Senate File 547 - Introduced SENATE FILE 547 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO SF 304) A BILL FOR An Act relating to applicant priority and grant award amounts 1 under the teach Iowa scholar program. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1103SV (3) 89 kh/jh

S.F. 547 Section 1. Section 261.110, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2021, 1 are amended to read as follows: 2 2. An Iowa resident or nonresident applicant shall be 3 eligible for a teach Iowa scholar grant if the applicant 4 meets all of the criteria specified under, or established in 5 accordance with, subsection 3 . Priority shall be given first 6 to applicants seeking to renew their grant awards and who 7 continue to meet the original priority criteria under which 8 such applicants’ first awards were received; then to applicants 9 who are graduates of approved practitioner preparation 10 programs, by academic year, with the most recent academic year 11 graduates given priority; then to applicants who are minority 12 persons and residents of Iowa; then to applicants who are 13 residents of Iowa. A person is ineligible for this program if 14 the person receives a forgivable loan under section 261.111 or 15 loan forgiveness under section 261.112 . For purposes of this 16 section, “minority person” means the same as defined in section 17 15.102. 18 4. A selected applicant who meets all of the eligibility 19 requirements of this section shall be eligible for a teach 20 Iowa scholar grant for each year of full-time employment 21 completed in this state as a teacher for a school district, 22 charter school, area education agency, or accredited nonpublic 23 school. A teach Iowa scholar grant shall not exceed four seven 24 thousand five hundred dollars per year per recipient. Grants 25 awarded under this section shall not exceed a total of twenty 26 thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars per recipient over 27 a five-year period. If a selected applicant has received a 28 federally guaranteed Stafford loan under the federal family 29 education loan program or the federal direct loan program, 30 a federal direct plus loan, or a federal Perkins loan, the 31 selected applicant may elect to have the commission make 32 payment under the program directly to the selected applicant’s 33 student loan holder. 34 Sec. 2. Section 261.110, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 35 -1- LSB 1103SV (3) 89 kh/jh 1/ 2

S.F. 547 2021, is amended to read as follows: 1 b. The applicant is preparing to teach in fields including 2 but not limited to science, technology, engineering, or 3 mathematics; English as a second language or special education 4 instruction; or is preparing to teach in a hard-to-staff 5 subject as identified by the department ; or is preparing to 6 teach in a school district in which more than ten percent of 7 the students enrolled are minority persons . The department 8 shall take into account the varying regional needs in the state 9 for teachers in these subject areas when applying the criterion 10 of this paragraph. The department shall annually identify 11 and designate hard-to-staff subjects for the purpose of this 12 paragraph. The eligibility of an applicant who receives a 13 teach Iowa scholar grant and who is preparing to teach in a 14 hard-to-staff subject as identified by the department shall 15 not be affected in subsequent years if the department does not 16 continue to identify that subject as a hard-to-staff subject. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 This bill modifies the teach Iowa scholar program, under 21 the college student aid commission, to give first priority 22 to applicants seeking renewal of their grant awards, then 23 to applicants who are graduates of approved practitioner 24 preparation programs, then to applicants who are minority 25 persons, with subsequent priority to residents of Iowa, and 26 raises the annual grant limitation from $4,000 to $7,500 and 27 the total grant limitation over a five-year period from $20,000 28 to $37,500. Currently, priority is given to residents of Iowa. 29 Currently, the Code section establishing the program directs 30 the commission to establish eligibility criteria that includes 31 but is not limited to criteria listed in the Code section. 32 The bill adds to the list of criteria that an applicant is 33 preparing to teach in a school district in which more than 10 34 percent of the students enrolled are minority persons. 35 -2- LSB 1103SV (3) 89 kh/jh 2/ 2