5. a. The board is hereby authorized to award scholarships from the fund for the costs of undergraduate study at an institution of higher education to the dependent children or surviving spouses of persons who were New Jersey residents on September 11, 2001 and:

(1) who were killed in the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001; or

(2) who died as a result of injuries received in the attack; or

(3) who died as a result of illness caused by exposure to the attack sites, as established in medical records or other appropriate documentation as required by the board; or

(4) who are missing and officially presumed dead as a direct result of the attack.

The terrorist attack on the United States shall include the hijackings of American Airlines Flight 11, American Airlines Flight 77, United Airlines Flight 93 and United Airlines Flight 175 and the subsequent crashes at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

b. Scholarships from the fund may be awarded annually upon proper application to the fund to any student who qualifies under the criteria developed by the board.

L.2001, c.442, s.5; amended 2007, c.5, s.1.