient is eligible;
2.15 	(2) the amount of the state grant award for which the recipient is eligible;
2.16 	(3) the amount of any other state or federal financial aid received; and
2.17 	(4) the sum of all institutional grants, scholarships, tuition waivers, and tuition remission 
2.18 	amounts.
2.19 	(b) For purposes of this section, "recognized cost of attendance for a public institution" 
2.20 	has the meaning given in Code of Federal Regulations, title 20, chapter 28, subchapter IV, 
2.21 	part F, section 1087ll. The recognized cost of attendance for a private institution equals the 
2.22 	lesser of:
2.23 	(1) the cost of attendance for the institution as calculated under Code of Federal 
2.24 	Regulations, title 20, chapter 28, subchapter IV, part F, section 1087ll; or
2.25 	(2) for two-year programs, an amount equal to the highest recognized cost of attendance 
2.26 	charged at a public two-year institution, or for four-year programs, an amount equal to the 
2.27 	highest recognized cost of attendance at a public university.
2.28 	(c) The grant shall be paid directly to the institution where the recipient is enrolled.
2.29 		Subd. 4.Employment obligation. (a) Beginning within six months of the completion 
2.30 	of the academic program for which the grant was awarded, a grant recipient must:
2.31 	(1) pass the Minnesota peace officer licensure exam; and
3.1 	(2) be employed full time as a peace officer in a Minnesota law enforcement agency. 
3.2 	The total employment obligation required is four years.
3.3 	(b) A recipient who has completed the program for which the grant was awarded, but 
3.4 	who has not fulfilled the total employment obligation, must annually verify, in a form and 
3.5 	manner specified by the commissioner, that the recipient is employed in a position that 
3.6 	fulfills the employment obligation.
3.7 	(c) If a recipient fails to meet the employment obligation, the commissioner must convert 
3.8 	the recipient's total grant award to a student loan and collect from the participant the total 
3.9 	amount paid plus interest at a rate established according to section 270C.40.
3.10 	(d) The commissioner may waive or defer the employment obligation for a grant recipient 
3.11 	for circumstances involving extreme hardship.
3.12 	(e) Any requirement to fulfill the employment obligation cancels upon the death or 
3.13 	permanent and total disability of the grant recipient.
3.14 		Subd. 5.Insufficient appropriation. If the amount appropriated for this program is 
3.15 	determined by the office to be insufficient to make full awards to all eligible applicants, the 
3.16 	commissioner shall prioritize the awards to eligible applicants based on the applicants' 
3.17 	individual financial needs as determined by the federal needs analysis.
3.18 		Subd. 6.Report required. By February 15 each year, the commissioner of the Office 
3.19 	of Higher Education must submit a report on the details of the program under this section 
3.20 	to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over higher education finance and policy, 
3.21 	and to the Legislative Reference Library as provided by section 3.195. The report must 
3.22 	include the following information:
3.23 	(1) programs eligible for grant awards under subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (6), 
3.24 	items (i) and (ii);
3.25 	(2) the number of students receiving an award in the previous year;
3.26 	(3) the average and total award amounts in the previous year, disaggregated by program 
3.27 	attended;
3.28 	(4) summary demographic data on award recipients in the previous year;
3.29 	(5) data on recipients currently subject to the employment obligation under subdivision 
3.30 	4, including the number of recipients subject to the obligation, the number who are 
3.31 	successfully completing the obligation, the number who have had their grants converted to 
3.32 	loans, and the number who have had their obligation waived or deferred; and
4.1 	(6) if the appropriation for the program was determined to be insufficient, an explanation 
4.2 	of measures taken under subdivision 5.
4.3 		Subd. 7.Expiration. This section expires the latter of December 31, 2037, or upon 
4.4 	notice from the Office of Higher Education that all employment obligation contracts have 
4.5 	been fulfilled, converted to loans and repaid, or otherwise discharged.

4.6 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.7 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION; ASPIRING PEACE OFFICER GRANTS.
 4.8 	(a) $....... in fiscal year 2023 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
4.9 	of the Office of Higher Education for aspiring peace officer grants under Minnesota Statutes, 
4.10 	section 136A.1285.
4.11 	(b) The office may use no more than three percent of the amount appropriated under 
4.12 	this section to administer the grant program.