Bill > S3544

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the Teaching Scholars Loan Redemption Program within the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.The purpose of the program is to address the current and projected critical shortage of educators in the State by providing an incentive for the State's top high school graduates to pursue a career in teaching. The program will provide loan redemption to finance the undergraduate or graduate study of program participants in exchange for full-time employment as an educator at a public school in the State. The bill establishes certain eligibility requirements for the program, and requires the authority to establish additional academic eligibility requirements, including quantitative measures of academic aptitude and achievement. The bill directs the authority to, subject to the availability of funds and a sufficient number of qualified applicants, select a minimum of 100 high school graduates each year to be eligible to receive an initial student loan to pursue a course of study at an institution of higher education in the State. Program participants may apply for loan renewal for four additional years, with the total loan received by any participant not to exceed $40,000 during undergraduate studies, and an additional $10,000 during graduate studies. The bill requires a program participant to enter into a written contract with the authority to participate in the program. The redemption of loans under the program is not to exceed $10,000 for each full year of service satisfactorily completed by the program participant. The total loan redemption amount for a program participant, for five years of service, is not to exceed $50,000. The bill provides that a program participant who has entered into a redemption contract with the authority may nullify that contract by submitting written notification to the authority and assuming full responsibility for repayment of the full amount of the participant's loan or that portion of the loan that has not been redeemed by the State in return for partial fulfillment of the contract. Finally, in the case of a program participant's death or total or permanent disability, the authority is required to nullify the service obligation of the participant, thereby terminating the participant's service obligation; or where continued enforcement of the contract may result in extreme hardship, the authority may nullify or suspend the participant's service obligation.

AI Summary

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Shirley Turner (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee (on 02/19/2026)

Official Document