A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to broaden the national guard tuition assistance program to cover studentS enrolled in an approved professional certification Program.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 116‑209.54(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	This tuition assistance benefit shall be applicable to students in the following categories:
(1)	Students seeking to achieve completion of their secondary school education at a community college or technical institute.
(2)	Students seeking trade or vocational training or education.
(3)	Students seeking to achieve a two‑year associate degree.
(4)	Students seeking to achieve a four‑year baccalaureate degree.
(5)	Students seeking to achieve a graduate degree.
(6)	Students enrolled in a program granting a graduate certificate.
(7)	Students enrolled in a professional certification program recommended by the Director of the North Carolina National Guard Education and Employment Center and approved by the North Carolina National Guard Education Services Officer."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2017 fall academic semester.