STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5927--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sens. STAVISKY, JACKSON, PARKER -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher
Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Higher Education in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the establishment of
the PRODi-G EOP to PhD loan forgiveness program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 355 of the education law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 20 to read as follows:
3 20. PRODi-G EOP to PhD loan forgiveness program. a. Program. Notwith-
4 standing any provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the
5 state university trustees are authorized to grant student loan forgive-
6 ness awards pursuant to this subdivision in order to recruit and retain
7 faculty members from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds at the
8 state university of New York.
9 b. Eligibility. First priority for awards pursuant to this subdivision
10 shall go to applicants who were previously enrolled in the educational
11 opportunity program as defined in section sixty-four hundred fifty-two
12 of this chapter. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this subdivi-
13 sion, an applicant shall: (i) have graduated from a high school located
14 in New York state or attended an approved New York state program for a
15 state high school equivalency diploma and received such high school
16 equivalency diploma; (ii) have graduated and obtained a graduate degree
17 from a college or university from the state university of New York in or
18 after the two thousand twenty--twenty-one academic year; (iii) apply for
19 this program within two years of obtaining such degree; and (iv) be
20 employed as an eligible faculty member, at the state university of New
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11819-02-0
S. 5927--A 2
1 York. The state university of New York may establish additional eligi-
2 bility criteria as it deems necessary and appropriate.
3 c. Selection process. The state university of New York shall establish
4 a process for selecting award recipients, including but not limited to
5 setting application submission requirements and a method of selecting
6 recipients if there are insufficient funds to cover the needs of all
7 applicants.
8 d. Awards. Loan forgiveness awards may be granted to reimburse an
9 award recipient's student loan expenses up to a maximum of ten thousand
10 dollars per qualifying year of academic service, as defined by the state
11 university of New York, up to a maximum of five years. Awards shall be
12 granted within the amounts appropriated for such purpose and based on
13 the availability of funds. For the purposes of this subdivision,
14 "student loan expense" shall mean the total loan balance required to be
15 paid by the award recipient on the cumulative total of the award recipi-
16 ent's outstanding student loans covering his or her cost of attendance
17 at an undergraduate institution and/or graduate school, at the time of
18 the award recipient's first application for reimbursement. Interest
19 paid or due on such loans shall be considered eligible for reimbursement
20 under this program. For purposes of this calculation, the amount of the
21 student loan expenses shall be reduced by any grants, loan forgiveness,
22 or similar reductions to the faculty member's indebtedness that the
23 faculty member has received or shall receive, including, but not limited
24 to, graduate school loan forgiveness and public service scholarships.
25 The state university of New York is authorized to impose service
26 requirements or other similar conditions upon acceptance of an award
27 pursuant to this subdivision.
28 e. Rules and regulations. The state university of New York is author-
29 ized to promulgate rules and regulations, and may promulgate emergency
30 regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this
31 subdivision.
32 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
