Georgia Public Service Memorial Grant

About this scholarship

The Georgia Public Service Memorial Grant is state aid for spouses and children of qualifying Georgia public servants who were killed or permanently disabled through covered employment-related events. The program was renamed from the Georgia Public Safety Memorial Grant for fiscal year 2026 and expanded to include qualifying public-school employees. Eligible public-safety roles include law-enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, highway emergency response operators, and prison guards. A public-safety spouse or child may qualify when the officer was killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. A public-school employee’s spouse or child may qualify when the employee was killed or permanently disabled because of an act of violence while performing employment duties; the spouse must have been married to that employee when the event occurred. The grant can cover cost of attendance after other aid, up to $18,000 per year and $72,000 lifetime. It may be used at an eligible Georgia public or private college, university, or technical college for undergraduate, graduate, degree, diploma, or certificate study, subject to the current rules. Funding is first-come, first-served and depends on state appropriations. Applicants complete Part A, send the form to the college financial-aid office for certification, and upload the completed application plus death, disability, incident, or violence documentation through GAfutures. The deadline is the institution’s last day of the term or the student’s earlier withdrawal date. A new application is required each award year.

Eligibility

• Be the spouse or child of a qualifying Georgia public-safety officer killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty, or of a qualifying public-school employee affected by an on-duty act of violence
• If applying as a public-school employee’s spouse, have been married to the employee when the qualifying act of violence occurred
• Be a U.S. citizen or national or an eligible permanent resident
• Be a legal Georgia resident for at least 12 months before receiving aid
• Enroll at an eligible Georgia public or private college, university, or technical college
• Pursue an eligible degree, diploma, or certificate and meet the required enrollment level
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress and satisfy Selective Service requirements where applicable
• Not be in default or owe a refund on a student financial-aid program
• Submit the institution-certified application and supporting documentation by the applicable term deadline
• Reapply for each award year