1. A teacher shortage forgivable loan program is established to be administered by the college student aid commission. An individual is eligible for the forgivable loan program if the individual is a resident of this state who is enrolled as a sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student in an approved practitioner preparation program in a designated area in which teacher shortages are anticipated at an institution of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents or an accredited private institution as defined in section 261.9.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 261.111

  • Commission: means the college student aid commission. See Iowa Code 261.87
  • Financial need: means the difference between the student's financial resources available, including those available from the student's parents as determined by a completed parents' confidential statement, and the student's anticipated expenses while attending an eligible institution. See Iowa Code 261.87
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • Loan: means a deposit of property not accompanied by a transfer of title to the property. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • School: means an agency of the state or political subdivision of the state, individual, partnership, company, firm, society, trust, association, corporation, or any combination which meets any of the following criteria:
     a. See Iowa Code 261B.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Student: means a person who enrolls in or seeks to enroll in a course of instruction offered or conducted by a school. See Iowa Code 261B.2
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The director of the department of education shall annually designate the areas in which teacher shortages are anticipated. The director shall periodically conduct a survey of school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and approved practitioner preparation programs to determine current shortage areas and predict future shortage areas.
 3. Each applicant shall, in accordance with the rules of the commission, do the following:

 a. Complete and file an application for a teacher shortage forgivable loan. The individual shall be responsible for the prompt submission of any information required by the commission.
 b. File a new application and submit information as required by the commission annually on the basis of which the applicant’s eligibility for the renewed forgivable loan will be evaluated and determined.
 4. Forgivable loans to eligible students shall not become due until after the student graduates or leaves school. The individual’s total loan amount, including principal and interest, shall be reduced by twenty percent for each year in which the individual remains an Iowa resident and is employed in Iowa by a school district or an accredited nonpublic school as a practitioner in the teacher shortage area for which the loan was approved. If the commission determines that the person does not meet the criteria for forgiveness of the principal and interest payments, the commission shall establish a plan for repayment of the principal and interest over a ten-year period. If a person required to make the repayment does not make the required payments, the commission shall provide for payment collection.
 5. The annual amount of a teacher shortage forgivable loan shall not exceed the resident tuition rate established for institutions of higher education governed by the state board of regents, or the amount of the student’s established financial need, whichever is less.
 6. The commission shall prescribe by rule the interest rate for the forgivable loan.
 7. The commission shall deposit payments made by forgivable loan recipients who do not fulfill the conditions of the forgivable loan program in the teach Iowa scholar fund established pursuant to section 261.110, subsection 6, to be used for the purposes of the teach Iowa scholar program.
 8. For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “teacher” means the same as defined in section 272.1.
 9. The commission shall submit in a report to the general assembly by January 1, annually, the number of students who received forgivable loans pursuant to this section, which institutions the students were enrolled in, and the amount paid to each of the institutions on behalf of the students who received forgivable loans pursuant to this section and the total amount of loans outstanding, including a schedule of years remaining on the outstanding loans.
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