As used in the Fire Fighter and Peace Officer Survivors Scholarship Act: A. “board” or “department” means the higher education department;

B. “cost of attendance” means the price of attendance, the publication of which is required by federal law, and includes tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation and any additional costs for a program in which a student is enrolled;

C. “eligible institution” means any public institution of higher education in any state in the United States;

D. “fire fighter” means any member of a fire department that is part of or administered by the state or any political subdivision of the state;

E. “peace officer” means any member of a police or sheriff’s department that is part of or administered by the state or any political subdivision of the state and officers in the corrections department;

F. “research institution” means the university of New Mexico, New Mexico state university or New Mexico institute of mining and technology; and

G. “survivor” means the spouse of the fire fighter or peace officer killed in the line of duty and any adopted or natural children twenty-one years of age or under at the time of the fire fighter’s or peace officer’s death.