What's happening
This bill creates a loan forgiveness program for dental faculty in New York to increase dental educators by offering up to $160,000 in awards.
Why it matters
Addresses a critical shortage of dental faculty. by providing substantial financial incentives for dentists to become educators, which could help expand the capacity of dental schools and improve student-to-faculty ratios.
Targets experienced dental professionals. requiring licensure, clinical experience, and specific academic coursework—meaning those who receive awards are likely to be highly qualified and ready to teach immediately.
Incentivizes sustained commitment to teaching. by offering up to $40,000 per year for a maximum of four years, but only to those who maintain significant teaching responsibilities (at least 12 credit hours annually), promoting ongoing faculty retention.
Streamlines curriculum development. by allowing the state to directly contract with an association of New York’s academic dental centers to create a standardized academic dentistry curriculum, potentially improving the quality and consistency of dental education statewide.
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Forgive Dental Faculty Loans
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
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History
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Forgive Dental Faculty Loans
In Assembly Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor Alicia Hyndman
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5801
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 1, 2017
Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the New York state dental faculty loan forgiveness incentive program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 679-j to read as follows:
§ 679-j. New York state dental faculty loan forgiveness incentive program. 1. Purpose. a. Process. The president shall grant student loan forgiveness awards for the purpose of increasing the number of educators and adjunct clinical faculty teaching in the field of dental education in New York state. Such awards shall be made on a competitive basis as promulgated by the corporation through rules and regulations, to applicants who are licensed dentists with previous clinical experience in dentistry who have completed coursework that qualifies them as dental faculty or adjunct clinical faculty. The president may contract with a third party for purposes of administering the competitive process required under this paragraph.
b. Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this section, applicants shall:
(i) be licensed as a dentist;
(ii) have an outstanding student loan debt from a dental degree program;
(iii) have taken coursework that qualified them as dental faculty or adjunct clinical faculty;
(iv) be employed as a faculty member at a dental school located in New York state; and
(v) comply with subdivisions three and five of section six hundred sixty-one of this part.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11099-01-7
S. 5801 2
c. Award. An award of forty thousand dollars shall be made annually to recipients who have provided classroom or clinical instruction of not less than twelve academic credit hours, or its equivalent, as dental faculty or in clinical teaching service in the academic year preceding the granting of the award, provided that no recipient shall receive cumulative awards, pursuant to this section, in excess of one hundred sixty thousand dollars.
d. Other awards. Award recipients shall be eligible to apply for other awards.
e. Curriculum development. The president shall contract with a third party for purposes of developing a uniform curriculum on academic dentistry, which shall serve as the basis for the coursework required under paragraph a of subdivision one of this section. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this section, sections one hundred twelve and one hundred sixty-three of the state finance law, or any other provision of law, such contract shall be awarded to an association representing the New York state academic dental centers without a competitive bid or request for proposal process.
2. Duration. Loan forgiveness awards shall be made annually to applicants whom the corporation has certified are eligible to receive such awards and have provided dental faculty or clinical dental faculty services required pursuant to this article; provided that no award shall be granted for more than four years.
3. Amount. The corporation shall grant such awards within the amounts appropriated for such purpose and based on availability of funds in an amount not to exceed the total cost of the student loan debt.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the New York state dental faculty loan forgiveness incentive program
Purpose
To provide for a loan forgiveness incentive program for New York state dental faculty.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill adds a new section 679-j to the Education Law to provide for the New York State Dental Faculty Loan Forgiveness Incentive Program. This would allow for awards of $40,000 for faculty teaching at least twelve credit hours in the prior academic year. No awards can exceed the cumulative total of $160,000 for a recipient.
Section 2 of the bill provides that this act shall take effect immediately.
Justification
In 2008, a law to give limited licenses to foreign dental faculty was enacted, and was supposed to expire in 2011. This has since been extended multiple times and is set to expire again in 2019. One of the largest issues for the academic dental schools is recruiting American trained dentists to join faculties because of the large amount of debt dentists accrue, while pursuing their degree.
When this law was extended until 2019, the extender included the intent to create a program that would assist in attracting more domestically trained dentists to the teaching profession. This loan forgiveness program would provide such incentive, and will assist New York in attracting more professionals into the teaching aspect of the dental profession.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
To be determined
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.