79-8,137.04 Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program; contract requirements; loan payments; suspension; loan forgiveness; amount.
79-8,137.04. EnhancingExcellence in Teaching Program; contract requirements; loan payments; suspension;loan forgiveness; amount.(1) Prior to receivingany money from a loan pursuant to the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program,an eligible student shall enter into a contract with the department. Suchcontract shall be exempt from the requirements of sections 73-501 to 73-509.The contract shall require that if (a) the borrower is not employed as a full-timeteacher teaching in an approved or accredited school in Nebraska for a timeperiod equal to the number of years required for loan forgiveness pursuantto subsection (2) of this section or (b) the borrower does not complete therequirements for graduation within five consecutive years after receivingthe initial loan under the program, then the loan shall be repaid, with interestat the rate fixed pursuant to section 45-103 accruing as of the date the borrowersigned the contract and actual collection costs as determined by the department.If a borrower fails to remain enrolled at an eligible institution or otherwisefails to meet the requirements of an eligible student, repayment of the loanshall commence within six months after such change in eligibility. The StateBoard of Education may by rules and regulations provide for exceptions tothe conditions of repayment pursuant to this subsection based upon mitigatingcircumstances.(2) If the borrower (a) successfully completes the eligible graduate programand major for which the borrower is receiving a forgivable loan pursuant tothe Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program andmaintains certification pursuant to sections 79-806 to 79-815, (b) maintainsemployment as a teacher in an approved or accredited school in this state,and (c) otherwise meets the requirements of the contract, payments shall besuspended for the number of years that the borrower is required to remainemployed as a teacher in this state under the contract. Beginning after thefirst two years of teaching full-time in Nebraska following graduation forthe degree for which the loan was received, for each year that the borrowerteaches full-time in Nebraska pursuant to the contract, the loan shall beforgiven in an amount equal to three thousand dollars, except that if theborrower teaches full-time in a school district that is in a local systemclassified as very sparse as defined in section 79-1003, teaches in a schoolbuilding in which at least forty percent of the students are poverty studentsas defined in section 79-1003, or teaches in an accredited or approved privateschool in Nebraska in which at least forty percent of the enrolled studentsqualified for free lunches as determined by the most recent data availablefrom the department, payments shall be forgiven each year in an amount equalto six thousand dollars. SourceLaws 2009, LB547, § 11; Laws 2010, LB1071, § 11.Operative Date: April 15, 2010