PRIA Logo™
KansasHB 23742025–2026 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

Creating the specialty practice student loan program and the specialty practice student loan repayment fund, allowing for the transfer of funds from the OBGYN and psychiatry medical student loan repayment funds to the specialty practice student loan repayment fund and abolishing the OBGYN and psychiatry medical student loan repayment funds.

Sponsored By: Sponsor information unavailable

Signed by Governor

educationhigher education budgetappropriations

Your PRIA Score

Score Hidden

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to start

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

5 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 4 mixed.

KU specialty loans pay tuition and stipend

The law creates a specialty medical student loan at the KU School of Medicine. You must plan to train in an approved specialty and agree to the required Kansas service. The loan pays all tuition and can add a living stipend up to $2,000 per month. Awards are made each year and can be given retroactively for a past year you finished. Kansas residents get first priority. You may switch between approved residencies. Approved specialties include gynecology and general psychiatry, and approved training can include some fellowships like geriatrics.

Penalties and waivers for not serving

If you fail your service duty, you must repay all money received plus 15% yearly interest from when you got it. You can pay in up to 10 equal yearly payments, starting 6 months after the failure. If a payment is 91 days late, the full balance is due. If you do not enter an approved residency, repayment starts within 90 days of graduation or when a non‑qualifying residency ends. OBGYN borrowers who perform or try to perform an abortion are deemed to have failed, except for medical emergencies or pregnancies from rape or incest. If you later start qualifying practice in Kansas, the remaining balance from that date is waived, but earlier amounts still must be paid.

How to meet your service duty

For each loan year, you must practice full time for 12 months in a Kansas community outside Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte counties. You can also meet the duty by working at least 100 on‑site hours per month at listed public or nonprofit clinics, community mental health centers, or state mental hospitals. In special cases, you may get approval to serve at least half‑time, but your service period gets extended by a set formula. Full‑time KU faculty in listed fields can earn two‑for‑one credit, but no more than 25% of full‑time faculty may use this option. For psychiatry, up to 12 people can get agreements tied to either full‑time KU psychiatry faculty service or 100 on‑site mental health hours each month.

State consolidates medical loan funds

The state creates new medical, OBGYN, psychiatry, and specialty loan repayment funds to run the program. Spending from these funds needs legislative appropriation. The KU chancellor can transfer money from the medical fund to the specialty fund, with required certifications to state budget offices. On the act’s effective date, money from the old medical scholarship and loan fund moves to the new medical loan repayment fund. On July 1, 2026, any money in the psychiatry and OBGYN funds moves to the specialty fund, and those funds are abolished with liabilities shifted to the specialty fund. Money in the Regents comprehensive grant account cannot be used for these funds. The law also repeals prior statutes tied to the old structure.

KU sets specialties and service areas

The KU chancellor runs the program and decides which specialties qualify for the non‑primary care slots. KU can add new specialties if underserved and update service areas using local health data. KU must send lawmakers a yearly report on these changes. If specialty slots go unused in a year, they can be used for primary care; primary care slots cannot be shifted to specialty that year.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsors

There is no primary sponsor on record.

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 159 • No: 5

House vote • 4/23/2026

Yea: 40 Nay: 0

Yes: 40 • No: 0

House vote • 4/23/2026

Yea: 119 Nay: 5

Yes: 119 • No: 5

Actions Timeline

  1. Approved by Governor on Monday, April 6, 2026

    4/9/2026House

  2. Enrolled and presented to Governor on Friday, March 27, 2026

    3/26/2026House

  3. Final Action - Passed; Yea: 40 Nay: 0

    3/19/2026Senate

  4. Committee of the Whole - Be passed

    3/18/2026Senate

  5. Committee Report recommending bill be passed by Committee on Education

    3/16/2026Senate

  6. Hearing: Friday, March 13, 2026, 1:30 PM Room 144-S

    3/13/2026Senate

  7. Referred to Committee on Education

    2/25/2026Senate

  8. Received and Introduced

    2/24/2026Senate

  9. Engrossed on Wednesday, February 18, 2026

    2/19/2026House

  10. Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea: 119 Nay: 5

    2/18/2026House

  11. Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted

    2/17/2026House

  12. Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended

    2/17/2026House

  13. Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Committee on Higher Education Budget

    2/13/2026House

  14. Hearing: Monday, February 9, 2026, 1:30 PM Room 281-N

    2/9/2026House

  15. Withdrawn from Committee on Appropriations; Referred to Committee on Higher Education Budget

    2/27/2025House

  16. Introduced

    2/11/2025House

  17. Referred to Committee on Appropriations

    2/11/2025House

Bill Text

  • As Amended by House Committee

    PDF

  • As introduced

    PDF

  • Enrolled

    PDF

Related Bills

Back to State Legislation