261.111 - TEACHER SHORTAGE FORGIVABLE LOAN PROGRAM.
261.111 TEACHER SHORTAGE FORGIVABLE LOAN PROGRAM.
1. A teacher shortage forgivable loan program is established to
be administered by the college student aid commission. An individual
is eligible for the forgivable loan program if the individual is a
resident of this state who is enrolled as a sophomore, junior,
senior, or graduate student in an approved practitioner preparation
program in a designated area in which teacher shortages are
anticipated at an institution of higher learning under the control of
the state board of regents or an accredited private institution as
defined in section 261.9.
2. The director of the department of education shall annually
designate the areas in which teacher shortages are anticipated. The
director shall periodically conduct a survey of school districts,
accredited nonpublic schools, and approved practitioner preparation
programs to determine current shortage areas and predict future
shortage areas.
3. Each applicant shall, in accordance with the rules of the
commission, do the following:
a. Complete and file an application for a teacher shortage
forgivable loan. 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 forgivable loan will be evaluated and
determined.
4. Forgivable loans to eligible students shall not become due
until after the student graduates or leaves school. The individual's
total loan amount, including principal and interest, shall be reduced
by twenty percent for each year in which the individual remains an
Iowa resident and is employed in Iowa by a school district or an
accredited nonpublic school as a practitioner in the teacher shortage
area for which the loan was approved. If the commission determines
that the person does not meet the criteria for forgiveness of the
principal and interest payments, the commission shall establish a
plan for repayment of the principal and interest over a ten-year
period. If a person required to make the repayment does not make the
required payments, the commission shall provide for payment
collection.
5. The annual amount of a teacher shortage forgivable loan shall
not exceed the resident tuition rate established for institutions of
higher education governed by the state board of regents, or the
amount of the student's established financial need, whichever is
less.
6. The commission shall prescribe by rule the interest rate for
the forgivable loan.
7. A teacher shortage forgivable loan repayment fund is created
for deposit of payments made by forgivable loan recipients who do not
fulfill the conditions of the forgivable loan program and any other
moneys appropriated to or received by the commission for deposit in
the fund. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys deposited in the fund
shall not revert to the general fund of the state at the end of any
fiscal year but shall remain in the forgivable loan repayment fund
and be continuously available to make additional loans under the
program. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or
earnings on moneys deposited in the fund shall be credited to the
fund.
8. For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise
requires, "teacher" means the same as defined in section 272.1.
9. The commission shall submit in a report to the general
assembly by January 1, annually, the number of students who received
forgivable loans pursuant to this section, which institutions the
students were enrolled in, and the amount paid to each of the
institutions on behalf of the students who received forgivable loans
pursuant to this section and the total amount of loans outstanding,
including a schedule of years remaining on the outstanding loans. Section History: Recent Form
98 Acts, ch 1215, §39; 99 Acts, ch 205, §41; 2006 Acts, ch 1180,
§21, 22; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §29, 30