RELATES TO: KRS 164.770
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 164.770 established
the Teacher Loan Program to encourage academically talented students to become
teachers in the public schools of the Commonwealth. This administrative
regulation prescribes rules for the administration of the Teacher Loan Program.
11 KAR 8:030 establishes a new program of teacher scholarships pursuant to
House Bill 799 (1990 RS), Part I, F., 46., p. 52 and the corresponding budget
memorandum. This amendment is necessary to rename the program established
pursuant to KRS 164.770 to avoid confusion.
Section
1. Definitions.
(1) "Public
school" means a common school operated under the laws of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky.
(2) "Semester" means a
period of about eighteen (18) weeks, which usually makes up one-half (1/2) of a
public school year or one-half (1/2) of a participating institution's academic
year.
(3) "Qualified teaching
service" means employment in a public school in a position requiring a Kentucky
Teacher's Certificate for a major portion of a school day for at least seventy
(70) days during a semester.
(4)
"Participating institution" means an institution of higher education located in
Kentucky, which is approved by the State Board of Education to offer teacher
education programs, and which has in force an agreement with the authority
providing for administration of this program.
Section 2. The Kentucky Higher Education
Assistance Authority (authority) shall, to the extent of appropriations for
such purpose, award teacher loans to persons enrolled or accepted for
enrollment on a full-time basis at participating institutions of higher
education, approved by the State Board of Education to offer teacher education
programs, who declare an intention to enter the teaching profession in the
public schools of the Commonwealth, and who meet the eligibility requirements
set forth herein.
Section 3.
Eligibility Criteria. Graduates of a high school, located in Kentucky, who rank
academically in the top ten (10) percent of their graduating class, or who
score at or above the 80th percentile on a test required for admission to the
Commonwealth's public institutions of higher education, and who have not
previously received a baccalaureate degree, shall be eligible to apply for a
teacher loan. An individual who owes repayment of a grant or work-study award,
or who is in default in repayment of any loan owed to the authority, is not
eligible to receive a teacher loan until all such financial obligations to the
authority are satisfied, provided, however, that ineligibility for this reason
may be waived, at the recommendation of a designated staff review committee for
cause.
Section 4. Selection
Criteria. Recipient selection will be made on the basis of the following
weighted criteria: rank in class (thirty (30) percent), grade point average
(forty (40) percent), percentile score on the test required for admission to
the Commonwealth's public institutions of higher education (thirty (30)
percent). (Test scores of applicants from minority population groups will be
measured relative to the scores of such minority population groups.) If funds
are insufficient to award all applicants, the loans shall first be awarded to
those qualifying applicants who previously received scholarships. If funds are
insufficient to award all prior recipients who are qualified applicants, then
loans shall be prorated in accordance with the cumulative amount previously
received by such applicants. If funds are sufficient to award new applicants,
an award shall be made first to the applicant with the highest score on the
selection criteria and, thereafter, in a descending order to persons having
lower scores until all available funds are awarded. Once all the criteria have
been evaluated and two (2) or more applicants are equally ranked, selection
between the applicants will be made on the basis of the date the application is
received by the authority.
Section
5. Renewal. Teacher loans shall be renewed annually upon
application for a maximum of three (3) years of undergraduate study for those
who maintain at least the equivalent of a 2.5 cumulative grade point average on
a scale of 4.0 and provided that the recipient, when first eligible, enrolls in
a teacher education program and, thereafter, continues to be enrolled on a
full-time basis in such a program. Awards for summer school attendance shall be
made upon separate application.
Section
6. Award Maximums. The maximum teacher loan award for a summer
session shall be $1,250; for a semester shall be $2,500; or, for an academic
year (exclusive of a summer session) shall be $5,000. The aggregate maximum of
teacher loan awards shall not exceed $20,000 per individual. Awards shall not
exceed the student's total cost of attendance as determined by the
participating institution.
Section
7. Disbursements. Disbursement of teacher loans shall be made at
the beginning of each semester or summer session and each such disbursement
shall be evidenced by a promissory note, prescribed by the authority, in which
the loan recipient shall agree to repay the loan funds or render qualified
teaching service in lieu thereof.
Section
8. Notifications. Recipients shall notify the authority within
thirty (30) days of:
(1) Change in enrollment
status;
(2) Cessation of enrollment
in a teacher education program;
(3)
Employment in a qualified teaching service position; or,
(4) Change of address.
Section 9. Withdrawals. Loan recipients who,
prior to completion, cease to be enrolled on a full-time basis in a teacher
education program at a participating institution, shall immediately become
liable for the repayment to the authority of the sum of all teacher loan funds
received plus interest accrued thereon unless such recipient has an approved
deferment pursuant to
11 KAR 8:020.
Section
10. Repayment. Recipients who do not begin employment in a
qualified teaching service position within the six (6) month period following
completion of a teacher education program in a participating institution
(excluding periods of deferment pursuant to
11 KAR 8:020) shall immediately
become liable to the authority for repayment of principal and interest accrued,
pursuant to the earliest promissory note then outstanding. In each semester
thereafter, during which a recipient does not render qualified teaching
service, repayment of an additional promissory note shall become due,
proceeding sequentially from the promissory note having the earliest date to
the most recent date.
Section 11.
Repayment Schedule. Written notification of demand for repayment shall be sent
by the authority to the loan recipient's last known address and shall be
effective upon mailing. The authority may agree, in its sole discretion, to
accept repayment in installments in accordance with a schedule established by
the authority. In the event that more than one (1) promissory note has come due
for repayment and remains unpaid, then payments shall first be applied to the
earliest unpaid promissory note. Payments shall be applied first to accrued
interest and then to principal.
Section
12. Cancellation.
(1) In order to
receive cancellation of a promissory note and the interest accrued thereon, a
loan recipient must render qualified teaching service in a public school during
a semester. One (1) such promissory note shall be cancelled for each semester
during which qualified teaching service is verified to the authority. Such
cancellations of promissory notes shall be in sequential order beginning with
the earliest promissory note.
(2)
In the event that a recipient has received loans or scholarships from more than
one (1) program administered by the authority, which require a period of
qualified teaching service for repayment or cancellation, such teaching
requirements shall not be fulfilled concurrently. Unless the authority
determines otherwise for cause, loans or scholarships from more than one (1)
program shall be repaid or cancelled by qualified teaching service in the same
order in which they were received.
(3) Verification of qualified teaching
service shall be submitted to the authority in writing, signed by the local
school district superintendent or building principal, within thirty (30) days
of the date a scholarship recipient completes such qualified teaching
service.
Section 13.
Interest. The interest rate on loan funds shall be twelve (12) percent per
annum simple interest. Interest accruing on the unpaid principal of each
promissory note shall be computed from the date of disbursement of the
respective promissory note, and such interest shall continue to accrue until
the promissory note is paid in full pursuant to Section 11 of this
administrative regulation or cancelled in full pursuant to Section 12 of this
administrative regulation. In the event that the loan is not repaid or
cancelled in accordance with the terms of the promissory note and related
repayment schedules, if any, and judgment is rendered on the debt, then the
annual interest rate shall, from the date of such judgment, not exceed four (4)
percent in excess of the discount rate on ninety (90) day commercial paper in
effect at the Federal Reserve Bank in the Federal Reserve District where the
transaction is consummated or nineteen (19) percent, provided that it shall not
be less than the face rate of the promissory note.
Section 14. Records. A participating
institution shall maintain complete and accurate records pertaining to the
eligibility, enrollment and progress of students receiving aid under this
program and the disbursement of funds and institutional charges as may be
necessary to audit the disposition of funds hereunder. Such records shall be
maintained for at least five (5) years after the student ceases to be enrolled
at the institution.
Section 15.
Refunds. A participating institution shall refund to the authority, within
forty (40) days of a recipient's last date of attendance, any amount
attributable to this program which is determined to be due under the
institution's refund policy.
Section
16. Information Dissemination and Recruitment. The authority shall
disseminate information through high school counselors and school
superintendents about this program to potential recipients. Participating
institutions shall provide assurances that program information will be
disseminated to freshmen and sophomores enrolled at that institution.
Participating institutions shall actively recruit students from minority
population groups for participation in this program.