2023 Iowa Code 261.114 – Rural Iowa advanced registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant loan repayment program — fund — appropriations
A rural Iowa advanced registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant loan repayment program is established to be administered by the college student aid commission for purposes of providing loan repayments for advanced registered nurse practitioner students and physician assistant students who agree to practice as advanced registered nurse practitioners or physician assistants in service commitment areas for five years and meet the requirements of this section.
An individual is eligible to apply to enter into a program agreement with the commission if the individual is enrolled full-time in and receives a recommendation from an eligible university in a curriculum leading to a doctorate of nursing practice degree or a masters of physician assistant studies degree.
A program agreement shall be entered into by an eligible student and the commission when the eligible student begins the final year of study in an academic program leading to eligibility for licensure as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. The commission shall not enter into any new program agreement under this section on or after July 1, 2018. Under the agreement, to receive loan repayments pursuant to subsection 5, an eligible student shall agree to and shall fulfill all of the following requirements:
The commission shall give priority to eligible students who are residents of Iowa upon enrolling in the eligible university.
The amount of loan repayment an eligible student who enters into an agreement pursuant to subsection 3 shall receive if in compliance with obligations under the agreement shall not exceed four thousand dollars annually for an eligible loan. Payments under this section may be made for each year of eligible practice during a period of five consecutive years and shall not exceed a total of twenty thousand dollars.
A loan repayment recipient shall notify the commission of the recipient’s service commitment area prior to beginning practice in the area in accordance with subsection 3. The commission may waive the requirement that the loan repayment recipient practice in the same service commitment area for all five years.
The commission shall adopt rules to provide, in addition to loan repayment provided to eligible students pursuant to this section and subject to the availability of surplus funds, loan repayment to an advanced registered nurse practitioner or physician assistant who, as provided in subsection 3, received a degree from an eligible university, obtained a license to practice in this state, and is engaged in full-time practice as an advanced registered nurse practitioner or physician assistant in a service commitment area.
A rural Iowa advanced registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant trust fund is created in the state treasury as a separate fund under the control of the commission. The commission shall remit all repayments made pursuant to this section to the rural Iowa advanced registered nurse practitioner and physician assistant trust fund. All moneys deposited or paid into the trust fund are appropriated and made available to the commission to be used for meeting the requirements of this section. Moneys in the fund up to the total amount that an eligible student may receive for an eligible loan in accordance with this section and upon fulfilling the requirements of subsection 3 shall be considered encumbered for the duration of the agreement entered into pursuant to subsection 3. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any balance in the fund on June 30 of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state, but shall be available for purposes of this section in subsequent fiscal years. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any balance in the fund on June 30, 2023, shall not revert to the general fund of the state but shall be transferred to the health care loan repayment fund established pursuant to section 261.116 to be used for purposes of the health care loan repayment program.
For purposes of this section: