{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-164.7891","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 164.7891","heading":"Osteopathic Medicine Scholarship Program.","body":"(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly to establish a scholarship program to\nprovide eligible Kentucky students the opportunity to attend an accredited\nosteopathic school of medicine located in the Commonwealth and become certified\npractitioners rendering medical service in the Commonwealth.\n(2) The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority may award scholarships, to\nthe extent funds are available for that purpose, to persons who declare an intent to\nbecome osteopaths and practice in the Commonwealth  and who are eligible under\nsubsection (4) of this section.\n(3) The authority may award scholarships to students who meet the following criteria:\n(a) Kentucky residents who are United States citizens as determined by the\ninstitution in accordance with crit eria established by the Council on\nPostsecondary Education for the purposes of admission and tuition\nassessment;\n(b) Students who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an eligible program of\nstudy accredited by the Bureau of Professional Education of the American\nOsteopathy Association or its successor, on a full -time basis, or eligible\nstudents who have a disability defined by Title II of the Americans with\nDisabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. secs. 12131 et seq., certified by a licensed\nphysician to be unable  to attend the eligible program of study full -time\nbecause of the disability;\n(c) Students who agree to render one (1) year of qualified service in the\nCommonwealth for each year the scholarship was awarded. \"Qualified\nservice\" means a full -time practice i n the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a\nlicensed doctor of osteopathy for a majority of the calendar year in the fields\nof family practice, general practice, general internal medicine, general\npediatrics, general obstetrics, or gynecology, except that an indiv idual having\na disability defined by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42\nU.S.C. secs. 12131 et seq., whose disability, certified by another licensed\nphysician, prevents him or her from practicing full -time, shall be deemed to\nperform qualified service by practicing the maximum time permitted by the\nattending physician; and\n(d) Students who sign a promissory note as evidence of the scholarship awarded\nand the obligation to repay the scholarship amount or render medical service\nas agreed in lieu of payment.\n(4) The amount of the scholarship awarded to an eligible student by the authority shall\nbe equal to the difference between:\n(a) The average of the prevailing amount charged for in -state tuition at the\nUniversity of Kentucky School of Medicin e and the University of Louisville\nSchool of Medicine; and\n(b) The prevailing amount charged for tuition at the osteopathic school of\nmedicine in which the student is enrolled.\n(5) The authority shall require a promissory note to be executed by the student as\nevidence of the obligation. The recipient shall render one (1) year of qualified\nservice for each year the scholarship was awarded. Upon completion of each year of\nqualified service, the authority shall cancel the appropriate number of promissory\nnotes. Promissory notes shall be canceled by qualified service in the order in which\nthe promissory notes were executed. Service credit shall not include residency\nservice. In the event a recipient fails to complete an eligible program of study, or\nfails to render qualified medical service as a primary care physician as agreed in\nsubsection (3) of this section, the recipient shall be liable for the total repayment of\nthe sum of all outstanding promissory notes and accrued interest.\n(6) A scholarship shall not be awarded or a promissory note cancellation shall not be\ngranted to any person who is in default on any obligation to the authority under any\nprogram administered by the authority un der KRS 164.740 to 164.785 until\nfinancial obligations to the authority are satisfied, except that ineligibility for this\nreason may be waived by the authority for cause.\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 executing the promissory note.\n(8) Failure to meet repayment obligations imposed by this section shall be cause for the\nrevocation of the scholarship recipient's license to practice medicine, subject to the\nprocedures set forth in KRS Chapter 311.\n(9) Notwithstanding KRS 164.753(3), the authority shall establish by administrative\nregulation procedures or the terms of promissory notes for the administration of this\nprogram, including the execution of appropriate contr acts and promissory notes,\ncancellation of the obligation, the rate of repayment and deferment of repayment of\noutstanding debt, and the priority of awarding scholarships if funds are insufficient\nto honor all requests.\n(10) Notwithstanding any other statu te to the contrary, the maximum interest rate\napplicable to repayment of a promissory note under this section shall be twelve\npercent (12%) per annum, except that if a judgment is rendered to recover payment,\nthe judgment shall bear interest at the rate of  five percent (5%) greater than the rate\nactually charged on the promissory note.\n(11) (a) The \"Osteopathic Medicine Scholarship Program\" is hereby created as a\nspecial trust fund in the State Treasury administered by the Kentucky Higher\nEducation Assistan ce Authority for the purpose of providing funds for\nscholarships to eligible students studying osteopathic medicine in schools in\nthe Commonwealth.\n(b) Funding shall be transferred to the special trust fund from the coal severance\ntax revenues levied under  KRS 143.020 in an amount that permits each\nKentucky resident eligible under subsection (3) of this section to be awarded a\nscholarship in the amount established under subsection (4) of this section. No\nmore than four percent (4%) of the coal severance tax  revenues levied under\nKRS 143.020 and collected annually shall be transferred to the trust fund. To\nthe extent this appropriation and other funds are available, the authority shall\naward scholarships to all renewal applicants and eligible students in\naccordance with the formula for determining the amount of the scholarship\naward established in this section.\n(c) The trust fund may also receive state appropriations, gifts, and grants from\npublic and private sources, and federal funds. Any unallotted or\nunencumbered balances in the trust fund shall be invested as provided in KRS\n42.500(9). Income earned from the investments shall be credited to the trust\nfund. Any fund balance at the close of the fiscal year shall not lapse but shall\nbe carried forward to the next fiscal year and continuously appropriated only\nfor the purposes specified in this section. A general statement that all\ncontinuing appropriations are repealed, discontinued, or suspended shall not\noperate to repeal, discontinue, or suspend this fund or to repeal this section.\n(d) All moneys repaid to the authority under this section shall be added to the\nappropriations made for purposes of this section, and the funds and\nunobligated appropriations shall not lapse.\n(12) On or before August 1 of each yea r, sixty -five percent (65%) of the amount of\nfunding provided in subsection (11)(b) of this section shall be transferred to the\nspecial trust fund and the remaining thirty -five percent (35%) shall be transferred\non or before December 1 of each year. The re venue transfers shall be based upon\nthe revenue estimates prevailing at the time each transfer is due.","path":["KRS Chapter 164"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=40060","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:17Z","sha256":"d8dec616712b3a317d301563c82490a4f02a0906dd6ea6db71e53bf7dcb1a4e9","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-164.7890","next":"us-ky/krs-164.7892"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}