COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 304
(By Senators Oliverio, Foster, Stollings and Prezioso)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported March 20, 2009]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18C-3-4, relating to
providing state support for students and higher education
institutions participating in the federal Nursing Faculty Loan
Program; creating the Graduate Nurse Faculty Loan Fund as a
special revolving loan fund in the State Treasury; and
establishing program reporting requirements.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18C-3-4, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. HEALTH PROFESSIONALS STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS.
§18C
-3-4. Graduate nursing faculty loans; legislative findings;
establishment of special account; eligibility;
payments; report required.
(a) The Legislature finds as follows:
(1) There is a critical need to increase the number of
qualified nursing faculty in West Virginia;
(2) It is in the best interests of our citizens to encourage
and assist students pursuing graduate nursing degrees who plan to
teach in accredited nursing programs;
(3) The federal Nurse Faculty Loan Program, authorized under
Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, Section 846 (42 U.S.C.
297n-1), provides loan forgiveness for graduate nursing program
graduates who teach in accredited nursing programs; and
(4) State institutions of higher education could leverage more
Nurse Faculty Loan Program funds for students pursuing graduate
degrees in nursing if additional matching funds were made available
to them.
(b) The vice chancellor for administration, in collaboration
with the vice chancellor for health sciences, shall administer a
program to encourage students pursuing graduate nursing degrees to
teach in accredited nursing programs in West Virginia. The program
shall provide funding for two purposes:
(1) To encourage nursing program graduates who received the
federal Nursing Faculty Loan to serve as full-time nursing faculty
members at West Virginia higher education institutions; and
(2) To assist state institutions of higher education that
operate graduate nursing programs to apply for additional federal
Nurse Faculty Loan Program funds.
(c) Annually, any individual who has received a federal
Nursing Faculty Loan, who is eligible for partial loan forgiveness under federal program rules and guidelines and who has served as a
full-time nurse faculty member in an accredited nursing program in
West Virginia during the preceding year may submit to the
commission a sworn statement of service on a form provided for that
purpose. When the commission receives and certifies the statement
of service, the commission shall pay three and three-fourths
percent of the original loan amount, along with any applicable
interest, up to a maximum amount of fifteen percent of the original
loan, along with any applicable interest.
(d) If funds are available after payments under subsection (c)
of this section have been made, the commission may provide state
institutions of higher education that operate graduate nursing
programs matching funds that may be utilized to leverage additional
federal Nurse Faculty Loan Program funds. In no case may state
funds supplant funds that institutions currently are using or
proposing to use as matching funds.
(e) There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
revolving fund known as the Graduate Nurse Faculty Loan Fund
administered by the commission solely for the purpose of
implementing the provisions of this section.
(1) The fund consists of moneys from the following sources:
(A) Appropriations provided by the Legislature;
(B)
All interest earned from investment of the moneys in the
fund
; and
(C) Other amounts which may be made available from external
sources.
(2) The vice chancellor for administration may expend any
funds in the Graduate Nurse Faculty Loan Fund for the purposes
outlined in this section.
(3) All costs associated with administering this section shall
be paid from the Graduate Nurse Faculty Loan Fund.
(f) The vice chancellor for administration shall prepare and
submit a report for inclusion in the statewide report card required
pursuant to section eight, article one-d, chapter eighteen-b of
this code. At a minimum, the report shall include the following
information:
(1) The number of loans forgiven;
(2) The total dollar amount of the loans forgiven;
(3) The total dollar amount of state matching funds utilized
to assist institutions in leveraging additional federal Nurse
Faculty Loan program funds; and
(4) The amount of any unexpended moneys in the fund.
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