TITLE 39

HEALTH AND SAFETY

CHAPTER 25

RURAL NURSING LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM [EFFECTIVE UNTIL JUNE 30, 2029]

39-2505.  SCOPE OF RURAL NURSING LOAN REPAYMENT GRANT SUPPORT. [EFFECTIVE UNTIL JUNE 30, 2029] (1) The board may award grants in accordance with the procedures and criteria in this chapter to nurses for qualified education debt repayments and for nursing education loan repayments.

(2)  Rural nursing loan repayment grant awards.

(a)  Grant award recipients will be determined annually by the board.

(b)  Subject to available funding, the board may offer awards to up to fifty (50) qualified applicants per year.

(c)  A nurse selected to receive a rural nursing loan repayment grant award shall be entitled to receive qualified nursing education debt repayments for a period not to exceed three (3) years.

(d)  Award amounts shall consist of:

(i)   Five thousand dollars ($5,000) after the verified completion of one (1) year of continuous employment by eligible employers in an eligible area;

(ii)  Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) after the verified completion of two (2) years of continuous employment by eligible employers in an eligible area; and

(iii) Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) after the verified completion of three (3) years of continuous employment by eligible employers in an eligible area.

(e)  The award shall not exceed the qualified nursing education debt incurred by the recipient, and the maximum amount of education debt repayments that a rural nurse may receive shall be twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) over a three (3) year period.

(f)  All nursing grant awards shall be paid directly from the rural nursing loan repayment fund to the recipient of the award.

(g)  In determining the awards to be made in any given year, the board and the department shall consider the value of retaining an appropriate balance in the fund for use in future years.

(h)  An award payment to a recipient in a single year is not guaranteed or assured in subsequent years.

(3)  Grant awards are limited to qualified education debt repayments and nursing loan repayments for nurses providing nursing care in eligible areas.

(4)  Nothing in this chapter may be construed to require the provision of awards without an appropriation for that purpose.

History:

[39-2505, added 2023, ch. 60, sec. 1, p. 219.]