42 USC 297o – Eligible individual student loan repayment
(a) In general
The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, may enter into an agreement with eligible individuals for the repayment of education loans, in accordance with this section, to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty.
(b) Agreements
Terms Used In 42 USC 297o
- accredited: when applied to any program of nurse education means a program accredited by a recognized body or bodies, or by a State agency, approved for such purpose by the Secretary of Education and when applied to a hospital, school, college, or university (or a unit thereof) means a hospital, school, college, or university (or a unit thereof) which is accredited by a recognized body or bodies, or by a State agency, approved for such purpose by the Secretary of Education. See 42 USC 296
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
- school of nursing: means an accredited (as defined in paragraph 6) collegiate, associate degree, or diploma school of nursing in a State where graduates are&mdash. See 42 USC 296
- Secretary: means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. See 42 USC 201
Each agreement entered into under this subsection shall require that the eligible individual shall serve as a full-time member of the faculty of an accredited school of nursing, for a total period, in the aggregate, of at least 4 years during the 6-year period beginning on the later of—
(1) the date on which the individual receives a master’s or doctorate nursing degree from an accredited school of nursing; or
(2) the date on which the individual enters into an agreement under this subsection.
(c) Agreement provisions
Agreements entered into pursuant to subsection (b) shall be entered into on such terms and conditions as the Secretary may determine, except that—
(1) not more than 10 months after the date on which the 6-year period described under subsection (b) begins, but in no case before the individual starts as a full-time member of the faculty of an accredited school of nursing 1 the Secretary shall begin making payments, for and on behalf of that individual, on the outstanding principal of, and interest on, any loan of that individual obtained to pay for such degree;
(2) for an individual who has completed a master’s in nursing or equivalent degree in nursing—
(A) payments may not exceed $10,000 per calendar year; and
(B) total payments may not exceed $40,000 during the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years (after fiscal year 2011, such amounts shall be adjusted to provide for a cost-of-attendance increase for the yearly loan rate and the aggregate loan); and
(3) for an individual who has completed a doctorate or equivalent degree in nursing—
(A) payments may not exceed $20,000 per calendar year; and
(B) total payments may not exceed $80,000 during the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years (adjusted for subsequent fiscal years as provided for in the same manner as in paragraph (2)(B)).
(d) Breach of agreement
(1) In general
In the case of any agreement made under subsection (b), the individual is liable to the Federal Government for the total amount paid by the Secretary under such agreement, and for interest on such amount at the maximum legal prevailing rate, if the individual fails to meet the agreement terms required under such subsection.
(2) Waiver or suspension of liability
In the case of an individual making an agreement for purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide for the waiver or suspension of liability under such paragraph if compliance by the individual with the agreement involved is impossible or would involve extreme hardship to the individual or if enforcement of the agreement with respect to the individual would be unconscionable.
(3) Date certain for recovery
Subject to paragraph (2), any amount that the Federal Government is entitled to recover under paragraph (1) shall be paid to the United States not later than the expiration of the 3-year period beginning on the date the United States becomes so entitled.
(4) Availability
Amounts recovered under paragraph (1) shall be available to the Secretary for making loan repayments under this section and shall remain available for such purpose until expended.
(e) Eligible individual defined
For purposes of this section, the term “eligible individual” means an individual who—
(1) is a United States citizen, national, or lawful permanent resident;
(2) holds an unencumbered license as a registered nurse; and
(3) has either already completed a master’s or doctorate nursing program at an accredited school of nursing or is currently enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in such a program.
(f) Priority
For the purposes of this section and section 297n-1 of this title, funding priority will be awarded to School of Nursing Student Loans 2 that support doctoral nursing students or Individual Student Loan Repayment 3 that support doctoral nursing students.