Higher education leaders establish rules for law enforcement scholarship not yet enacted

The legislation didn’t pass this year. But the rules are in place if it does. 

The Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) Friday adopted preliminary regulations for a scholarship program for children and spouses of law enforcement officers, despite the bill failing to pass the Legislature this spring. 

HB 188, sponsored by Rep. Alan Treadaway, R-Morris, would have created the scholarship fund through the Education Trust Fund (ETF). The legislation would have given qualifying students up to $3,000 per semester. The commission Friday voted unanimously for full-time students at four-year colleges and universities to receive $3,000 per semester and $1,500 a semester for those enrolled full time at two-year colleges. 

The bill passed the House unanimously on Feb. 18, and got approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 26. But the bill was never voted on by the full Senate. Treadaway said in an interview Friday that he will prefile an identical bill for the 2026 Legislative Session.

“It appears that they have a lot of confidence that the bill’s going to pass if they went ahead and already established rules for this type of legislation,” Treadaway said.  “It got caught up in a weeklong filibuster in the last week of the session, so it just ran out of time like many other bills did.”

Executive Director Jim Purcell said that the commission adopted the rules so that the program could start as soon as the bill is signed into law.

“A lot of people really anticipated that they would be successful, and I think it was at the cusp of being one of the things that was approved in the Legislature,” he said. “There is strong support for this.”

Takena Jones, the grants & scholarships associate at ACHE, said that the scholarship would be prorated for students who are not enrolled full time.

Under Treadaway’s 2025 bill, students eligible for the scholarship must be natural or adopted children 27 years of age or younger, or spouses, current or surviving, of qualifying officers. The student must be an Alabama resident for at least 2 years; must not be eligible for other police survivors’ educational assistance; and must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In order to maintain the scholarship, students must maintain full-time Alabama residency; meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards; and complete their degree within 66 months.

Qualifying officers are those who are certified by the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission; employed full time for at least seven years at one agency, or at least 12 years in the state of Alabama; and have not been terminated for disciplinary reasons, Jones said.

Stephanie Dolan, the associate director of planning and policy at ACHE, said the Legislature appropriated $8 million for the law enforcement scholarship program, even though the bill did not pass. According to the bill, the scholarship program would be capped at $10 million. 

This story was updated June 17 at 9:28 a.m. to correct the title of Stephanie Dolan.