Educational grant opportunities related to law enforcement are available from several sources and pertain to a variety of situations. Grants and scholarships are provided to qualifying students who pursue a career in law enforcement. For dependents and spouses of law enforcement personnel who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty there are educational grants offered in several states. Also, by pursuing a career in law enforcement, you may qualify to receive some debt cancellation or forgiveness of your student loans.
College Financial Aid Office
If your career goal is law enforcement and you are pursuing a degree in a criminal-justice-related field, the first place to look for assistance with your college tuition and expenses is your school's financial aid office. A college with a sizable criminal justice program will more than likely have numerous grant and scholarship opportunities for students majoring in criminal justice or even just taking a minimum number of criminal justice classes. For example, the financial aid office at Sam Houston University in Texas lists 43 criminal justice related grant and scholarship opportunities on its website.
State Grants
If you have suffered the loss of a parent or spouse who worked in law enforcement and was killed in the line of duty, you should contact your state's agency tasked with student financial aid to inquire about available grants. Several states offer these grants, such as New Jersey's Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Scholarship. This program provides educational grants to the dependent children of New Jersey police officers killed while on duty. Some states, such as Georgia, offer even broader grant opportunities. The state's Law Enforcement Personnel Dependents (LEPD) Grants not only provides grants in cases where a police officer is killed, but also extends the grants to cases where the police officer was permanently disabled in the line of duty. Dependents of prison guards and fire fighters qualify for these Georgia state grants as well.
Student Loan Forgiveness For Law Enforcement
While not technically a grant, cancellation or forgiveness of your student loans is the functional equivalent of a grant because you have received money that you do not have to pay back. The federal student loan programs known as Perkins Loans, Stafford Loans and Plus Loans provide opportunities for borrowers to have these loans canceled or forgiven by working in specified fields, one of which is law enforcement. The requirements for cancellation or forgiveness of your student loan by working in law enforcement is available on the website Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid which is maintained by the U.S. Department of Education. The primary requirement is that your loan is not in default. Your lender or loan servicing agent should also be able to provide you with the necessary information about qualifying.
Tags: criminal justice, cancellation forgiveness, cancellation forgiveness your, forgiveness your, forgiveness your student, line duty