(a) The board shall establish two types of awards as follows:
(1) A number of loans or nonrefundable scholarships for the Alabama Rural Dental Health Scholars Program established pursuant to Section 16-47-76 and operated by the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama and supported by the University of Alabama School of Dentistry.
(2) The board shall operate the Alabama Dental Service Program, under which loans may be awarded by the board to applicants of good character who are enrolled in the University of Alabama School of Dentistry or any other educational institution accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association or have recently completed a dental education or residency program. Loans awarded under the program shall be based in part on the economic need and scholastic ability of each applicant. For applicants it approves to participate in the program, the board may award each participant a loan worth up to the four-year cost of attendance based on in-state tuition and required fees at the University of Alabama School of Dentistry.
(b) The board may continue to make scholarship and loan awards in the same amount and under the same terms to any recipient who received a scholarship or loan from the board prior to the effective date of the act adding this subsection.
