00HOUSE BILL NO. 488                                                                                                      
01 "An Act relating to the scholarship loan program; and providing for an effective                                        
02 date."                                                                                                                  
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1.  AS 14.43.120(b) is amended to read:                                                                    
05  (b)  Except as provided under (v) of this section, scholarship                                                      
06 [SCHOLARSHIP] loans may only be used to attend a                                                                        
07   (1)  career education program located in the state that has been                                                   
08  (A)  approved by the commission before July 1, 1986;                                                                
09  (B)  operating for two years before the borrower attends; or                                                        
10  (C)  operating for one year before the borrower attends and the                                                     
11 commission determines the program is operating on a fiscally sound                                                      
12 basis; or                                                                                                               
13   (2)  a college or university located in the state that                                                             
14  (A)  has been approved by the commission before July 1, 1986,                                                       

01 or has been operating for at least two years before the borrower attends;                                               
02  (B)  is accredited by a national or regional accreditation                                                          
03 association recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation                                                    
04 or is approved by the commission; and                                                                                   
05  (C)  if the loans are federally insured, is approved by the United                                                  
06 States Secretary of Education.                                                                                          
07    * Sec. 2.  AS 14.43.120 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                               
08  (v)  Notwithstanding (b)(2) of this section, a scholarship loan may be used to                                        
09 attend a graduate degree program located outside the state if the commission                                            
10 determines that the graduate degree program is not offered in the state.                                                
11    * Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  (a)  Except as provided in (b) of this section, the provisions                            
12 of AS 14.43.120(b), as amended by sec. 1 of this Act, apply to scholarship loan contracts                               
13 entered into on or after the effective date of this Act.                                                                
14  (b)  The requirement of AS 14.43.120(b), as amended by sec. 1 of this Act, that the                                    
15 career education, or college or university program be located in the state, does not apply to                           
16 a loan under AS 14.43.090 - 14.43.160 if the applicant for the loan is a participant in the                             
17 student loan program under AS 14.43.090 - 14.43.160 on the effective date of this Act and                               
18 (1) maintains uninterrupted participation in the loan program until the career education,                               
19 college, or university program is completed; or (2) interrupts participation in the loan program                        
20 for a period of 12 months or less, and then continues uninterrupted participation until the                             
21 career education or college or university program is completed.  In this subsection,                                    
22 "participant" means a person who has entered into a contract to use proceeds of a loan under                            
23 AS 14.43.090 -14.43.160 to enroll as a student in an out-of-state career education program,                             
24 or an out-of-state college or university degree program described under AS 14.43.120(b).                                
25    * Sec. 4.  This Act takes effect July 1, 1994.