Loans from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Loan and Stipend Fund to participants who enter the program on or after July 1, 1985, must be made upon the following terms:

1. All loans must bear a competitive interest rate, which must be established by the three Nevada State Commissioners, acting jointly, from the first day of the term for which the participant received the loan. The three Nevada State Commissioners, acting jointly, may delegate to the Director of the Nevada Office of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education the authority to establish the interest rate pursuant to this section.

2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 397.0617, each participant receiving a loan must repay the loan with interest following the termination of the participant’s education or completion of the participant’s internship for which the loan is made.

3. The loan must be repaid in monthly installments over the period allowed, as set forth in subsection 4, with the first installment due 1 year after the date of the termination of the participant’s education or the completion of the participant’s internship for which the loan is made. The amounts of the installments may not be less than $50 and may be calculated to allow a smaller payment at the beginning of the repayment period, with each succeeding payment gradually increasing so that the total amount due will have been paid within the period allowed for repayment.

4. The three Nevada State Commissioners, acting jointly, shall, or shall delegate to the Director of the Nevada Office of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education the power to, schedule the repayment within the following periods:

(a) Five years for loans which total less than $10,000.

(b) Eight years for loans which total $10,000 or more but less than $20,000.

(c) Ten years for loans which total $20,000 or more.

5. A participant’s loan may not exceed 50 percent of the student fees for any academic year.

6. A delinquency charge may be assessed on any installment delinquent 10 days or more in an amount that must be established by the three Nevada State Commissioners, acting jointly. The Nevada State Commissioners, acting jointly, may delegate to the Director of the Nevada Office of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education the authority to establish an appropriate delinquency charge pursuant to this subsection.

7. The reasonable costs of collection and attorney’s fees may be recovered in the event of delinquency.

(Added to NRS by 1985, 846; A 1995, 357; 1997, 947; 2003, 941; 2007, 610; 2015, 1509)