TITLE 38 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER II - SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

38 USC 7611 - Authority for program

As part of the Educational Assistance Program, the Secretary shall carry out a scholarship program under this subchapter. The program shall be known as the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professional Scholarship Program (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the Scholarship Program).

38 USC 7612 - Eligibility; application; agreement

(a)

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, an individual must be accepted for enrollment or be enrolled (as described in section 7602 of this title) as a full-time student to be eligible to participate in the Scholarship Program.

(2) An individual who is an eligible Department employee may be accepted as a participant if accepted for enrollment or enrolled (as described in section 7602 of this title) for study on less than a full-time but not less than a half-time basis. (Such a participant is hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as a part-time student.)

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection, an eligible Department employee is a full-time Department employee who is permanently assigned to a Department health-care facility on the date on which the individual submits the application referred to in section 7603 of this title and on the date on which the individual becomes a participant in the Scholarship Program.

(b)

(1) A scholarship may be awarded under this subchapter only in a qualifying field of education or training.

(2) A qualifying field of education or training for purposes of this subchapter is education or training leading to employment (under section 7401 of this title) as any of the following:

(A) A physician, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, nurse, physician assistant, or expanded function dental auxiliary.

(B) A psychologist described in section 7401 (3) of this title or a certified or registered respiratory therapist, licensed physical therapist, or licensed practical or vocational nurse.

(3) The Secretary may designate additional fields of education or training as qualifying fields of education or training if the education or training leads to employment in a position which would qualify the individual for increased basic pay under subsection (a)(1) of section 7455 of this title for personnel described in subsection (a)(2)(B) of such section.

(4) Before awarding the initial scholarship in a course of education or training other than medicine or nursing, the Secretary shall notify the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Secretarys intent to award a scholarship in such course of education or training. The notice shall include a statement of the reasons why the award of scholarships in that course of education or training is necessary to assist in providing the Department with an adequate supply of personnel in the health profession concerned. Any such notice shall be given not less than 60 days before the first such scholarship is awarded.

(5) In selecting applicants for the Scholarship Program, the Secretary

(A) shall give priority to applicants who will be entering their final year in a course of training; and

(B) shall ensure an equitable allocation of scholarships to persons enrolled in the second year of a program leading to an associate degree in nursing.

(c)

(1) An agreement between the Secretary and a participant in the Scholarship Program shall (in addition to the requirements set forth in section 7604 of this title) include the following:

(A) The Secretarys agreement to provide the participant with a scholarship under this subchapter for a specified number (from one to four) of school years during which the participant is pursuing a course of education or training described in section 7602 of this title.

(B) The participants agreement to serve as a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration for a period of time (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the period of obligated service) of one calendar year for each school year or part thereof for which the participant was provided a scholarship under the Scholarship Program, but for not less than two years.

(2) In a case in which an extension is granted under section 7614 (3) of this title, the number of years for which a scholarship may be provided under this subchapter shall be the number of school years provided for as a result of the extension.

(3) In the case of a participant who is a part-time student

(A) the period of obligated service shall be reduced in accordance with the proportion that the number of credit hours carried by such participant in any such school year bears to the number of credit hours required to be carried by a full-time student in the course of training being pursued by the participant, but in no event to less than one year; and

(B) the agreement shall include the participants agreement to maintain employment, while enrolled in such course of education or training, as a Department employee permanently assigned to a Department health-care facility.

(4) If a participants period of obligated service is deferred under section 7616 (b)(3)(A)(i) of this title, the agreement terms under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall provide for the participant to serve any additional period of obligated service that is prescribed by the Secretary under section 7616 (b)(4)(B) of this title.

38 USC 7613 - Scholarship

(a) A scholarship provided to a participant in the Scholarship Program for a school year under the Scholarship Program shall consist of payment of the tuition of the participant for that school year, payment of other reasonable educational expenses (including fees, books, and laboratory expenses) for that school year, and a stipend determined under subsection (b) of this section.

(b) A stipend under this section for a school year shall be payment to the participant of not in excess of $485 per month (adjusted in accordance with section 7631 of this title) for each of the 12 consecutive months beginning with the first month of the school year, except that a stipend may not be paid to a participant who is a full-time employee of the Department. The stipend of a participant who is a part-time student shall be adjusted as provided in sections 7614 (1) and 7614 (2) of this title.

(c) The Secretary may arrange with an educational institution in which a participant in the Scholarship Program is enrolled for the payment to the educational institution of the amounts of tuition and other reasonable educational expenses described in subsection (a) of this section. Such payments may be made without regard to subsections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31.

38 USC 7614 - Part-time students

In the case of a participant who is a part-time student

(1) the maximum amount of the stipend payable to the participant shall be reduced in accordance with the proportion that the number of credit hours carried by such participant bears to the number of credit hours required to be carried by a full-time student in the course of education or training being pursued by the participant;

(2) a stipend may not be paid for any month during which the participant is not actually attending the course of training in which the participant is enrolled; and

(3) the Secretary may extend the period for which a scholarship may be awarded to the participant to a maximum of six school years if the Secretary determines that the extension would be in the best interest of the United States.

38 USC 7615 - Status of participants

Participants in the Scholarship Program shall not by reason of their participation in such program

(1) be considered to be employees of the Federal Government, or

(2) be counted against any personnel ceiling affecting the Veterans Health Administration.

38 USC 7616 - Obligated service

(a) Each participant in the Scholarship Program shall provide service as a full-time employee of the Department for the period of obligated service provided in the agreement of the participant entered into under section 7603 of this title. Such service shall be provided in the full-time clinical practice of such participants profession or in another health-care position in an assignment or location determined by the Secretary.

(b)

(1) Not later than 60 days before the participants service commencement date, the Secretary shall notify the participant of that service commencement date. That date is the date for the beginning of the participants period of obligated service.

(2) As soon as possible after the participants service commencement date, the Secretary shall

(A) in the case of a participant who is not a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration, appoint such participant as such an employee; and

(B) in the case of a participant who is an employee in the Veterans Health Administration but is not serving in a position for which such participants course of education or training prepared such participant, assign such participant to such a position.

(3)

(A)

(i) In the case of a participant receiving a degree from a school of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or podiatry, the participants service commencement date is the date upon which the participant becomes licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or podiatry, as the case may be, in a State. However, the Secretary may, at the request of such participant, defer such date until the end of the period of time required for the participant to complete an internship or residency or other advanced clinical training. If the participant requests such a deferral, the Secretary shall notify the participant that such deferral could lead to an additional period of obligated service in accordance with paragraph (4) of this subsection.

(ii) No such period of internship or residency or other advanced clinical training shall be counted toward satisfying a period of obligated service under this subchapter.

(B) In the case of a participant receiving a degree from a school of nursing, the participants service commencement date is the later of

(i) the participants course completion date, or

(ii) the date upon which the participant becomes licensed as a registered nurse in a State.

(C) In the case of a participant not covered by subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph, the participants service commencement date is the later of

(i) the participants course completion date, or

(ii) the date the participant meets any applicable licensure or certification requirements.

(4) A participant whose period of obligated service is deferred under paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection shall be required to undertake internship or residency or other advanced clinical training in an accredited program in an educational institution which is an affiliated institution (as defined in section 7423 (d)(1) of this title) and with respect to which the affiliation agreement provides that all or part of the internship or residency or other advanced clinical training will be undertaken in a Department health-care facility. Such a participant may, at the discretion of the Secretary and upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, incur an additional period of obligated service

(A) at the rate of one-half of a calendar year for each year of internship or residency or other advanced clinical training (or a proportionate ratio thereof), if the internship, residency, or advanced clinical training is in a medical specialty necessary to meet the health-care requirements of the Department (as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary); or

(B) at the rate of three-quarters of a calendar year for each year of internship or residency or other advanced clinical training (or a proportionate ratio thereof), if the internship, residency, or advanced clinical training is not in a medical specialty necessary to meet the health-care requirements of the Department (as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary).

(5) The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe the service commencement date for participants who were part-time students. Such regulations shall prescribe terms as similar as practicable to the terms set forth in paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(c)

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a participant in the Scholarship Program shall be considered to have begun serving such participants period of obligated service

(A) on the date, after such participants course completion date, on which such participant (in accordance with subsection (b) of this section) is appointed under this chapter as a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration; or

(B) if the participant is a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration on such course completion date, on the date thereafter on which such participant is assigned to a position for which such participants course of training prepared such participant.

(2) A participant in the Scholarship Program who on such participants course completion date is a full-time employee in the Veterans Health Administration serving in a capacity for which such participants course of training prepared such participant shall be considered to have begun serving such participants period of obligated service on such course completion date.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the term course completion date means the date on which a participant in the Scholarship Program completes such participants course of education or training under the program.

38 USC 7617 - Breach of agreement: liability

(a) A participant in the Scholarship Program (other than a participant described in subsection (b) of this section) who fails to accept payment, or instructs the educational institution in which the participant is enrolled not to accept payment, in whole or in part, of a scholarship under the agreement entered into under section 7603 of this title shall be liable to the United States for liquidated damages in the amount of $1,500. Such liability is in addition to any period of obligated service or other obligation or liability under the agreement.

(b) A participant in the Scholarship Program shall be liable to the United States for the amount which has been paid to or on behalf of the participant under the agreement if any of the following occurs:

(1) The participant fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing in the educational institution in which the participant is enrolled (as determined by the educational institution under regulations prescribed by the Secretary).

(2) The participant is dismissed from such educational institution for disciplinary reasons.

(3) The participant voluntarily terminates the course of training in such educational institution before the completion of such course of training.

(4) The participant fails to become licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, podiatry, or optometry in a State, fails to become licensed as a registered nurse in a State, or fails to meet any applicable licensure requirement in the case of any other health-care personnel who provide either direct patient-care services or services incident to direct patient-care services, during a period of time determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

(5) In the case of a participant who is a part-time student, the participant fails to maintain employment, while enrolled in the course of training being pursued by such participant, as a Department employee permanently assigned to a Department health-care facility.

Liability under this subsection is in lieu of any service obligation arising under the participants agreement.

(c)

(1) If a participant in the Scholarship Program breaches the agreement by failing (for any reason) to complete such participants period of obligated service, the United States shall be entitled to recover from the participant an amount determined in accordance with the following formula: ts A=3FAB t In such formula:

(A) A is the amount the United States is entitled to recover.

(B) F is the sum of

(i) the amounts paid under this subchapter to or on behalf of the participant, and

(ii) the interest on such amounts which would be payable if at the time the amounts were paid they were loans bearing interest at the maximum legal prevailing rate, as determined by the Treasurer of the United States.

(C) t is the total number of months in the participants period of obligated service, including any additional period of obligated service in accordance with section 7616 (b)(4) of this title.

(D) s is the number of months of such period served by the participant in accordance with section 7613 of this title.

(2) Any amount of damages which the United States is entitled to recover under this section shall be paid to the United States within the one-year period beginning on the date of the breach of the agreement.

38 USC 7618 - Expiration of program

The Secretary may not furnish scholarships to new participants in the Scholarship Program after December 31, 1998.