§293b — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must create a program that pays up to $30,000 a year toward the student loans (principal and interest) of people from disadvantaged backgrounds if they agree to teach at certain health schools. Eligible people include those who already have degrees in health fields (like medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, veterinary medicine, optometry, podiatry, allied health, or behavioral health), those in approved graduate training, or full-time students in the final year of an approved program at those schools. The person must also sign a contract to teach at the school for at least 2 years. The school must agree to pay the same loan amount each year, add those payments on top of the person’s regular pay, and set the person’s pay without counting the federal loan payments. The Secretary can waive the school-payment rule if it would cause undue financial hardship. Rules about tax reimbursements and bankruptcy that apply to the National Health Service Corps loan program also apply here. The Secretary may give grants or contracts to groups that will help more underrepresented minority people become faculty at those schools. Grants must fund fellowships that meet program rules. Each fellowship can pay a stipend up to 50 percent of a similar faculty salary for no more than 3 years and can include money for other costs like travel or special training. Grant applicants must show they can find and train underrepresented minority candidates, help them get ready for tenured faculty jobs (teaching, research, grant writing, publishing), offer counseling, and provide health services to rural or underserved areas. Applicants must match federal funds dollar for dollar ($1 for every $1), promise the same level of institutional support in years two and three as in year one, make the fellow a faculty member, and ensure the fellow has advanced preparation (like a master’s or doctorate) and needed skills. Underrepresented minority individuals means people from racial or ethnic groups that are underrepresented in the health professions, including nursing.

Title 42, §293b

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary shall establish a program of entering into contracts with individuals described in paragraph (2) under which the individuals agree to serve as members of the faculties of schools described in paragraph (3) in consideration of the Federal Government agreeing to pay, for each year of such service, not more than $30,000 of the principal and interest of the educational loans of such individuals.

(2)The individuals referred to in paragraph (1) are individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who—

(A)have a degree in medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nursing, or another health profession;

(B)are enrolled in an approved graduate training program in medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nursing, or other health profession; or

(C)are enrolled as full-time students—

(i)in an accredited (as determined by the Secretary) school described in paragraph (3); and

(ii)in the final year of a course of a study or program, offered by such institution and approved by the Secretary, leading to a degree from such a school.

(3)The schools described in this paragraph are schools of medicine, nursing (as schools of nursing are defined in section 296 of this title), osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, allied health, podiatric medicine, optometry, veterinary medicine, or public health, schools offering physician assistant education programs, or schools offering graduate programs in behavioral and mental health.

(4)The Secretary may not enter into a contract under paragraph (1) unless—

(A)the individual involved has entered into a contract with a school described in paragraph (3) to serve as a member of the faculty of the school for not less than 2 years; and

(B)the contract referred to in subparagraph (A) provides that—

(i)the school will, for each year for which the individual will serve as a member of the faculty under the contract with the school, make payments of the principal and interest due on the educational loans of the individual for such year in an amount equal to the amount of such payments made by the Secretary for the year;

(ii)the payments made by the school pursuant to clause (i) on behalf of the individual will be in addition to the pay that the individual would otherwise receive for serving as a member of such faculty; and

(iii)the school, in making a determination of the amount of compensation to be provided by the school to the individual for serving as a member of the faculty, will make the determination without regard to the amount of payments made (or to be made) to the individual by the Federal Government under paragraph (1).

(5)The provisions of section 254m, 254p, and 254q–1 of this title shall apply to the program established in paragraph (1) to the same extent and in the same manner as such provisions apply to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program established in subpart III of part D of subchapter II, including the applicability of provisions regarding reimbursements for increased tax liability and regarding bankruptcy.

(6)The Secretary may waive the requirement established in paragraph (4)(B) if the Secretary determines that the requirement will impose an undue financial hardship on the school involved.

(b)(1)The Secretary may make grants to and enter into contracts with eligible entities to assist such entities in increasing the number of underrepresented minority individuals who are members of the faculty of such schools.

(2)To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under this subsection, an entity shall provide an assurance, in the application submitted by the entity, that—

(A)amounts received under such a grant or contract will be used to award a fellowship to an individual only if the individual meets the requirements of paragraphs (3) and (4); and

(B)each fellowship awarded pursuant to the grant or contract will include—

(i)a stipend in an amount not exceeding 50 percent of the regular salary of a similar faculty member for not to exceed 3 years of training; and

(ii)an allowance for other expenses, such as travel to professional meetings and costs related to specialized training.

(3)To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under paragraph (1), an applicant shall demonstrate to the Secretary that such applicant has or will have the ability to—

(A)identify, recruit and select underrepresented minority individuals who have the potential for teaching, administration, or conducting research at a health professions institution;

(B)provide such individuals with the skills necessary to enable them to secure a tenured faculty position at such institution, which may include training with respect to pedagogical skills, program administration, the design and conduct of research, grants writing, and the preparation of articles suitable for publication in peer reviewed journals;

(C)provide services designed to assist such individuals in their preparation for an academic career, including the provision of counselors; and

(D)provide health services to rural or medically underserved populations.

(4)To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under paragraph (1) an applicant shall—

(A)provide an assurance that such applicant will make available (directly through cash donations) $1 for every $1 of Federal funds received under this section for the fellowship;

(B)provide an assurance that institutional support will be provided for the individual for the second and third years at a level that is equal to the total amount of institutional funds provided in the year in which the grant or contract was awarded;

(C)provide an assurance that the individual that will receive the fellowship will be a member of the faculty of the applicant school; and

(D)provide an assurance that the individual that will receive the fellowship will have, at a minimum, appropriate advanced preparation (such as a master’s or doctoral degree) and special skills necessary to enable such individual to teach and practice.

(5)For purposes of this subsection, the term “underrepresented minority individuals” means individuals who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups that are underrepresented in the health professions including nursing.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Subpart III of part D of subchapter II, referred to in subsec. (a)(5), is classified to section 254l et seq. of this title.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 293b, act

July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VII, § 738, as added Pub. L. 102–408, title I, § 102, Oct. 13, 1992, 106 Stat. 2025, related to loan repayments and fellowships regarding faculty positions, prior to the general amendment of this part by Pub. L. 105–392. Another prior section 293b, act

July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VII, § 722, as added Sept. 24, 1963, Pub. L. 88–129, § 2(b), 77 Stat. 168; amended Aug. 16, 1968, Pub. L. 90–490, title I, §§ 102(a), 104(a), 82 Stat. 773, 774; Nov. 18, 1971, Pub. L. 92–157, title I, § 102(b), (j)(4), (7), 85 Stat. 431, 436, 437; Oct. 12, 1976, Pub. L. 94–484, title III, § 304, 90 Stat. 2255; Aug. 13, 1981, Pub. L. 97–35, title XXVII, § 2723(e), 95 Stat. 916, related to amounts of grants and grants for multipurpose facilities, prior to the general revision of this subchapter by Pub. L. 102–408. A prior section 738 of act

July 1, 1944, was classified to section 294k of this title prior to the general revision of this subchapter by Pub. L. 102–408.

Amendments

2010—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 111–148, § 5402(a), substituted “$30,000” for “$20,000”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 111–148, § 10501(d), inserted “schools offering physician assistant education programs,” after “public health,”.

§293b Loan Repayments and Fellowships Regarding Faculty Positions