Iowa Code 256.220 – Teacher shortage loan forgiveness program
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1. A teacher shortage loan forgiveness program is established to be administered by the commission. A teacher is eligible for the program if the teacher is practicing in a teacher shortage area as designated by the department pursuant to subsection 2. A person is ineligible for this program if the person receives a grant under section 256.218 or a forgivable loan under section 256.219. For purposes of this section, “teacher” means an individual holding a practitioner’s license issued under part 3, who is employed in a nonadministrative position in a designated shortage area by a school district or area education agency pursuant to a contract issued by a board of directors under section 279.13.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 256.220
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Commission: means the college student aid commission. See Iowa Code 256.212
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the department of education. See Iowa Code 256.2
- Director: means the director of the department of education. See Iowa Code 256.2
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Loan: means a deposit of property not accompanied by a transfer of title to the property. See Iowa Code 305B.2
- person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
- School: means an agency of the state or political subdivision of the state, individual, partnership, company, firm, society, trust, association, corporation, or any combination which meets any of the following criteria:a. See Iowa Code 261B.2
- State board: means the state board of education. See Iowa Code 256.2
- year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
2. The director shall annually designate the geographic or subject areas experiencing teacher shortages. The director shall periodically conduct a survey of school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and approved practitioner preparation programs to determine current shortage areas.3. Each applicant for loan forgiveness shall, in accordance with the rules of the commission, do the following:a. Complete and file an application for teacher shortage loan forgiveness. The individual shall be responsible for the prompt submission of any information required by the commission.b. File a new application and submit information as required by the commission annually on the basis of which the applicant’s eligibility for the renewed loan forgiveness will be evaluated and determined.c. Complete and return on a form approved by the commission an affidavit of practice verifying that the applicant is a teacher in an eligible teacher shortage area.4. The annual amount of teacher shortage loan forgiveness shall not exceed the resident tuition rate established for institutions of higher learning governed by the state board of regents for the first year following the teacher’s graduation from an approved practitioner preparation program, or twenty percent of the teacher’s total federally guaranteed Stafford loan amount under the federal family education loan program or the federal direct loan program, including principal and interest, whichever amount is less. A teacher shall be eligible for the loan forgiveness program for not more than five years. However, practice by an eligible teacher in a teacher shortage area pursuant tosubsection 1 must be completed within ten years following graduation from the approved practitioner preparation program.5. The commission shall submit in a report to the general assembly by January 1, annually, the number of individuals who received loan forgiveness pursuant to this section, which shortage areas the teachers taught in, the amount paid to each program participant, and other information identified by the commission as indicators of outcomes from the program.6. The commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this section.