GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1991 SESSION

CHAPTER 549
HOUSE BILL 307

AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW REGARDING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CHILDREN OF WAR VETERANS TO INCLUDE CHILDREN OF PERSIAN GULF VETERANS AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CHANGES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 165-20 reads as rewritten:
"§ 165-20.  Definitions.
As used in this Article the terms defined in this section shall have the following meaning:
(1)	'Active federal service' means full-time duty in the armed forces other than active duty for training; however, if disability or death occurs while on active duty for training (i) as a direct result of armed conflict or (ii) while engaged in extra-hazardous service, including such service under conditions simulating war, such active duty for training shall be considered as active federal service.
(2)	'Armed forces' means the army, navy, marine corps, air force and coast guard, including their reserve components.
(3)	'Child' means a person who has completed high school or its equivalent prior to receipt of a scholarship as may be awarded under this Article, who has complied with the requirements of the Selective Service System, if applicable, and who further meets one of the following requirements:
a.	A person whose veteran parent was a legal resident of North Carolina at the time of said veteran's entrance into that period of service in the armed forces during which eligibility is established under G.S. 165-22.
b.	A veteran's child who was born in North Carolina and has lived in North Carolina continuously since birth. Provided, that the requirement in the preceding sentence as to birth in North Carolina may be waived by the Department of Administration if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Department that the child's mother was a native-born resident of North Carolina and was such resident at the time of her marriage to the veteran and was outside the State temporarily at the time of the child's birth, following which the child was returned to North Carolina within a reasonable period of time where said child has since lived continuously.
c.	A person meeting either of the requirements set forth in subdivision (3)a or b above, and who was legally adopted by the veteran prior to said person's reaching the age of 15 years.
(4)	'Period of war' and 'wartime' shall mean any of the periods or circumstances as defined below:
a.	World War I, meaning (i) the period beginning on April 6, 1917 and ending on November 11, 1918, and (ii) in the case of a veteran who served with the United States armed forces in Russia, the period beginning on April 6, 1917 and ending on April 1, 1920.
b.	World War II, meaning the period beginning on December 7, 1941 and ending on December 31, 1946.
c.	Korean Conflict, meaning the period beginning on June 27, 1950 and ending on January 31, 1955.
d.	Vietnam era, meaning the period beginning on August 5, 1964, and ending on May 7, 1975.
d1.	Persian Gulf War, meaning the period beginning on August 2, 1990, and ending on the date prescribed by Presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the United States Congress.
e.	Any period of service in the armed forces during which the veteran parent of an applicant for a scholarship under this Article suffered death or disability (i) as a direct result of armed conflict or (ii) while engaged in extra-hazardous service, including such service under conditions simulating war.
(5)	'Private educational institution' means any junior college, senior college or university which is operated and governed by private interests not under the control of the federal, State or any local government, which is located within the State of North Carolina, which does not operate for profit, whose curriculum is primarily directed toward the awarding of associate, baccalaureate or graduate degrees, which agrees to the applicable administration and funding provisions of G.S. 165-22.1, of this Article, and which is otherwise approved by the State Board of Veterans Affairs.
(6)	'State educational institution' means any educational institution of higher learning which is owned and operated by the State of North Carolina, or any community college operated under the provisions of Chapter 115A and Article 3 of Chapter 116 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, or the college program of the North Carolina School of the Arts, or any technical institute operated under the provisions of Chapter 115A of the General Statutes of North Carolina.
(7)	'Veteran' means a person who served as a member of the armed forces of the United States in active federal service during a period of war and who was separated from the armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable. A person who was separated from the armed forces under conditions other than dishonorable and whose death or disability was incurred (i) as a direct result of armed conflict or (ii) while engaged in extra-hazardous service, including such service under conditions simulating war, shall also be deemed a 'veteran' and such death or disability shall be considered wartime service-connected."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 165-22 reads as rewritten:
"§ 165-22. Classes or categories of eligibility under which scholarships may be awarded.
A child, as defined in this Article, who falls within the provisions of any eligibility class described below shall, upon proper application be considered for a scholarship, subject to the provisions and limitations set forth for the class under which he is considered:
(1)	Class I-A: Under this class a scholarship shall be awarded to any child whose veteran parent
a.	Was killed in action or died from wounds or other causes not due to his own wilful misconduct while a member of the armed forces during a period of war, or
b.	Has died of service-connected injuries, wounds, illness or other causes incurred or aggravated during wartime service in the armed forces, as rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(2)	Class I-B: Under this class a limited scholarship providing only those benefits set forth in G.S. 165-21(1)a and d and 165-21(2) of this Article, shall be awarded to any child whose veteran parent, at the time the benefits pursuant to this Article are sought to be availed of, is or was at the time of his death receiving compensation for a wartime service-connected disability of one hundred percent (100%) as rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Provided, that if the veteran parent of a recipient under this class should die of his wartime service-connected condition before the recipient shall have utilized all of his scholarship eligibility time, then the North Carolina Department of Administration shall amend the recipient's award from Class I-B to Class I-A for the remainder of the recipient's eligibility time. The effective date of such an amended award shall be determined by the Department of Administration, but, in no event shall it predate the date of the veteran parent's death.
(3)	Class II: Under this class a scholarship may be awarded to not more than 100 children yearly, each of whose veteran parent, at the time the benefits pursuant to this Article are sought to be availed of:
a.	Is or was at the time of his death receiving compensation for a wartime service-connected disability of twenty percent (20%) or more, but less than one hundred percent (100%), as rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or
b.	Is or was at the time of his death receiving wartime compensation for a statutory award for arrested pulmonary tuberculosis, as rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
(4)	Class III: Under this class a scholarship may be awarded to not more than 100 children yearly, each of whose veteran parent, at the time the benefits pursuant to this Article are sought to be availed of:
a.	Is or was at the time of his death drawing pension for permanent and total disability, nonservice-connected, as rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or
b.	Is deceased and who does not fall within the provisions of any other eligibility class described in G.S. 165-22(1), (2), (3), (4)a., nor (5) provided such child is less than 23 years of age at the time of application for such scholarship.
(5)	Class IV: Under this class a scholarship as defined in G.S. 165-21 shall be awarded to any child whose parent, while serving honorably as a member of the armed forces of the United States in active federal service during a period of war, as defined in G.S. 165-20(4), was listed by the United States government as (i) missing in action, (ii) captured in line of duty by a hostile force, or (iii) forcibly detained or interned in line of duty by a foreign government or power."
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1991.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 4th day of July, 1991.

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James C. Gardner
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives