(1) It is the intention of the Legislature to attract and retain qualified teachers by awarding incentive loans to persons declaring an intention to serve in the teaching field and who actually render service to the state while possessing an appropriate teaching license.

(2) There is established the “William F. Winter Teacher Forgivable Loan Program.”

(3) Subject to the availability of funds, students who are enrolled in any baccalaureate degree-granting institution of higher learning in the State of Mississippi that is regionally accredited and approved by the board and who have expressed in writing a present intention to teach in Mississippi shall be eligible for student loans to be applied to the costs of their college education. Persons who have been admitted to a teacher education program or a nontraditional teacher internship licensure program authorized under Section 37-3-2(6)(b), as approved by the State Board of Education, shall also qualify for loans at approved institutions. The board shall provide that teacher education majors and noneducation majors shall have equal access to forgivable loans under authority of this section.

(4) A junior establishing initial eligibility shall be eligible for a maximum of two (2) annual loans and a senior shall be eligible for one (1) annual loan.

(5) The maximum annual loan shall be set by the board at an amount not to exceed the cost of attendance at any baccalaureate degree-granting institution of higher learning in the State of Mississippi. However, it is the intent of the Legislature that the maximum annual loan amounts under the William F. Winter Teacher Forgivable Loan Program shall not be of such amounts that would compete with the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program.

(6) The loans of persons who actually render service as licensed teachers or nontraditional teacher interns authorized under Section 37-3-2(6)(b) in a public school, including a charter school, in Mississippi for a major portion of the school day for at least seventy-eight (78) school days shall be converted to interest-free scholarships. Repayment and conversion terms shall be the same as those outlined in Section 37-106-53.

(7) Awards granted under the William F. Winter Teacher Forgivable Loan Program shall be made available to nontraditional licensed teachers showing a documented need for student loan repayment and employed in those school districts designated by the State Board of Education as a geographical area of the state or in a subject area of the curriculum in which there is a critical shortage of teachers. Repayment and conversion terms shall be the same as outlined in Section 37-106-53 except that the maximum annual amount of this repayment should not exceed Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) and the maximum time period for repayment shall be no more than four (4) years.

(8) Failure to repay any loan and interest that becomes due shall be cause for the revocation of a person’s teaching license by the State Department of Education.

(9) The board shall promulgate regulations necessary for the proper administration of this section.