I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6652 
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 
JULY 30, 2008 
Mr. LATHAM (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. 
CORRINE
BROWN
of 
Florida, 
Mr. 
GRIJALVA, 
Mr. 
KIND, 
Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mr. SMITH
of New Jersey, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. 
BORDALLO, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania) intro-
duced 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 grad-
uate degree loan repayment program for nurses who 
become nursing school faculty members. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nurses’ Higher Edu-
cation and Loan Repayment Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The Health Resources and Services Admin-
istration estimates there is currently a shortage of 
more than 200,000 registered nurses nationwide and 
projects the shortage will grow to over 1 million 
nurses by 2020, 36 percent less than needed to meet 
demand for nursing care. 
(2) The shortage of qualified nursing faculty is 
the primary factor driving the inability of nursing 
schools to graduate more registered nurses to meet 
the nation’s growing workforce demand. 
(3) There continues to be strong interest on the 
part of young Americans to enter the nursing field. 
The National League for Nursing estimates that 
88,000 qualified applications, or one out of every 
three submitted to basic registered nurse programs 
in 2006, were rejected due to lack of capacity. 
(4) The American Association of Colleges of 
Nursing (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘AACN’’) es-
timates that 40,285 applicants were turned away 
specifically from baccalaureate and graduate schools 
of nursing in 2007 and over 70 percent of the 
schools responding to the AACN survey reported a 
lack of nurse faculty as the number one reason for 
turning away qualified applicants. Likewise, nearly 
70 percent of the associate’s degree registered nurse 
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programs responding to the most recent American 
Association of Community Colleges Nursing Survey 
reported a lack of faculty to teach as the number 
one reason for turning away qualified applicants. 
(5) Large numbers of faculty members at 
schools of nursing in the United States are nearing 
retirement. According to the AACN, the average age 
of a nurse faculty member is 55 years old and the 
average age at retirement is 62. 
(6) The current nationwide nurse faculty va-
cancy rate is estimated to be as high as 8.8 percent, 
including 767 vacant positions at schools of nursing 
offering baccalaureate and advanced degrees and, in 
2006, as many as 880 in associate’s degree pro-
grams. 
(7) Market forces have created disincentives for 
individuals qualified to become nurse educators from 
pursing this career. The average annual salary for 
an associate professor of nursing with a master’s de-
gree is nearly 20 percent less that the average salary 
for a nurse practitioner with a master’s degree, ac-
cording to the 2007 salary survey by the journal 
ADVANCE for Nurse Practitioners. 
(8) The most recent Health Resources and 
Services Administration survey data indicates that 
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from a total of more than 2 million registered 
nurses, only 143,113 registered nurses with a bach-
elor’s degree and only 51,318 registered nurses with 
an associate’s degree have continued their education 
to earn a master’s degree in the science of nursing, 
the minimum credential necessary to teach in all 
types of registered nurse programs. The majority of 
these graduates do not become nurse educators. 
(9) Current Federal incentive programs to en-
courage nurses to become educators are inadequate 
and inaccessible for many interested nurses. 
(10) A broad incentive program must be avail-
able to willing and qualified nurses that will provide 
financial support and encourage them to pursue and 
maintain a career in nursing education. 
SEC. 3. NURSE FACULTY LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 
Part E of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 297a et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 846A the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 846B. NURSE FACULTY LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary, 
acting 
through the Administrator of the Health Resources and 
Services Administration, may enter into an agreement 
with eligible individuals for the repayment of education 
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loans, in accordance with this section, to increase the num-
ber of qualified nursing faculty. 
‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.—Each agreement entered into 
under subsection (a) shall require that the eligible indi-
vidual shall serve as a full-time member of the faculty of 
an accredited school of nursing for a total period, in the 
aggregate, of at least four years during the six-year period 
beginning on the later of— 
‘‘(1) the date on which the individual receives 
a master’s or doctorate nursing degree from an ac-
credited school of nursing; or 
‘‘(2) the date on which the individual enters 
into an agreement under subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) AGREEMENT PROVISIONS.—Agreements entered 
into pursuant to subsection (a) shall be entered into on 
such terms and conditions as the Secretary may deter-
mine, except that— 
‘‘(1) not more than ten months after the date 
on which the six-year period described under sub-
section (b) begins, but in no case before the indi-
vidual starts as a full-time member of the faculty of 
an accredited school of nursing, the Secretary shall 
begin making payments, for and on behalf of that 
individual, on the outstanding principal of, and in-
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terest on, any loan of that individual obtained to pay 
for such degree; 
‘‘(2) for an individual who has completed a 
master’s degree in nursing— 
‘‘(A) payments may not exceed $10,000 
per calendar year; and 
‘‘(B) total payments may not exceed 
$40,000; and 
‘‘(3) for an individual who has completed a doc-
torate degree in nursing— 
‘‘(A) payments may not exceed $20,000 
per calendar year; and 
‘‘(B) total payments may not exceed 
$80,000. 
‘‘(d) BREACH OF AGREEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any agree-
ment made under subsection (a), the individual is 
liable to the Federal Government for the total 
amount paid by the Secretary under such agree-
ment, and for interest on such amount at the max-
imum legal prevailing rate, if the individual fails to 
meet the agreement terms required under subsection 
(b). 
‘‘(2) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION OF LIABILITY.— 
In the case of an individual making an agreement 
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for purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
provide for the waiver or suspension of liability 
under such paragraph if compliance by the indi-
vidual with the agreement involved is impossible or 
would involve extreme hardship to the individual or 
if enforcement of the agreement with respect to the 
individual would be unconscionable. 
‘‘(3) DATE CERTAIN FOR RECOVERY.—Subject 
to paragraph (2), any amount that the Federal Gov-
ernment is entitled to recover under paragraph (1) 
shall be paid to the United States not later than the 
expiration of the 3-year period beginning on the date 
the United States becomes so entitled. 
‘‘(4) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts recovered under 
paragraph (1) shall be available to the Secretary for 
making loan repayments under this section and shall 
remain available for such purpose until expended. 
‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means 
an individual who— 
‘‘(1) is a United States citizen, national, or law-
ful permanent resident; 
‘‘(2) holds an unencumbered license as a reg-
istered nurse; and 
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‘‘(3) has either already completed a master’s or 
doctorate nursing program at an accredited school of 
nursing or is currently enrolled on a full-time or 
part-time basis in such a program. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 
sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2009 
through 2013 to carry out this Act. Such sums shall re-
main available until expended.’’. 
Æ 
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