1. (a) Subject to the annual appropriation to the Alabama National Guard Educational Assistance Program in the annual Education Trust Fund Appropriation Act, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education may pay or reimburse the qualifying tuition for any active member of the Alabama National Guard who is one of the following:

   1. (1) A student dually or concurrently enrolled in high school and an institution of higher education.
   2. (2) A postsecondary student who is enrolled in an institution of higher education.
   3. (3) A postsecondary student who is dually or concurrently enrolled in more than one institution of higher education and is enrolled in a program leading to a qualifying academic pathway, including a workforce development program, associate degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or doctorate degree in an accredited institution of higher learning, including a community or technical college or an approved nonaccredited course or certificate program within this state.
2. (b) The annual appropriation to the National Guard Educational Assistance Program shall not exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000).

3. (c)

   1. (1) The Adjutant General and the Executive Director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education shall mutually determine to which workforce development programs tuition assistance may be applied. Any entity program seeking to be a workforce development program shall be registered as a vendor with this state.
   2. (2) The Adjutant General and the Executive Director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education shall mutually determine how assistance may be applied to each workforce development program.

4. (d)

   1. (1) The payments or assistance shall be: (i) made within 90 days after the beginning of the academic period of each academic quarter or semester for all tuition assistance payments depending on the availability of funding; (ii) made on the basis of certified institutional roster or other documentation approved by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education verifying enrollment, eligibility, and allowable charges for each participating member submitted by the institution to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education; and(iii) supported by names of the students receiving the assistance, together with the amounts claimed for each student. The tuition assistance authorized under this article may be used for undergraduate or graduate studies.
   2. (2) In no event shall payments toward tuition and fees, ancillary costs, or educational expenses under the Alabama National Guard Educational Assistance Program amount to more than the median cost of tuition per term of all public four-year institutions of higher education in this state as reported to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
   3. (3) No active member shall be eligible for tuition and fees, educational expenses, or ancillary cost assistance for more than 12 years after the date of the first tuition payment to the active member under this article.
   4. (4) If requests for tuition assistance provided for in this article from the institutions for educational benefits in any fiscal year exceed the appropriated amount, then the payments shall be prorated equally among the institutions on a percentage basis of the total certified institutional rosters received by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and paid accordingly. The assistance payments shall be made promptly upon receipt for all certified institutional rosters or other documentation approved by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

5. (e)

   1. (1) The assistance under this article shall be claimed for no more than a total of 120 academic hours or until receipt of the first bachelor’s degree, whichever occurs first. The 120 academic hours shall not include more than 72 academic hours earned at a community college.
   2. (2) An active member who has already obtained a bachelor’s degree is not eligible to receive assistance from this program leading to a second bachelor’s degree.
   3. (3) If the benefits were not used by an active member for a bachelor’s degree, the program benefits for graduate students under this article shall be claimed for no more than a total of 60 academic hours or until the receipt of the first graduate degree.
   4. (4) An active member who has already obtained a graduate degree is not eligible to receive assistance from this program leading to a second graduate degree.
6. (f) To the extent permitted by law, the assistance provided for under this article shall be applied in a last-dollar manner to maximize all of the active member’s educational benefits to include educational expenses and ancillary costs.
7. (g) No public institution of higher education in the state may impose a nonresident tuition rate or differential out-of-state resident fee on an active member in good standing who meets the requirements of Section 31-10-4.

(Acts 1984, No. 84-288, p. 498, §3; Acts 1985, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 85-925, p. 211, §1; Act 2015-431, p. 1375, §1; Act 2017-349, §1; Act 2023-528, §1; Act 2026-521, §1.)