CSHB 27(HES): "An Act relating to financial aid received for medical education and financial aid received by students participating in the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education Professional Student Exchange Program; relating to the Western Regional Higher Education Compact; and providing for an effective date."
00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 27(HES) 01 "An Act relating to financial aid received for medical education and financial aid 02 received by students participating in the Western Interstate Commission on Higher 03 Education Professional Student Exchange Program; relating to the Western 04 Regional Higher Education Compact; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 14.42.030(d) is amended to read: 07 (d) The commission may enter into agreements with government or 08 postsecondary education officials of this state or other states to provide postsecondary 09 educational services and programs to Alaska residents pursuing a medical education 10 degree . An agreement with another state must be limited to services and programs 11 that are unavailable in Alaska. The commission shall require a person participating 12 in a medical education program offered under this subsection to agree to the repayment 13 condition imposed under AS 14.43.510 [AS 14.44.040]. 14 * Sec. 2. AS 14.43 is amended by adding a new section to read:
01 Article 6A. Medical Education Support. 02 Sec. 14.43.510. Repayment condition for medical education program 03 participants. (a) Except as provided under (b) and (c) of this section, as a condition 04 of participating in a medical education program under AS 14.42.030(d), a program 05 participant shall agree to repay the financial support provided by the state on behalf 06 of the student. The financial support to be repaid is equal to the difference between 07 resident and nonresident tuition at the contracting postsecondary institution, plus 08 interest, including any differential for the first year of the program delivered at the 09 University of Alaska, Anchorage. The rate of interest is equal to the 12th Federal 10 Reserve District discount rate in effect on March 1 of the year in which the financial 11 support is provided plus two percentage points. Interest imposed under this subsection 12 begins to accrue when the person terminates studies under the medical education 13 program. Accrued interest shall be added to the principal balance of the repayment 14 obligation at the time the borrower is obligated to commence repayment and at the end 15 of a deferment period. 16 (b) If a program participant under (a) of this section has graduated from the 17 medical education program for which the financial support was received and is 18 employed in the state in the field for which the person received the financial support, 19 including employment in the state in a medical residency program, the repayment 20 obligation shall be forgiven and considered a grant in an amount equal to the following 21 percentages plus accrued interest: 22 (1) one year employment, 20 percent; 23 (2) two years employment, an additional 20 percent; 24 (3) three years employment, an additional 20 percent; 25 (4) four years employment, an additional 20 percent; 26 (5) five years employment, an additional 20 percent. 27 (c) Repayment under (a) of this section is required to begin not later than six 28 months after the person terminates studies under the medical education program, 29 except that repayment shall be deferred for a person who (1) qualifies for forgiveness 30 under (b) of this section for as long as the person remains qualified for forgiveness 31 under (b) of this section; (2) is employed in a medical residency program in the state
01 for as long as the person remains in the medical residency program; or (3) is 02 performing a service obligation imposed by the National Health Service Corps, the 03 Indian Health Service, or the Uniformed Service Scholarship Program for as long as 04 the person is performing the service. Forgiveness under (b) of this section only applies 05 to that portion of the repayment obligation that has not been repaid to the state. 06 (d) If a person meets the qualifying conditions under this section for 07 forgiveness after beginning repayment, the repayment requirement is deferred in the 08 month following qualification for forgiveness. Repayment shall be deferred as long 09 as the person remains qualified or until the balance of the repayment obligation has 10 been fully forgiven. If the person is delinquent or in default on the person's regular 11 repayment schedule, repayment shall continue until the person is current in payments. 12 A period of time during which the person is making past due payments may not be 13 considered as a qualifying period for the purpose of calculating forgiveness benefits. 14 (e) For purposes of qualifying for forgiveness under this section, a person must 15 be a full-time employee for a period of at least six months in order to qualify for a 16 prorated forgiveness benefit. In this subsection, "full-time employee" does not include 17 seasonal or temporary employment. 18 (f) A person's obligation to repay under this section ends if the person dies 19 and is deferred during any period in which a physician certifies that the person is 20 totally disabled. 21 (g) This section does not apply to loans received by a person under 22 AS 14.43.010 - 14.43.160 or 14.43.710 - 14.43.750. 23 (h) The commission may adopt regulations to implement this section. Except 24 as provided in this section, regulations adopted under this subsection may not exempt 25 or defer a repayment required under this section. 26 * Sec. 3. AS 14.44.035 is amended to read: 27 Sec. 14.44.035. Administration. The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary 28 Education shall administer the state's participation in the Western Regional Higher 29 Education Compact. The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education may 30 adopt regulations to implement AS 14.44.010 - 14.44.040. 31 * Sec. 4. AS 14.44.040 is repealed and reenacted to read:
01 Sec. 14.44.040. Repayment condition for program participants. As a 02 condition of eligibility for receiving financial support from the state under the 03 Professional Student Exchange Program of the Western Interstate Commission on 04 Higher Education, a program participant shall agree to repay to the state the support 05 provided by the state on behalf of that person, plus interest. 06 * Sec. 5. APPLICABILITY. Section 4 of this Act applies to a person who receives 07 financial support from the state under the Professional Student Exchange Program of the 08 Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education on or after July 1, 1999. 09 * Sec. 6. TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. Notwithstanding sec. 8 of this Act, the Alaska 10 Commission on Postsecondary Education may immediately proceed to adopt regulations 11 necessary to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative 12 Procedure Act), but not before July 1, 1999. 13 * Sec. 7. Section 6 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 14 * Sec. 8. Except as provided in sec. 7 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 1999.