Chapter 33 of the general laws, as most recently appearing in the 2000 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 137, the following new section:  Section 137A. Armed forces reserve education assistance program

Section 137A. There is hereby established an Armed Forces Reserve education assistance program. Said program shall be administered by the board of higher education which shall have the authority to issue a certificate of exemption from the matriculation fee and tuition to any member of the Reserve Armed Forces of the United States who is a current resident of Massachusetts, who has been a resident of the Commonwealth for at least six months prior to enrollment, and who is enrolled at any state institution in a program the cost of which is borne by the commonwealth and who is qualified as hereinafter provided. Said certificate shall remain in effect one full academic year and shall be renewed after the student has completed a full academic year of work equal to thirty semester hours, in accordance with regulations prescribed by said board: one certificate may therefore be in effect for more than one year.

To receive benefits from the program, the member shall be a member in good standing of the Reserve Armed Forces of the United States and a resident of Massachusetts at the beginning of each semester that benefits are payable and shall remain a member in good standing of the Reserve Armed Forces of the United States throughout the entire semester for which benefits are payable. 

The term "reserve armed forces", when used in this section, means service other than permanent, full time service in the military forces of the United States including but not limited to service in the United States Army Reserve, the United States Naval Reserve, the United States Marine Corps Reserve, the United States Air Force Reserve, or the United States Coast Guard Reserve.

Assistance shall continue for the benefit of said member only during such time as he remains a student in good standing at the institution in which he is enrolled and in no event shall any student receive the benefits for more than one hundred and thirty semester hours.  In the event that the student is called to active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, the student shall be entitled to re-apply at the termination of active duty status.  If the student is called to active duty within four weeks of the beginning of a semester in which he is enrolled, the student shall be entitled to full reimbursement for the cost of any fees paid to the academic institution, otherwise reimbursement shall be pro-rated in accordance with the amount of time in attendance.

Enrollment of a member in a course at said institutions shall be dependent on the availability of seats. Availability of seats for the purposes of this section shall mean vacancies that exist in a course after the enrollment of all tuition paying students, and all students who are enrolled under any scholarship or tuition waiver provisions