(a) Awards shall be made based on academic merit using criteria established by the Office.
(b) For the purpose of this section, an award is a loan the repayment of which is forgiven when the borrower is employed in the specified profession required in each program for the specified period of time in accordance with the conditions specified in this section.
(c) Renewal of awards shall be limited to the number of years that constitute the standard full-time completion rate. To be eligible for renewal of an award, the recipient must meet the academic progress standards set by the Office and communicated in writing to the recipient at the time the initial award is granted.
(d) The Office may establish and modify interest rates to achieve purposes of the program, but in no case shall the interest rate be less than that charged to students in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) or its successor.
(e) The interest rate charged to a recipient for his or her initial award shall be constant for subsequent awards for study toward the same degree or certification.