The intent of this Act is to build Guam’s healthcare capacity. Currently, there is established the “”Physician Recruitment and Retention Education Debt Repayment Program””; however, the benefits of this program have yet to be realized. In 2021, the 36th Guam Legislature’s Committee on Regional Affairs worked closely with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) to secure a U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs Technical Assistance Program Grant to increase access to postsecondary opportunities by increasing affordability for insular students and ultimately building the capacity of the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States. Through this, students of Guam can pursue a college education and reduced nonresident tuition at over one hundred sixty (160) partner colleges for their undergraduate and graduate degrees in a variety of fields – excluding professional healthcare degrees, such as medicine. Based on the success of this initiative, Guam’s current dues of Seventy-eight Thousand Dollars ($78,000) for the WICHE program no longer needs to be appropriated by I Liheslatura for the next fiscal year.

I Liheslatura acknowledges that it is prudent to build Guam’s healthcare capacity. As it stands, the cost of a professional healthcare education presents a challenge for many of our local

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students. Students who are fortunate to attain such education tend to accept higher paying jobs in order to pay for their exorbitant investment – mainly off island. The intent of this Act is to allow Guam’s local students to attain an affordable, world-class professional healthcare education and have them come back to the island to serve our community in need.

Based on I Liheslatura’s findings, there may be a need to also create the necessary infrastructure to allow for local students to be competitive with their counterparts, and obtain acceptance into professional healthcare education programs. I Liheslatura further acknowledges the successes of the Guam Community College in implementing such programs.

The intent of this Act is to allow the Guam Community College to serve as the administrative officer of the WICHE Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP) for Guam residents, which would allow students to pursue careers in ten (10) healthcare fields served by partner programs in WICHE member states, while receiving financial support from their state/territory to support tuition costs over the duration of a health degree. By participating in WICHE’s Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), western states and territories benefit by inspiring and compelling graduates to return home to practice and bolster the professional health care workforce of their communities.

This Act would establish and fund the required Scholarship Office for the WICHE PSEP within the Guam Community College. The Scholarship Office would, in turn, determine a student’s eligibility and work with I Liheslatura, community partners, and governmental stakeholders to fund the per-student, annual fee. Should a student be funded through local private entities, the student would in turn be required to fulfill their service obligation to the private sponsor. Should a student be supported through public funds, the student would then be required to fulfill their service obligation to an instrumentality of the government of Guam.