SECTIONS 70120-70129 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 70120-70129

70120. (a) (1) Any person enrolled in an eligible institution, or
any person who agrees to work full time as a registered nurse in a
state-operated 24-hour facility that employs registered nurses, may
be eligible to enter into an agreement for loan assumption, to be
redeemed pursuant to Section 70122 upon becoming employed as a
clinical registered nurse in a state-operated 24-hour facility that
employs registered nurses and that has a clinical registered nurse
vacancy rate of greater than 10 percent as reported annually to the
commission by the Department of Personnel Administration pursuant to
Section 70121. In order to be eligible to enter into an agreement for
loan assumption, an applicant shall satisfy all of the conditions
specified in subdivision (b).
(2) As used in this article, "eligible institution" means a
postsecondary institution that is determined by the Student Aid
Commission to meet both of the following requirements:
(A) The institution is eligible to participate in state and
federal financial aid programs.
(B) The institution maintains an accredited program of
professional preparation for licensing as a registered nurse in
California.
(3) As used in this article, "state-operated 24-hour facility"
includes, but is not necessarily limited to, a state-operated prison,
psychiatric hospital, or veterans' home.
(b) (1) The applicant has been admitted to, or is enrolled in, or
has successfully completed an accredited program of professional
preparation for licensing as a registered nurse in California.
However, a person who is currently employed as a registered nurse in
a state-operated 24-hour facility may be eligible to enter into an
agreement for loan assumption under Article 1 (commencing with
Section 70100), but is not eligible to enter into an agreement for
loan assumption under this article.
(2) The applicant is currently enrolled, or has been admitted to a
program in which he or she will be enrolled, on a full-time basis,
as determined by the participating institution. The applicant shall
agree to maintain satisfactory academic progress and a minimum of
full-time enrollment, as defined by the participating eligible
institution.
(3) The applicant has been judged by his or her postsecondary
institution to have outstanding ability on the basis of criteria that
may include, but need not be limited to, any of the following:
(A) Grade point average.
(B) Test scores.
(C) Faculty evaluations.
(D) Interviews.
(E) Other recommendations.
(4) The applicant has received, or is approved to receive, a loan
under one or more of the following designated loan programs:
(A) The Federal Family Education Loan Program (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1071
et seq.).
(B) Any loan program approved by the Student Aid Commission.
(5) The applicant has agreed to work full time for at least four
consecutive years as a clinical registered nurse in a state-operated
24-hour facility that employs registered nurses and that has a
clinical registered nurse vacancy rate of greater than 10 percent as
reported annually to the commission by the Department of Personnel
Administration.
(c) No applicant who has completed fewer than 60 semester units,
or the equivalent, shall be eligible under this section to
participate in the loan assumption program set forth in this article.
(d) An agreement shall remain valid even if the state-operated
facility at which the applicant is employed ceases to be listed
pursuant to Section 70121 after the applicant is employed there.
(e) A person participating in the program pursuant to this section
shall not enter into more than one agreement.

70121. On or before January 31, 2007, and each January 31
thereafter until, and including, January 31, 2012, the Department of
Personnel Administration shall provide the commission with a list
including each state-operated 24-hour facility that employs
registered nurses where, as of the immediately preceding January 1,
there is a vacancy rate in clinical registered nurse positions that
exceeds 10 percent.

70122. The commission shall commence loan assumption payments, as
specified in Section 70123, upon verification that the applicant has
fulfilled all of the following:
(a) The applicant has become a registered nurse licensed to
practice in California.
(b) The applicant is working full time as a clinical registered
nurse in a state-operated 24-hour facility that employs registered
nurses and that, at the time the applicant commenced employment
there, had a clinical registered nurse vacancy rate of greater than
10 percent as reported, pursuant to Section 70121, by the Department
of Personnel Administration in its most recent annual report to the
commission.
(c) The applicant has met the requirements of the agreement and
all other pertinent conditions of this article.

70123. The terms of a loan assumption granted under this article
shall be as follows, subject to the specific terms of each agreement:
(a) After a program participant has completed one year of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to five thousand dollars
($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or more
of the designated loan programs.
(b) After a program participant has completed two years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional five thousand
dollars ($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one
or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption
of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(c) After a program participant has completed three years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional five thousand
dollars ($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one
or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption
of up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
(d) After a program participant has completed four years of
full-time employment as described in subdivision (b) of Section
70122, the commission shall assume up to an additional five thousand
dollars ($5,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one
or more of the designated loan programs, for a total loan assumption
of up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000).

70124. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), if a program
participant fails to complete a minimum of four consecutive years of
full-time employment as required by this article, under the terms of
the agreement pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section
70120, the participant shall retain full liability for all student
loan obligations remaining after the commission's assumption of loan
liability for the last year of qualifying clinical registered nursing
service pursuant to Section 70123.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if a program participant
becomes unable to complete one of the four consecutive years of
qualifying clinical registered nursing service due to serious
illness, pregnancy, or other natural causes, the term of the loan
assumption agreement shall be extended for a period not to exceed one
year. The commission shall make no further payments under the loan
assumption agreement until the applicable work requirements as
specified in Section 70122 have been satisfied.
(c) If a natural disaster prevents a program participant from
completing one of the required years of work due to the interruption
of employment at the employing state facility, the term of the loan
assumption agreement shall be extended for the period of time equal
to the period from the interruption of employment at the employing
state facility to the resumption of employment. The commission shall
make no further payments under the loan assumption agreement until
the applicable employment requirements specified in Section 70123
have been satisfied.

70125. (a) The commission shall administer this article, and shall
adopt rules and regulations for that purpose. The rules and
regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, provisions
regarding the period of time during which an agreement shall remain
valid, the reallocation of resources in light of agreements that are
not utilized by program participants, the failure, for any reason, of
a program participant to complete a minimum of four consecutive
years of qualifying clinical registered nursing service, and the
development of projections for funding purposes.
(b) If a provision is added to this article and the commission
deems it necessary to adopt a rule or regulation to implement that
provision, the commission shall develop and adopt that rule or
regulation no later than six months after the operative date of the
statute that adds the provision.

70126. On or before January 31, 2008, and on or before each January
31 thereafter until, and including, January 31, 2012, the commission
shall report annually to the Legislature regarding both of the
following, on the basis of sex, age, and ethnicity:
(a) The total number of program participants and the type of
program of professional preparation they are attending or have
attended.
(b) The numbers of participants who complete one, two, three, or
four years of qualifying clinical registered nursing service,
respectively.

70127. On or before May 1, 2011, the Office of the Legislative
Analyst shall submit a report to the Legislature that includes the
findings and recommendations of the Legislative Analyst with respect
to the efficacy of the program established by this article.

70128. In selecting applicants for participation in this program,
the commission shall grant priority to applicants who, in the
determination of the commission, are included in any of the following
categories:
(a) Persons who possess a baccalaureate degree at the time of
initial application.
(b) Persons who are enrolled in an accelerated program of
professional preparation for licensing as a registered nurse in
California.
(c) Persons who are recipients of federally subsidized student
loans or other need-based student loans.

70128.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any fiscal
year, the commission shall award no more than the number of warrants
that are authorized by the Governor and the Legislature in the annual
Budget Act for that year for the assumption of loans pursuant to
this article.

70129. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2012, and,
as of January 1, 2013, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2013, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.