261.23 - REGISTERED NURSE AND NURSE EDUCATOR LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM.
261.23 REGISTERED NURSE AND NURSE EDUCATOR LOAN
FORGIVENESS PROGRAM.
1. A registered nurse and nurse educator loan forgiveness program
is established to be administered by the commission. The program
shall consist of loan forgiveness for eligible federally guaranteed
loans for registered nurses and nurse educators who practice or teach
in this state. For purposes of this section, unless the context
otherwise requires, "nurse educator" means a registered nurse who
holds a master's degree or doctorate degree and is employed as a
faculty member who teaches nursing as provided in 655 IAC 2.6(152) at
a community college, an accredited private institution, or an
institution of higher education governed by the state board of
regents.
2. Each applicant for loan forgiveness shall, in accordance with
the rules of the commission, do the following:
a. Complete and file an application for registered nurse or
nurse educator loan forgiveness. The individual shall be responsible
for the prompt submission of any information required by the
commission.
b. File a new application and submit information as required
by the commission annually on the basis of which the applicant's
eligibility for the renewed loan forgiveness will be evaluated and
determined.
c. Complete and return, on a form approved by the commission,
an affidavit of practice verifying that the applicant is a registered
nurse practicing in this state or a nurse educator teaching at a
community college, an accredited private institution, or an
institution of higher learning governed by the state board of
regents.
3. a. The annual amount of registered nurse loan forgiveness
for a registered nurse who completes a course of study, which leads
to a baccalaureate or associate degree of nursing, diploma in
nursing, or a graduate or equivalent degree in nursing, and who
practices in this state, shall not exceed the resident tuition rate
established for institutions of higher learning governed by the state
board of regents for the first year following the registered nurse's
graduation from a nursing education program approved by the board of
nursing pursuant to section 152.5, or twenty percent of the
registered nurse's total federally guaranteed Stafford loan amount
under the federal family education loan program or the federal direct
loan program, including principal and interest, whichever amount is
less. A registered nurse shall be eligible for the loan forgiveness
program for not more than five consecutive years.
b. The annual amount of nurse educator loan forgiveness shall
not exceed the resident tuition rate established for institutions of
higher learning governed by the state board of regents for the first
year following the nurse educator's graduation from an advanced
formal academic nursing education program approved by the board of
nursing pursuant to section 152.5, or twenty percent of the nurse
educator's total federally guaranteed Stafford loan amount under the
federal family education loan program or the federal direct loan
program, including principal and interest, whichever amount is less.
A nurse educator shall be eligible for the loan forgiveness program
for not more than five consecutive years.
4. A registered nurse and nurse educator loan forgiveness
repayment fund is created for deposit of moneys appropriated to or
received by the commission for use under the program.
Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys deposited in the fund shall not
revert to any fund of the state at the end of any fiscal year but
shall remain in the loan forgiveness repayment fund and be
continuously available for loan forgiveness under the program.
Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on
moneys deposited in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
5. The commission shall submit in a report to the general
assembly by January 1, annually, the number of individuals who
received loan forgiveness pursuant to this section, where the
participants practiced or taught, the amount paid to each program
participant, and other information identified by the commission as
indicators of outcomes from the program.
6. The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
administer this section. Section History: Recent Form
2002 Acts, ch 1131, §1; 2003 Acts, ch 108, § 47; 2007 Acts, ch
214, §26; 2009 Acts, ch 118, §49, 50, 54
Referred to in § 261.2 Footnotes
Implementation of 2009 amendments to subsections 1 and 2
conditioned upon availability of funding; 2009 Acts, ch 118, §54