The board of trustees is hereby authorized to enter into a contract with an educational institution or institutions outside the state that offer training in optometry, by the terms of which the board of trustees may obligate itself to pay the institution, within the limits of any appropriation made for the purpose, a stated amount per year for each West Virginia student the institution will agree to accept for training in optometry.
The board of trustees shall each year send to any such institution a certified list of all persons applying to the trustees for training in optometry who are bona fide citizens and residents of this state prior to the filing of their applications, and who have completed either within or without the state the course of study required by the institution as a prerequisite to the study of optometry.