Bill Text: NY S05927 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes the PRODi-G EOP to PhD loan forgiveness program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-01-14 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S05927 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05927-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5927--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. STAVISKY, JACKSON, PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Higher Education in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the establishment of the PRODi-G EOP to PhD loan forgiveness program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 355 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 20 to read as follows: 3 20. PRODi-G EOP to PhD loan forgiveness program. a. Program. Notwith- 4 standing any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the 5 state university trustees are authorized to grant student loan forgive- 6 ness awards pursuant to this subdivision in order to recruit and retain 7 faculty members from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds at the 8 state university of New York. 9 b. Eligibility. First priority for awards pursuant to this subdivision 10 shall go to applicants who were previously enrolled in the educational 11 opportunity program as defined in section sixty-four hundred fifty-two 12 of this chapter. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this subdivi- 13 sion, an applicant shall: (i) have graduated from a high school located 14 in New York state or attended an approved New York state program for a 15 state high school equivalency diploma and received such high school 16 equivalency diploma; (ii) have graduated and obtained a graduate degree 17 from a college or university from the state university of New York in or 18 after the two thousand twenty--twenty-one academic year; (iii) apply for 19 this program within two years of obtaining such degree; and (iv) be 20 employed as an eligible faculty member, at the state university of New EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11819-02-0S. 5927--A 2 1 York. The state university of New York may establish additional eligi- 2 bility criteria as it deems necessary and appropriate. 3 c. Selection process. The state university of New York shall establish 4 a process for selecting award recipients, including but not limited to 5 setting application submission requirements and a method of selecting 6 recipients if there are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all 7 applicants. 8 d. Awards. Loan forgiveness awards may be granted to reimburse an 9 award recipient's student loan expenses up to a maximum of ten thousand 10 dollars per qualifying year of academic service, as defined by the state 11 university of New York, up to a maximum of five years. Awards shall be 12 granted within the amounts appropriated for such purpose and based on 13 the availability of funds. For the purposes of this subdivision, 14 "student loan expense" shall mean the total loan balance required to be 15 paid by the award recipient on the cumulative total of the award recipi- 16 ent's outstanding student loans covering his or her cost of attendance 17 at an undergraduate institution and/or graduate school, at the time of 18 the award recipient's first application for reimbursement. Interest 19 paid or due on such loans shall be considered eligible for reimbursement 20 under this program. For purposes of this calculation, the amount of the 21 student loan expenses shall be reduced by any grants, loan forgiveness, 22 or similar reductions to the faculty member's indebtedness that the 23 faculty member has received or shall receive, including, but not limited 24 to, graduate school loan forgiveness and public service scholarships. 25 The state university of New York is authorized to impose service 26 requirements or other similar conditions upon acceptance of an award 27 pursuant to this subdivision. 28 e. Rules and regulations. The state university of New York is author- 29 ized to promulgate rules and regulations, and may promulgate emergency 30 regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this 31 subdivision. 32 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.