SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL 197

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

AN ACT

RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR LOAN REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE BY THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT FOR MINORITY DOCTORAL DEGREE RECIPIENTS TEACHING IN CERTAIN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES AT PUBLIC POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN NEW MEXICO.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 21-21I-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-21I-1. SHORT TITLE.--Chapter 21, Article 21I NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance [Loan for Service Program] Act"."

     SECTION 2. Section 21-21I-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-21I-2. PURPOSE.--The purpose of the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance [Loan for Service Program] Act is to increase the number of ethnic minorities and women available to teach engineering, physical or life sciences, mathematics and other academic disciplines in which ethnic minorities [and] or women are demonstrably underrepresented in New Mexico colleges and universities. Additionally, the purpose of the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance [Loan for Service Program] Act is to create a partnership between the state, higher education institutions and students that will lead to greater participation of ethnic minorities and women in the ranks of college and university faculties, enhancing educational opportunities and quality for all New Mexico [citizens] residents."

     SECTION 3. Section 21-21I-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-21I-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance [Loan for Service Program] Act:

          [A. "academic committee" means a committee at a sponsoring institution appointed by the president of the institution and composed of two faculty members, two academic administrators and one central administrator;

          B. "commission"] A. "department" means the [commission on] higher education department;

          [C.] B. "eligible institution" means [a commission-approved] an accredited institution of higher education that offers a doctoral degree-granting program in the fields of engineering, physical or life sciences, mathematics or other academic disciplines in which ethnic minorities [and] or women are demonstrably underrepresented;

          [D. "sponsoring institution" means a four-year public post-secondary institution located in New Mexico; and

          E. "student" means an individual who is an ethnic minority or a woman and who has been accepted for enrollment at an eligible institution to undertake a post-baccalaureate course of instruction in the field of engineering, physical or life sciences or mathematics]

          C. "loan" means a grant of money pursuant to a contract between a recipient and a lender requiring repayment of principal with interest. A lender may include the federal government, a bank or the state; and

          D. "recipient" means an individual who is a member of an ethnic minority or is a woman and who has successfully completed a doctoral degree-granting program at an eligible institution in the field of engineering, physical or life sciences or mathematics or another academic discipline in which ethnic minorities or women are underrepresented."

     SECTION 4. Section 21-21I-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

     "21-21I-4. CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY.--

          A. The department may award a minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant [may be awarded to a student] to a recipient who:

          [A. has successfully completed all requirements for a baccalaureate degree at a New Mexico four-year public post-secondary institution in engineering, physical or life sciences, mathematics or any other academic discipline in which ethnic minorities and women are demonstrably underrepresented at a New Mexico four-year public post-secondary institution;

          B. has met the admissions requirements and is accepted for enrollment as a full-time doctoral student in an eligible institution;

                C.] (1) has been [interviewed and approved by an academic committee from the sponsoring] hired by a public post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position;

                [D.] (2) has complied with all of the rules [and regulations] adopted by the [commission] department pursuant to the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance [Loan for Service Program] Act; and

                [E.] (3) is a citizen of the United States.

          B. The department shall give preference to a recipient who has completed a post-secondary degree at an institution designated in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico."

     SECTION 5. Section 21-21I-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 5) is amended to read:

     "21-21I-5. MINORITY DOCTORAL [ASSISTANCE] LOAN REPAYMENT CONTRACTS AND TERMS.--

          A. A minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant shall be evidenced by a contract between the [student] recipient and the [sponsoring institution] department and shall be signed by the recipient and an authorized representative of the department.

          B. The contract shall

                [(1) provide for the payment to the student by the sponsoring institution of no more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per year for no more than four years;

                (2) be conditioned upon the student's earning a doctoral degree in the field of engineering, physical or life sciences, mathematics or any other academic discipline in which ethnic minorities and women are demonstrably underrepresented;

                (3) require the student to agree to begin to] provide that, in consideration for the department's payment of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per year for up to four years to a lender on behalf of the recipient, the recipient shall teach in a full-time faculty position at [the sponsoring] a public post-secondary educational institution [within five years of completion of the doctoral degree and

                (4) require the student to teach in a faculty position at the sponsoring institution] in New Mexico for a minimum of one year for each year a minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant [was] is awarded.

          C. [Grants to students] Grant funds received by a recipient who [fail] fails to complete the contract terms [of their contract] shall be [considered loans] converted to a loan with an applied annual interest rate equal to the treasury note rate in existence at the time the contract is entered into plus two percent. The loan shall become due [in equal parts] to the [state and the sponsoring institution] department on behalf of the state immediately upon the [student's] recipient's termination or breach of the [contractual agreement] contract.

          D. [The general form of the contract shall be approved by the attorney general and signed by the student and an authorized representative of the sponsoring institution.] The [sponsoring institution] department is vested with full and complete authority and power to sue in its own name for any balance due it and the state from [any student] a recipient violating the terms of [any such] a contract under the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act.

          E. [The commission shall approve all minority doctoral assistance contracts entered into between students and sponsoring institutions.] The following debts incurred by a recipient are not eligible for payment by the department under the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act:

                (1) amounts incurred as a result of participation in state loan-for-service programs or other state programs whose purpose states that service is to be provided in exchange for financial assistance;

                (2) scholarships that have a service component or obligation;

                (3) personal loans from individuals;

                (4) loans that exceed individual standard school expense levels; and

                (5) loans that are eligible for another state or federal loan repayment program."

     SECTION 6. Section 21-21I-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 7, as amended) is repealed and a new Section 21-21I-7 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:

     "21-21I-7. [NEW MATERIAL] RULEMAKING.--The department shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act. The rules:

          A. shall provide procedures for awarding minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grants;

          B. shall provide procedures for determining the amount of each minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant; and

          C. may provide for the disbursement of funds to a lender on behalf of a recipient in annual or other periodic installments."

     SECTION 7. REPEAL.--Section 21-21I-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), Chapter 8, Section 6) is repealed.

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