SF 2015 (LSB 5678XS (2) 90)

SENATE FILE 2015

BY  J. TAYLOR

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to applicant priority and grant award amounts under the teach Iowa scholar program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.218, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  An Iowa resident or nonresident applicant shall be eligible for a teach Iowa scholar grant if the applicant meets all of the criteria specified under, or established in accordance with, subsection 3. Priority shall be given first to applicants who are minority persons and residents of Iowa and then to applicants who are residents of Iowa. A person is ineligible for this program if the person receives a forgivable loan under section 256.219 or loan forgiveness under section 256.220.  For purposes of this section, “minority person” means the same as defined in section 15.102, subsection 12, paragraph “b”.
   4.  A selected applicant who meets all of the eligibility requirements of this section shall be eligible for a teach Iowa scholar grant for each year of full-time employment completed in this state as a teacher for a school district, charter school, area education agency, or accredited nonpublic school. A teach Iowa scholar grant shall not exceed four six thousand dollars per year per recipient. Grants awarded under this section shall not exceed a total of twenty thirty thousand dollars per recipient over a five-year period. If a selected applicant has received a federally guaranteed Stafford loan under the federal family education loan program or the federal direct loan program, a federal direct plus loan, or a federal Perkins loan, the selected applicant may elect to have the commission make payment under the program directly to the selected applicant’s student loan holder.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill modifies the teach Iowa scholar program to give first priority to applicants who are minority persons and residents of Iowa, with subsequent priority to residents of Iowa, and raises the annual grant limitation from $4,000 to $6,000 and the total grant limitation over a five-year period from $20,000 to $30,000.
   Currently, priority is given to applicants who are residents of Iowa.