Awards granted under the provisions of this Article apply to awards made during and prior to the School Year 1999 – 2000. Awards granted after School Year 1999 – 2000 shall be made pursuant to the provisions of Article 4A of this Chapter.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:4 (Nov. 23, 1999).

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ARTICLE 4A
PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL AWARDS
(FOR SCHOOL YEARS 2000 – 2001 AND THEREAFTER)

2019 NOTE: Pursuant to P.L. 31-237:3 (Dec. 6, 2012), starting with Award Year 2013-2014, financial assistance awards would be granted only as provided by Chapter 28 of Title 17, Guam Code Ann., which provides that the Jesus U. Torres Professional and Technical Awards (For Academic Years 2013-2014 and Thereafter) are granted pursuant to Article 4.

§ 15A401. Students Entitled to Awards.
§ 15A402. Benefits.
§ 15A403. Repayment of Benefits and Service Credit.
§ 15A404. Forfeiture of Awards.
§ 15A405. Rules and Regulations.
§ 15A406. Applicability of this Article.

§ 15A401. Students Entitled to Awards.

There are established professional and technical annual awards for graduate studies. On or before December 1st of each year, the Board shall conduct a public hearing to receive the opinion and recommendation of the community, and the Guam Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, or its equivalent, and may use findings of any other survey or study to determine those areas in which additional professional and technical skills are needed. From those hearings the Board shall establish a list of occupational priorities for Guam prior to considering applications for the awards. The number of awards and occupational priorities to be recommended shall be submitted to I Liheslaturan Guåhan no later than January 1st of each year.

Funds appropriated to provide professional and technical awards, and which are not totally expended, may be used in succeeding years so as to increase the number of annual awards. The awards provided in this Article are subject to the following limitations:

(a) the applicant must be a bona fide resident of Guam for a continuous period of not less than ten (10) years prior to application, and a United States citizen, or a permanent resident alien, and must have achieved an overall grade
point average of 3.00 in undergraduate studies if pursuing a master’s degree, or 3.33 in a master’s degree program if pursuing a doctoral degree, or an irrevocable letter of acceptance from an U.S. accredited professional school, as recognized by the Council on Post Secondary Accreditation (‘COPA’), or its successors;

(b) the applicant must agree to the repayment terms as specified in §§ 15A403 and 15A404;

(c) the applicant must present to the Board, prior to granting of the award, satisfactory proof that such applicant has been accepted by an U.S. accredited college or university, as recognized by COPA, or its successors, as a full-time student to pursue a program of study in the field applied for; and

(d) the colleges or universities must be properly accredited as recognized by COPA, or its successors, and must be approved by the Board; provided, however, that no award shall be granted for studies at an off-Guam institution in a program that is available at the University of Guam.

The Board shall select the recipients of the awards upon the basis of scholastic ability, financial need and aptitude. The Board may also use work or life-time experience and achievement criteria in place of the aptitude criteria, if because of such experience, it can be reasonably determined that the applicant will succeed in a course of study funded by an award herein.

In determining financial need, the applicant must submit a Student Aid Report (‘SAR’), which results from the completion of a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (‘FAFSA’) as documentary evidence of need.

No benefits as specified in § 15A402 shall be continued beyond the number of years normally required to complete studies in the specific academic degree program for which the award was granted, except under exceptional circumstances, as determined by the Board..

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:2 (Nov. 23, 1999). Amended by P.L.
26-042:4 (Oct. 5, 2001).§ 15A402. Benefits.

Students entitled to awards pursuant to this Article shall receive the following benefits:

(a) payment of tuition and fees;

(b) an annual grant loan of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per year to be used for room and board, books and educational supplies, to be disbursed in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board, such grant loans to be non-interest bearing, except as to unpaid delinquent amounts; and

(c) cost of airfare for economy airline tickets; one (1) ticket to the school of attendance and one (1) ticket to return to Guam upon completion of studies.

Total for items (a) and (b) of this Section shall not exceed Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00) per year, unless the course of study is in the area of medicine or dentistry. If the course of study is in medicine or dentistry, the total for items (a) and (b) of this Section shall not exceed Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) per year.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:2 (Nov. 23, 1999).

§ 15A403. Repayment of Benefits and Service Credit.

The financial assistance granted under this Article shall be repaid on a two-to-one (2:1) basis for each year that assistance was provided through employment on Guam or in the office of Guam’s Delegate to Congress. In the event that any portion of the assistance is not repaid through service credit, the amount unpaid in service credit shall become due and payable.

(a) Every student granted an award pursuant to this Article shall execute a promissory note agreeing to repay said loan over a period to be determined by the Board, but not in excess of ten (10) years from the contemplated date of the termination or the completion of the course of studies for which the award was approved. The amount of the note shall be left blank until the completion of studies, in which the amount of the note will be the total monetary amount of
assistance provided by the award. Said promissory note shall be non-interest bearing, except as to amounts unpaid by service credit that are due and payable under the note, which shall be subject to interest at the annual rate of ten percent (10%). No amounts shall be considered due and payable during the time in which the awardee is repaying service credit pursuant to the provisions herein.

(b) Any student granted an award pursuant to this Article shall receive service credit against amounts due under the promissory note as follows:

(1) The amount of the note shall be the total amount of assistance provided. Service credit shall be applied in against the note in monthly installments.

(2) The number of monthly installments to be paid shall be based on the number of months for which assistance was provided times two (2).

(3) In the event of default, the balance due in monetary terms shall be the amount of assistance provided less the amount repaid through service credit. The amount repaid through service credit shall be the total amount of assistance provided divided by the number of installments of service credit due as calculated in Item (2) of this Paragraph times the number of installments paid through service credit.

(c) Any awardee granted an award pursuant to the provision of this Article must commence work on Guam within six (6) months following the completion of studies, unless as extended by the Board for extenuating circumstances, or will be in default as of the date classes ended. The permanent transfer to an off-Island office or branch of a Guam employer shall not count towards service credit and shall result in default on the date of transfer and interest shall begin on such date of default. Permanent transfers, for purposes of this Section, are those that are longer than six (6) months. The Board shall establish such policies prescribing the length and terms of repayment, the

interest rate to be charged, the collection of delinquent accounts or in the event of default.

(d) If any temporary leave of absence is expected to last longer than forty-five (45) days, the awardee shall inform the University of Guam of the length of time expected to be off-Island, the reason for such time off- Island and the address while off-Island. As long as the employee remains employed on Guam while off-Island temporarily, the employee shall receive service credit for such employment, during the time the employee is off- Island for the purposes described herein.

(e) Death or total disability of the student shall terminate any obligations on the note. Total disability for purposes of this Section is defined as any physiological or psychological condition that will prevent the student from obtaining or maintaining any form of gainful employment for a period of not less than three (3) years. The Board may defer repayment for temporary disability. Total disability requires the certification of two (2) physicians licensed to practice in the United States.

(f) In the event a student forfeits an award as defined in
§ 15A404, no service credit shall be granted and repaid according to the provisions herein for those years in which
assistance was provided and all awards plus interest shall be
repaid according to the provisions herein.

The Board of Regents may grant deferrals of repayment through service in cases where family or medical emergency arises.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:2 (Nov. 23, 1999).

§ 15A404. Forfeiture of Awards.

Expulsion from a school or institution attended, or suspension for a period of the same or greater than one (1) academic semester, or its equivalent, in such school or institution, or failure to complete the program for which the award was granted, or failure to comply with the regulations of the Board, shall result in a forfeiture of the award provided by
this Article. For purposes of this Article, a person shall be considered to have completed the course of studies upon the event or events of forfeiture as provided in this Section.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:2 (Nov. 23, 1999).

§ 15A405. Rules and Regulations.

The Board of Regents shall develop rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Adjudication Law for the administration of the program enacted by this Article. In addition to the administration of the program, such Rules and Regulations shall include provisions for:

(a) conditions for continuance of an Award;

(b) construction of applicable promissory notes;

(c) time frames for the completion of program studies;
and

(d) provisions for the temporary suspension of
completion of a degree program or repayment of awards for cases beyond the control of the scholarship recipient such as personal illness or death or illness of a family member.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:2 (Nov. 23, 1999).

2012 NOTE: In maintaining the general codification scheme of the GCA the Compiler changed the hierarchy of subsections beginning with “”Numbers”” to “”Lowercase Letters”” in this section.

§ 15A406. Applicability of this Article.

This Article shall apply only to awards made during the academic year 2000 – 2001 and thereafter.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-086:2 (Nov. 23, 1999).

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ARTICLE 5
AWARDS FOR CITIZENS OF THE REGION AND RESIDENTS
WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
COMMISSION

2019 NOTE: Pursuant to P.L. 31-237:3 (Dec. 6, 2012), beginning
Award Year 2013-2014, financial assistance awards would be granted only as specified in Chapter 28 of Title 17, GCA. Financial assistance will no longer be granted under this program.