I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1460 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a graduate degree 

loan repayment program for nurses who become nursing school faculty 

members. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mr. LATHAM (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. HARE, 

Ms. DELAURO, Mr. MCMAHON, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, and Mr. GORDON of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a graduate degree loan repayment program for nurses who 

become nursing school faculty members. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nurses’ Higher Edu5 cation and Loan Repayment Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Health Resources and Services Admin2 istration estimates there is currently a shortage of 

3 more than 200,000 registered nurses nationwide and 

4 projects the shortage will grow to over 1 million 

5 nurses by 2020, 36 percent less than needed to meet 

6 demand for nursing care. 

7 (2) The shortage of qualified nursing faculty is 

8 the primary factor driving the inability of nursing 

9 schools to graduate more registered nurses to meet 

10 the nation’s growing workforce demand. 

11 (3) There continues to be strong interest on the 

12 part of young Americans to enter the nursing field. 

13 The National League for Nursing estimates that 

14 88,000 qualified applications, or one out of every 

15 three submitted to basic registered nurse programs 

16 in 2006, were rejected due to lack of capacity. 

17 (4) The American Association of Colleges of 

18 Nursing (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘AACN’’) es19 timates that 49,948 applicants were turned away 

20 specifically from baccalaureate and graduate schools 

21 of nursing in 2008 and over 70 percent of the 

22 schools responding to the AACN survey reported a 

23 lack of nurse faculty as the number one reason for 

24 turning away qualified applicants. Likewise, nearly 

25 70 percent of the associate’s degree registered nurse 


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1 programs responding to the most recent American 

2 Association of Community Colleges Nursing Survey 

3 reported a lack of faculty to teach as the number 

4 one reason for turning away qualified applicants. 

5 (5) Large numbers of faculty members at 

6 schools of nursing in the United States are nearing 

7 retirement. According to the AACN, the average age 

8 of a nurse faculty member is 55 years old and the 

9 average age at retirement is 62. 

10 (6) The current nationwide nurse faculty va11 cancy rate is estimated to be as high as 7.6 percent, 

12 including 814 vacant positions at schools of nursing 

13 offering baccalaureate and advanced degrees and, in 

14 2006, as many as 880 in associate’s degree pro15 grams. 

16 (7) Market forces have created disincentives for 

17 individuals qualified to become nurse educators from 

18 pursing this career. The average annual salary for 

19 an associate professor of nursing with a master’s de20 gree is nearly 20 percent less that the average salary 

21 for a nurse practitioner with a master’s degree, ac22 cording to the 2007 salary survey by the journal 

23 ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners. 

24 (8) The most recent Health Resources and 

25 Services Administration survey data indicates that 


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1 from a total of more than 2 million registered 

2 nurses, only 143,113 registered nurses with a bach3 elor’s degree and only 51,318 registered nurses with 

4 an associate’s degree have continued their education 

5 to earn a master’s degree in the science of nursing, 

6 the minimum credential necessary to teach in all 

7 types of registered nurse programs. The majority of 

8 these graduates do not become nurse educators. 

9 (9) Current Federal incentive programs to en10 courage nurses to become educators are inadequate 

11 and inaccessible for many interested nurses. 

12 (10) A broad incentive program must be avail13 able to willing and qualified nurses that will provide 

14 financial support and encourage them to pursue and 

15 maintain a career in nursing education. 

16 SEC. 3. NURSE FACULTY LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

17 Part E of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 297a et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

19 section 846A the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 846B. NURSE FACULTY LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

22 through the Administrator of the Health Resources and 

23 Services Administration, may enter into an agreement 

24 with eligible individuals for the repayment of education 


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1 loans, in accordance with this section, to increase the num2 ber of qualified nursing faculty. 

3 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.—Each agreement entered into 

4 under subsection (a) shall require that the eligible indi5 vidual shall serve as a full-time member of the faculty of 

6 an accredited school of nursing for a total period, in the 

7 aggregate, of at least four years during the six-year period 

8 beginning on the later of— 

9 ‘‘(1) the date on which the individual receives 

10 a master’s or doctorate nursing degree from an ac11 credited school of nursing; or 

12 ‘‘(2) the date on which the individual enters 

13 into an agreement under subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENT PROVISIONS.—Agreements entered 

15 into pursuant to subsection (a) shall be entered into on 

16 such terms and conditions as the Secretary may deter17 mine, except that— 

18 ‘‘(1) not more than ten months after the date 

19 on which the six-year period described under sub20 section (b) begins, but in no case before the indi21 vidual starts as a full-time member of the faculty of 

22 an accredited school of nursing, the Secretary shall 

23 begin making payments, for and on behalf of that 

24 individual, on the outstanding principal of, and inVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:08 Mar 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1460.IH H1460

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1 terest on, any loan of that individual obtained to pay 

2 for such degree; 

3 ‘‘(2) for an individual who has completed a 

4 master’s degree in nursing— 

5 ‘‘(A) payments may not exceed $10,000 

6 per calendar year; and 

7 ‘‘(B) total payments may not exceed 

8 $40,000; and 

9 ‘‘(3) for an individual who has completed a doc10 torate degree in nursing— 

11 ‘‘(A) payments may not exceed $20,000 

12 per calendar year; and 

13 ‘‘(B) total payments may not exceed 

14 $80,000. 

15 ‘‘(d) BREACH OF AGREEMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any agree17 ment made under subsection (a), the individual is 

18 liable to the Federal Government for the total 

19 amount paid by the Secretary under such agree20 ment, and for interest on such amount at the max21 imum legal prevailing rate, if the individual fails to 

22 meet the agreement terms required under subsection 

23 (b). 

24 ‘‘(2) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION OF LIABILITY.— 

25 In the case of an individual making an agreement 


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1 for purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

2 provide for the waiver or suspension of liability 

3 under such paragraph if compliance by the indi4 vidual with the agreement involved is impossible or 

5 would involve extreme hardship to the individual or 

6 if enforcement of the agreement with respect to the 

7 individual would be unconscionable. 

8 ‘‘(3) DATE CERTAIN FOR RECOVERY.—Subject 

9 to paragraph (2), any amount that the Federal Gov10 ernment is entitled to recover under paragraph (1) 

11 shall be paid to the United States not later than the 

12 expiration of the 3-year period beginning on the date 

13 the United States becomes so entitled. 

14 ‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts recovered under 

15 paragraph (1) shall be available to the Secretary for 

16 making loan repayments under this section and shall 

17 remain available for such purpose until expended. 

18 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—For pur19 poses of this section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means 

20 an individual who— 

21 ‘‘(1) is a United States citizen, national, or law22 ful permanent resident; 

23 ‘‘(2) holds an unencumbered license as a reg24 istered nurse; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) has either already completed a master’s or 

2 doctorate nursing program at an accredited school of 

3 nursing or is currently enrolled on a full-time or 

4 part-time basis in such a program. 

5 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

7 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2010 

8 through 2014 to carry out this Act. Such sums shall re9 main available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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