TITLE 5 POST-SECONDARY
EDUCATION
CHAPTER 7 TUITION AND FINANCIAL AID
PART 5 TEACHER LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM
5.7.5.1 ISSUING AGENCY: State of New Mexico Higher Education Department
[5.7.5.1 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.2 SCOPE: Provisions for 5.7.5 NMAC apply to certain education
professionals that are selected to participate in the loan repayment program
described in this rule.
[5.7.5.2 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Sections 9-25-8, 21-1-26 and 21-22H-1 through 21-22H-9, NMSA
1978.
[5.7.5.3 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[5.7.5.4 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: October 31, 2013, unless a later date is cited at the end of
a section.
[5.7.5.5 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.6 OBJECTIVE: The objective and purpose of 5.7.5 NMAC is to increase
the number of teachers in designated high-risk teacher positions in public
schools through an educational loan repayment program. The program provides for
repayment of the principal and reasonable interest accrued on loans obtained
from the federal government for teacher education purposes.
[5.7.5.6 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Department”
means the New Mexico higher education department.
B. “Designated
high-risk teacher positions” means teacher positions in specific public
schools that:
(1) have been
designated by the public education department as schools with a high percentage
of students who are not meeting acceptable academic proficiency levels; and
(2)
are located in geographic areas with a high rate of poverty;
C. “Loan” means a
grant of funds to defray the educational expenses incidental to a teacher
education, under a contract between the federal government and a teacher,
requiring repayment of principal and interest.
[5.7.5.7 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.8 HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT -
POWERS AND DUTIES
A. The department may grant a loan
repayment award to repay loans obtained for the teacher educational expenses of
a teacher upon such terms and conditions as may be imposed by rules of the
department.
B. The department and the public
education department shall jointly make a full and careful investigation of the
ability and qualifications of each applicant and determine the fitness of a
teacher to participate in the teacher loan repayment program.
[5.7.5.8 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.9 TEACHER ELIGIBILITY
A. Applicants shall be:
(1) licensed New
Mexico teachers and shall be bona fide citizens; and
(2)
shall be bona fide citizens and residents of
the United States and New Mexico.
B. Applicants shall declare their
intent to practice as teachers in designated high-risk teacher positions in the
state.
[5.7.5.9 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.10 LOAN REPAYMENT AWARD CRITERIA;
CONTRACT TERMS; PAYMENT
A. Loan repayment
award criteria shall provide that:
(1) award amounts shall be dependent upon a
specific public school's need for the designated high-risk teacher position, as
determined by the public education department, the teacher's total teacher
education indebtedness and available balances in the teacher loan repayment
fund;
(2) preference in
making awards shall be to teachers who have graduated from a New Mexico public
postsecondary educational institution;
(3) awards shall be
made to eligible teachers who fill a designated high-risk teacher position;
(4) award amounts may
be modified based upon funding availability or other special circumstances; and
(5) the total amount
of awards made to any one teacher shall not exceed the total teacher education
indebtedness of that teacher.
B. The following teacher education
debts are not eligible for repayment pursuant to the Teacher Loan Repayment
Act:
(1) amounts incurred as a result of
participation in state loan-for-service programs or other state programs whose
purpose states that service be provided in exchange for financial assistance;
(2) scholarships that
have a service component or obligation;
(3) loans from a
commercial lender;
(4) personal loans
from friends or relatives; and
(5) loans that exceed
individual standard school expense levels.
C. Every loan repayment award shall be evidenced by a
contract between the teacher and the department acting on behalf of the state.
The contract shall provide for the payment by the state of a stated sum to the
teacher's federal government lender and shall state the obligations of the
teacher under the program, including a minimum two-school-year period of
service in a designated high-risk teacher position, quarterly reporting
requirements and other obligations established by the department.
D. Teachers who serve a complete school
year in a designated high-risk teacher position shall receive credit for one
year for the purpose of calculating any loan repayment award amounts. The
minimum loan repayment award amount to be paid for each school year completed
shall be established by the department.
E. The contract between a teacher and
the department shall provide that, if the teacher does not comply with the
terms of the contract, the teacher shall reimburse the department for all loan
payments made on the teacher's behalf, plus reasonable interest at a rate to be
determined by the department, unless the department finds acceptable
extenuating circumstances for why the teacher cannot serve or comply with the
terms of the contract.
F. Loan repayment awards shall be in
the form of payments from the teacher loan repayment fund directly to the
federal government lender of a teacher who has received the award and shall be
considered a payment on behalf of the teacher pursuant to the contract between
the department and the teacher. A loan repayment award shall not obligate the
state or the department to the teacher's federal government lender for any
other payment and shall not be considered to create any privity of contract
between the state or the department and the lender.
G. The department, after consulting
with the public education department, shall adopt rules to implement the
provisions of the Teacher Loan Repayment Act. The rules:
(1) shall provide a
procedure for determining the amount of a loan that will be repaid for each year
of service in a designated high-risk teacher position; and
(2) may provide for
the disbursement of loan repayment awards to a teacher's federal government
lender in annual or other periodic installments.
[5.7.5.10 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.11 CONTRACTS AND ENFORCEMENT
A. The general form of a contract required
pursuant to the Teacher Loan Repayment Act shall be prepared and approved by
the attorney general, and each contract shall be signed by the teacher and the
designated representative of the department on behalf of the state.
B. The department is vested with full and complete authority
and power to sue in its own name for any balance due the state from a teacher
under any such contract.
[5.7.5.11 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.12 TEACHER
LOAN REPAYMENT FUND CREATED AND METHOD OF PAYMENT
A. The "teacher loan repayment fund" is created in
the state treasury. All money appropriated
for the teacher loan repayment program shall be credited to
the fund, and any repayment of awards and interest
received by the department shall be
credited to the fund. Income from the fund shall be credited to the fund, and
balances in the fund shall not revert to any other fund. Money in the fund is
appropriated to the department for making loan repayment awards pursuant to the
Teacher Loan Repayment Act.
B. All payments for loan repayment
awards shall be made upon vouchers signed by the designated representative of
the department and upon a warrant issued by the secretary of finance and
administration.
[5.7.5.12 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.13 CANCELLATION: The department
may cancel any contract made between it and a teacher pursuant to the Teacher
Loan Repayment Act for any reasonable cause deemed sufficient by the
department.
[5.7.5.13 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
5.7.5.14 REPORTS: Prior to each
regular session of the legislature, the department shall make annual reports to
the governor and the legislature of the department's activities pertaining to
the Teacher Loan Repayment Act; the loan repayment awards granted; the names
and addresses of teachers who received loan repayment awards; the names and
locations of the positions filled by those teachers; and the name of each
teacher who received a loan repayment award who is not serving in a designated
high-risk teacher position, the reason the teacher is not serving in a
designated high-risk teacher position, the amount owed on the teacher's loan
and the amount paid on the teacher's loan by any loan repayment awards.
[5.7.5.14 NMAC - N, 10/31/2013]
HISTORY
OF 5.7.5 NMAC: [RESERVED]