(1) Prior to receiving any money from a loan pursuant to the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program, an eligible student shall enter into a contract with the commission. Such contract shall be exempt from the requirements of sections 73-501 to 73-510. The contract shall require that if (a) the borrower is not employed as a full-time teacher teaching in an approved or accredited school in Nebraska for a time period equal to the number of years required for loan forgiveness pursuant to subsection (2) of this section or (b) the borrower does not complete the requirements for graduation, for the additional secular teaching endorsement, or for the approval to teach postsecondary courses by a Nebraska postsecondary educational institution within five consecutive years after receiving the initial loan under the program, then the loan shall be repaid, with interest at the rate fixed pursuant to section 45-103 accruing as of the date the borrower signed the contract and actual collection costs as determined by the commission. If a borrower fails to remain enrolled at an eligible institution or otherwise fails to meet the requirements of an eligible student, repayment of the loan shall commence within six months after such change in eligibility. The commission may by rules and regulations provide for exceptions to the conditions of repayment pursuant to this subsection based upon mitigating circumstances.

(2)(a) If the borrower (i) successfully completes the eligible graduate program for which the borrower is receiving a forgivable loan pursuant to the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program and maintains certification pursuant to sections 79-806 to 79-815, (ii) maintains employment as a teacher in an approved or accredited school in this state, and (iii) otherwise meets the requirements of the contract, payments shall be suspended for the number of years that the borrower is required to remain employed as a teacher in this state under the contract.

(b) For recipients who received funds for the first time prior to July 1, 2016, beginning after the first two years of teaching full-time in Nebraska following graduation for the degree for which the loan was received, for each year that the borrower teaches full-time in Nebraska pursuant to the contract, the loan shall be forgiven in an amount equal to three thousand dollars, except that if the borrower teaches full-time in a school district that is in a local system classified as very sparse as defined in section 79-1003, teaches in a school building that provides free meals to all students pursuant to the community eligibility provision, teaches in a school building in which at least forty percent of the students are poverty students as defined in section 79-1003, or teaches in an accredited or approved private school in Nebraska in which at least forty percent of the enrolled students qualified for free lunches as determined by the most recent data available from the State Department of Education, payments shall be forgiven each year in an amount equal to six thousand dollars.

(c) For recipients who received funds for the first time on or after July 1, 2016, beginning after the first two years of teaching full-time in Nebraska following completion of the eligible graduate program for which the loan was received, for each year that the borrower teaches full-time in Nebraska pursuant to the contract, the loan shall be forgiven in an amount equal to one thousand five hundred dollars, except that if the borrower teaches full-time in a school district that is in a local system classified as very sparse as defined in section 79-1003, teaches in a school building in which at least forty percent of the students are poverty students as defined in section 79-1003, teaches in a school building that provides free meals to all students pursuant to the community eligibility provision, or teaches in an accredited private school or educational service unit or an approved private school in Nebraska in which at least forty percent of the enrolled students qualified for free lunches as determined by the most recent data available from the State Department of Education, payments shall be forgiven each year in an amount equal to one thousand five hundred dollars for the first year of loan forgiveness and three thousand dollars for each year of loan forgiveness thereafter.