West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 133 - Higher Education Policy Commission › Title 133 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY COMMISSION › Series 133-34 - Medical Student Loan Program › Section 133-34-9 - Loan Forgiveness

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
9.1. A
				borrower may receive cancellation and forgiveness of the outstanding principal
				and accumulated interest on the loan in return for the actual performance of
				fiiU-time service in West Virginia as a physician (M.D. or D.O.) in an approved
				designated medically underserved area or in an approved designated medical
				specialty in which there is a shortage of physicians.
9.2. The Commission, after consultation with
				the Bureau for PubUc Health, shall determine quaUfying medically underserved
				geographic areas and medical specialties in which there is a shortage of
				physicians. An approved listing of underserved areas and quaUfying medical
				specialties shall be pubUshed and distributed to the financial aid offices of
				each participating state school of medicine. At the borrower's request,
				additional geographic areas and medical specialties may be considered by the
				Commission after consultation with the Bureau for PubUc Health. Among the
				criteria are such factors as: locations where a physician currently in practice
				will retire creating a shortage or a population shift which will justify
				additional physicians.
9.3. To be
				eligible for loan forgiveness, the appUcant must apply annually for and receive
				Commission approval for practice in a specific designated imderserved area or
				designated medical specialty. Such approval shall include deferral of loan
				repayment during the period the practitioner is performing in service
				authorized for loan forgiveness. The practitioner must notify the lending
				institution of the date that such practice commences and terminates.
9.4. To be eHgible for loan forgiveness, the
				appUcant must have Commission approval to practice in a specific designated
				underserved area or designated medical specialty. hi addition, the appUcant
				must subsequently provide evidence to support the feet that full-time physician
				services were rendered. Such evidence shaU be presented on a form provided by
				the Commission for that purpose. The Commission shaU be the authority that
				grants loan forgiveness. The Commission shall notify the appropriate lending
				institution of all loan forgiveness which is granted.
9.5. The borrower shaU be eligible for loan
				forgiveness only upon appUcation and upon acceptance of duly certified evidence
				of fuU-time medical or osteopathic practice in one of the designated medicaUy
				underserved areas or medical specialties.
9.6. The borrower shall receive cancellation
				of the outstanding principal for sums not to exceed $10,000 per year plus
				accumulated interest during each period of twelve (12) consecutive months of
				full-time practice. No forgiveness shall be granted for less than twelve (12)
				consecutive months of fiill-time practice.
9.7. It shall be the responsibihty of the
				borrower to secure a current Ust of approved underserved areas and medical
				specialties. A current Ust may be obtained from the institution's financial aid
				office or from the Commission.