Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) is both proud and honored to announce the organization has just surpassed the $1 million mark in scholarships given to surviving spouses and children of fallen law enforcement officers.
Concerns of Police Survivors believes that higher education for any child should not be put in jeopardy or disrupted because of the unforeseen tragedy that has befallen the family and that educating a surviving spouse only ensures that the family will be better off financially.
Since 1994 when the scholarship program was initiated, C.O.P.S. has given $1,009,110 in scholarships to 296 survivors of fallen officers in 46 states and territories who do not receive tuition-free education as a state death benefit. Additionally, C.O.P.S. provides scholarships to survivors who may no longer meet their state eligibility for assistance. These scholarships are not a loan and no repayment is necessary. C.O.P.S. does not charge for any of the programs or services that it provides to the more than 15,000 surviving family members; the families have already paid a high enough price.
C.O.P.S. scholarships are awarded three times annually for fall semester, spring semester, and summer semester. All applicants must be surviving spouses or children of officers who are determined to be killed in the line of duty according to Federal criteria. Scholarship recipients are determined by an independent Scholarship Committee drawn from the outside community and comprised of persons knowledgeable about education and the law enforcement profession. The National Board of C.O.P.S. determines the amount of funding that will be set aside for scholarships each year and this fiscal year awards totaled $104,288, far above the $80,000 budgeted for this program. The current economic condition caused the number of requests to increase significantly and C.O.P.S. was proud to be able to cover the additional requests for scholarships.
The $1 million mark is a wonderful milestone and C.O.P.S. would like to thank all of our generous donors for making is possible to help so many law enforcement survivors further their education. The BJB Charitable Trust, Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarship Fund of ICMA Retirement Corporation, the G. M. Christensen 1989 Scholarship Trust for Utah Survivors, National Pawnbrokers Association, the Aronson Family Foundation, Northeast Florida Chapter of C.O.P.S., Reed Elsevier (publishers of Law Officer Magazine), the Buddy Sentner Scholarship Fund, the Michael Sullivan Scholarship Fund, and the Barry Hill Memorial Scholarship Fund have all been long-time donors to C.O.P.S.’ Scholarship Program.
C.O.P.S. looks forward to continuing its mission of “rebuilding shattered lives” of the surviving family members and affected co-workers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. C.O.P.S. is a national, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization with 50 chapters throughout the United States. To learn more about C.O.P.S. visit www.nationalcops.org.
