This bill establishes that retired law enforcement officers who have retired due to disability are eligible for tuition assistance to attend public institutions of higher education or proprietary institutions licensed to confer academic degrees. The bill allows these eligible officers to enroll in regularly-scheduled courses and receive up to 16 credits per semester tuition-free, provided they meet certain criteria. Specifically, the retired officer must have retired in good standing due to a disability as defined by specific statutes, be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student in good standing, and have applied for all available federal and state student grants and scholarships.

The State will reimburse the educational institutions for the tuition costs of these eligible retired law enforcement officers, but only to the extent that these costs are not covered by the grants and scholarships for which the officers qualify. This legislation mirrors existing provisions for members of the New Jersey National Guard, thereby extending similar educational benefits to former law enforcement officers who have faced disabilities in their careers.