§ 34-21-96 — Awarding of Loans and Terms of Repayment

(a)(1) The board shall establish and award loans to provide for the training of qualified applicants for admission to or students in accredited nursing education programs approved by the board who are pursuing, or have completed within the five years immediately preceding the current loan term, a graduate degree to become a certified registered nurse practitioner (CRNP), a certified nurse midwife (CNM), or a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), but only for individuals who have signed contracts as provided in subsection (b). The board may permit eligible individuals to apply for a loan under the Alabama Loan-Repayment Program for Advanced-Practice Nursing in any scholastic year and for any previously completed scholastic year.
(2) The board may award to an eligible individual, for as many as three years for an individual pursuing or holding an eligible master’s degree and as many as four years for a person pursuing or holding an eligible doctorate degree, an annual loan. For the first year of operation of the program, the maximum annual loan limit shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). For subsequent years, the board may increase the maximum annual loan amount by no more than five percent annually.
(3) The board shall make a careful and thorough investigation of the ability, character, and qualifications of each applicant for loans under the program, and shall award a loan or loans under the requirements of the program.
(4) An individual who has signed a contract with the board may postpone choosing an area of critical need in which to work to a time set by the board.
(b) A loan or loans under this program may be awarded only to individuals who have signed contracts with the board to repay amounts received under the program by working following graduation, or immediately in the case of a then currently approved CRNP, CNM, or CRNA, in full-time practice as a CRNA, CRNP, or CNM in an area of critical need for 18 months for each year he or she received a loan under the program.
(c) A participant, subject to approval by the board, may change the area of critical need where he or she will work to repay loans under this program, but in no case shall the applicant work in full-time practice for less than three years in the new area of critical need.

Legislative History

(Act 2016-353, p. 864, §1; Act 2019-301, §1; Act 2023-317, §1.)