A. A minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant shall be evidenced by a contract between the recipient and the department and shall be signed by the recipient and an authorized representative of the department.

B. The contract shall provide that, in consideration for the department's payment of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per year for up to four years to a lender on behalf of the recipient, the recipient shall teach in a full-time faculty position at a public post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico for a minimum of one year for each year a minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant is awarded.

C. Grant funds received by a recipient who fails to complete the contract terms shall be converted to a loan with an applied annual interest rate equal to the treasury note rate in existence at the time the contract is entered into plus two percent. The loan shall become due to the department on behalf of the state immediately upon the recipient's termination or breach of the contract.

D. The department is vested with full and complete authority and power to sue in its own name for any balance due it and the state from a recipient violating the terms of a contract under the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act.

E. The following debts incurred by a recipient are not eligible for payment by the department under the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act:

(1) amounts incurred as a result of participation in state loan-for-service programs or other state programs whose purpose states that service is to be provided in exchange for financial assistance;

(2) scholarships that have a service component or obligation;

(3) personal loans from individuals;

(4) loans that exceed individual standard school expense levels; and

(5) loans that are eligible for another state or federal loan repayment program.

History: Laws 1990 (1st S.S.), ch. 8, § 5; 2017, ch. 83, § 5.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, revised the required terms of a contract between a recipient of a minority doctoral loan repayment assistance grant and the higher education department; in the catchline, deleted "assistance" and added "loan repayment"; in Subsection A, after "minority doctoral", added "loan repayment", after "between the", deleted "student" and added "recipient", and after "and the", deleted "sponsoring institution" and added "department and shall be signed by the recipient and an authorized representative of the department"; in Subsection B, deleted Paragraphs B(1), B(2), the paragraph designation "(3)", and deleted "require the student to agree to begin to" from former Paragraph B(3) and added "provide that, in consideration for the department's payment of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per year for up to four years to a lender on behalf of the recipient, the recipient shall", after "teach in a", added "full-time", after "faculty position at", deleted "the sponsoring" and added "a public post-secondary educational", and after "institution", deleted "within five years of completion of the doctoral degree and", deleted the paragraph designation "(4)" and deleted "require the student to teach in a faculty position at the sponsoring institution" the language from former Paragraph B(4) and added "in New Mexico", after "minority doctoral", added "loan repayment", and after "assistance grant", deleted "was" and added "is"; in Subsection C, deleted "Grants to students" and added "Grant funds received by a recipient", after "who", deleted "fail" and added "fails", after "complete the", added "contract", after "terms", deleted "of their contract", after "shall be", deleted "considered loans" and added "converted to a loan", after "shall become due", deleted "in equal parts", after "to the", deleted "state and the sponsoring institution" and added "department on behalf of the state", after "immediately upon the", deleted "student's" and added "recipient's", after "termination", added "or breach", and after "of the", deleted "contractual agreement" and added "contract"; in Subsection D, deleted "The general form of the contract shall be approved by the attorney general and signed by the student and an authorized representative of the sponsoring institution.", after "The", deleted "sponsoring institution" and added "department", after "the state from", deleted "any student" and added "a recipient", after "violating the terms of", deleted "any such" and added "a", and after "contract", added "under the Minority Doctoral Loan Repayment Assistance Act"; and in Subsection E, deleted "The commission shall approve all minority doctoral assistance contracts entered into between students and sponsoring institutions" and added the remainder of the subsection.