2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 1 - General Provisions › Article 14 - New York State Higher Education Services Corporation › Part 2 - Student Financial Aid › Sub Part 4 - Other Awards › 679-J - The New York State Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.

§  679-j.  The  New  York  state  teacher loan forgiveness program. 1.
Purpose. The president shall grant student loan forgiveness  awards  for
the purpose of increasing the number of teachers serving in the state.
2.  Eligibility.  To  be  eligible  for  an  award  pursuant  to  this
subdivision, applicants shall (a) be certified  as  a  teacher;  (b)  be
employed  full  time in this state in an elementary or secondary school;
(c) comply with subdivisions three  and  five  of  section  six  hundred
sixty-one  of  this part; (d) have an outstanding student loan debt; and
(e) meet one of the following criteria:
(i) teach in a shortage subject area;
(ii) teach in a hard to staff district; or
(iii) the applicant is economically disadvantaged, as defined  by  the
corporation.
3.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this section, the term "shortage
subject area" shall mean a curriculum  subject  matter  or  practice  of
teaching  where  there  is  a shortage of teachers in New York state, as
designated by the  department,  and  the  term  "hard  to  staff  school
districts" shall mean school districts that have a shortage of teachers,
as designated by the department.
4.  Priority.  Such awards shall be made annually to applicants in the
following priority:
(a) First priority shall be given  to  applicants  who  have  received
payment of an award pursuant to this section in a prior year and who, in
the  year  prior  to application, are teachers in (i) a subject shortage
area, or (ii) a hard to staff school district;
(b) Second priority shall be given to applicants who have not received
payment of an award pursuant to this section in a prior year and who are
teachers in (i) a subject shortage area, or (ii) hard  to  staff  school
district in the year prior to such application; and
(c)  Third  priority shall be given to applicants who are economically
disadvantaged as defined by the corporation.
5. Awards. The corporation shall grant awards pursuant to  the  amount
appropriated  for  such purpose and based on availability of funds in an
amount up to five thousand  dollars  to  individuals  who  are  employed
full-time  as  teachers  for  the school year prior to such application,
provided that no recipient shall receive an award that exceeds the total
remaining balance of the student loan debt pursuant to this section,  in
excess of twenty thousand dollars.
6.  Rules and regulations. The corporation is authorized to promulgate
rules and regulations and may promulgate emergency regulations necessary
for the implementation of the provisions of this section. In  the  event
that  there  are more applicants who have the same priority, as provided
in subdivision four of this section, than there  are  remaining  awards,
the  corporation  shall provide in regulation the method of distributing
the remaining number of such awards, which  may  include  a  lottery  or
other form of random selection.