{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-164.771","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 164.771","heading":"Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program --","body":"Procedures -- Repayment obligations -- Reporting requirements -- Fund.\n(1) The General Assembly hereby establishes the Teacher Recruitment Student Loan\nForgiveness Pilot Program to encourage and assist individuals in becoming certified\nteachers in Kentucky public schools.\n(2) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Authority\" means the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority;\n(b) \"Eligible program of study\" means an undergraduate or gradua te program of\nstudy which is preparatory to teacher certification, as determined by the\nauthority;\n(c) \"Eligible student\" means a student who:\n1. Is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;\n2. Is a Kentucky resident, as determined by the parti cipating institution in\naccordance with criteria established by the Council on Postsecondary\nEducation for the purposes of admission and tuition assessment;\n3. Is enrolled at a participating institution; and\n4. Meets any other criteria established in administrative regulation\npromulgated by the authority;\n(d) \"Participating institution\" means an institution of higher education located in\nKentucky that offers an eligible program of study and has an agreement in\nforce with the authority providing for administration of the pilot program\nestablished by this section;\n(e) \"Qualified teaching service\" means teaching in a classroom the majority of\neach school day for at least eighty (80) days each semester in a public sch ool\nof the Commonwealth while satisfying a one (1) year contract, except that an\nindividual having a disability defined by Title II of the Americans with\nDisabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 12131 et seq., or serious and extended illness,\nwhose disability or i llness, certified by a licensed physician, prevents that\nindividual from teaching a major portion of each school day, shall be deemed\nto perform qualified teaching service by teaching the maximum time\npermitted by the attending physician;\n(f) \"Semester\" me ans a period of about eighteen (18) weeks, which usually\nmakes up one -half (1/2) of a school year or one -half (1/2) of a participating\ninstitution's academic year; and\n(g) \"Summer term\" means an academic period consisting of one (1) or more\nsessions of instruction between a spring and a fall semester.\n(3) The authority may, to the extent of appropriations and other funds available to it\npursuant to subsection (9) of this section, provide teacher recruitment awards to\neligible students pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, who initially demonstrate\nfinancial need in accordance with standards and criteria established by the\nauthority. Each teacher recruitment award shall be evidenced by a promissory note\nthat requires repayment or cancellation pursuant to subsection (6) of this section.\n(4) Teacher recruitment awards shall first be provided to eligible students accepted into\nan eligible program of study and then to eligible students who have declared a\nmajor that is an eligible program of study in pursuit of initial teacher certification.\n(5) To the extent funds are available, the authority shall provide to eligible students:\n(a) Accepted into an eligible program of study, a maximum award of up to five\nthousand dollars ($5,000) per semester or summer term; or\n(b) Having declared a major that is an eligible program of study, a maximum\naward of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per semester or\nsummer term.\n(6) (a) The authority shall disburse teacher recruitment awards to eligible students\nwho agree to render qualified teaching service as certified teachers, are\nunconditionally admitted and enrolled in a participating institution, and have\ndeclared a major that is an eligible program of study.\n(b) A teacher recruitment award shall not be provide d, or a promissory note\ncancellation shall not be granted, to any person who is in default on any\nobligation to the authority under any program administered by the authority\npursuant to KRS 164.740 to 164.7891 until financial obligations to the\nauthority are satisfied, except that ineligibility for this reason may be waived\nby the authority for cause.\n(c) Recipients shall render one (1) year of qualified teaching service for each\nsemester of award received. The authority shall cancel a promissory note upon\ncompletion of each year of qualified teacher service beginning with the oldest\npromissory note.\n(d) If the recipient of a teacher recruitment award fails to complete an eligible\nprogram of study at a participating institution or fails to render qualified\nteaching service in any semester following certification or recertification,\nunless the failure is temporarily waived for cause by the authority, the\nrecipient shall immediately become liable to the authority for repayment of\nthe sum of all outstanding prom issory notes and accrued interest. Persons\nliable for repayment of awards under this paragraph shall be liable for interest\naccruing from the dates on which the teacher recruitment awards were\ndisbursed.\n(e) The authority shall establish, by administrative  regulation, the terms and\nconditions for the award and cancellation and repayment of teacher\nrecruitment awards, including but not limited to the selection criteria,\neligibility for renewal awards, amount of award payments, deferments, the\nrate of repayment, and the interest rate thereon.\n(f) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, the maximum interest rate\napplicable to repayment of a promissory note under this section shall be eight\npercent (8%) per annum, except that if a judgment is rendered  to recover\npayment, the judgment shall bear interest at the rate of five percent (5%)\ngreater than the rate actually charged on the promissory note.\n(7) A repayment obligation imposed by this section shall not be voidable by reason of\nthe age of the recipient at the time of receiving the teacher recruitment award.\n(8) Failure to meet repayment obligations imposed by this section shall be cause for the\nrevocation of a person's teaching certificate, subject to the procedures set forth in\nKRS 161.120.\n(9) All moneys repaid to the authority under this section shall be deposited into the\nTeacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program fund created in\nsubsection (13) of this section.\n(10) The authority may execute appropriate contracts and promissory n otes for\nadministering this section.\n(11) (a) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, if available funds are\ninsufficient for all requested awards for eligible applicants during any fiscal\nyear, the authority shall give priority consideration to  eligible applicants who\npreviously received teacher recruitment awards.\n(b) If funds are insufficient to make all requested renewal awards to eligible\napplicants, the authority shall reduce all awards to the extent necessary to\nprovide awards to all qualified renewal applicants.\n(c) If, after awarding all eligible renewal applicants, funds are not depleted, initial\napplications shall be ranked according to regulatory selection criteria, and\nawards shall be made to eligible applicants until funds are depleted.\n(12) The authority shall submit a report on the number of teacher awards provided in\neach fiscal year, the program of study in which recipients are enrolled, recipient\nretention rates, total number of applications, and award recruitment strategies to t he\nLegislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on\nEducation by December 1 of each year.\n(13) (a) The Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program fund is\nhereby created as a revolving account in the State Treas ury to be administered\nby the authority for the purpose of providing loan repayment as described in\nthis section.\n(b) The fund shall consist of state general fund appropriations, gifts and grants\nfrom public and private sources, and federal funds. All moneys included in the\nfund shall be appropriated for the purposes set forth in this section.\n(c) Any unallotted or unencu mbered balances in the trust fund shall be invested\nas provided in KRS 42.500(9). Income earned from the investments shall be\ncredited to the fund.\n(d) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, any fund balance at the close of the fiscal year\nshall not lapse but shall b e carried forward to the next fiscal year and\ncontinuously appropriated only for the purposes specified in this section.","path":["KRS Chapter 164"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54579","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:17Z","sha256":"2929e39049aeb548a81c5ce5c7228d6c3117135adc3f3f2aec664475c0be4d4a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-164.770","next":"us-ky/krs-164.772"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}