§ 677 — Regents physician loan forgiveness program

§ 677. Regents physician loan forgiveness program. 1. Number and\ncertification. Eighty regents physician loan forgiveness awards shall be\nawarded each year. Such awards shall be allocated as provided in article\nthirteen of this chapter to eligible physicians as certified to the\npresident by the commissioner.\n 2. Calculation of award amounts. Each award shall consist of two\nconsecutive annual loan forgiveness payments. Each of the annual\npayments shall be for an amount equal to the total of undergraduate and\nmedical school student loan expense or ten thousand dollars whichever is\nless. The president shall be responsible for calculating the dollar\namount of each award that eligibile candidates may receive from this\nprogram. For the purposes of this section, student loan expense shall\nmean the cumulative total of the annual student loans covering the cost\nof attendance at an undergraduate institution and/or medical school.\nInterest paid or due on student loans that an applicant has taken out\nfor use in paying for such undergraduate and/or medical education shall\nbe considered eligible for reimbursement under this program.\n 3. Award disbursement. a. Annual award disbursements shall be the\nresponsibility of the president and shall occur prior to the beginning\nof each of the required terms of service as specified in the service\ncontract. The board of trustees of the higher education services\ncorporation shall adopt rules and regulations regarding criteria for\ndetermining successful completion of the service contract and any appeal\nprocess that may be required to implement this paragraph upon\nrecommendation of the president in consultation with the commissioner.\n b. The disbursement of the second annual award shall be dependent upon\nsuccessful completion of the first year requirement of the service\ncontract as defined by the president, as well as other criteria set\nforth in this section.\n