§12103-A. Doctors for Maine's Future Scholarship Program
There is established the Doctors for Maine's Future Scholarship Program, referred to in this section as "the scholarship program," to provide a tuition subsidy of 50% of the cost of attendance annually, up to a maximum of $25,000 per student annually, for eligible students who enter qualifying Maine-based medical school programs for the purpose of increasing the number of physicians in this State who practice in primary care, underserved specialties or underserved areas of the State. For the purposes of this section, "cost of attendance" means the tuition and fees applicable to an eligible student, together with estimated other expenses reasonably related to cost of attendance at a qualifying Maine-based medical school program. [PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
1. Eligibility. For purposes of this section, "eligible student" means a student who meets eligibility requirements set by the authority by rule that include at least the following:
A. The student is or will be enrolled in a qualifying Maine-based medical school program; and [PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
B. The student has a substantial connection to the State as evidenced by factors such as prior education in this State, parental residence in this State and at least one year of non-education-related residence in this State. [PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
[PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
2. Priority. In awarding scholarships, the authority shall give priority to an eligible student who meets at least 2 of the following provisions:
A. The student has received a high school diploma, or its equivalent, in this State; [PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
B. The student has received a baccalaureate degree from a 4-year college or university in this State; and [PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
C. The legal residence of a parent of the student is in this State. [PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
[PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
3. Allocation. The total number of scholarships available under the scholarship program must be allocated equally among qualifying Maine-based medical school programs, except that a program may not be allocated more than the number of scholarships for which the program has raised matching funds as of January 1st immediately preceding the scholarship award.
[PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
4. Matching funds. Commencing January 1, 2013, if a qualifying Maine-based medical school program raises matching funds in an amount less than the amount of scholarship funds allocable to it under this section from the State for a given year or does not have a sufficient number of qualified applicants to fill the number of scholarships allocable to it, the number of scholarships allocated to that program must be reduced accordingly and scholarships must be reallocated for that year to students of other qualifying Maine-based medical school programs. Qualifying Maine-based medical school programs must use funds raised through philanthropic and private medical education fundraising to increase the number of scholarships available to eligible students and must use matching funds to provide no fewer than the number of scholarships allocated to the program by the State in a given academic year.
[PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
5. Notification. For each student receiving a scholarship under this section, the student's qualifying Maine-based medical school program must notify the authority of the location of the student's medical residency, specialty and place of employment for each of the 8 years after the student's graduation from the school.
[PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
6. Doctors for Maine's Future Scholarship Fund created. A nonlapsing, interest-earning, revolving fund under the jurisdiction of the authority, known as the Doctors for Maine's Future Scholarship Fund, and referred to in this subsection as "the fund," is created to carry out the purposes of this section. Any unexpended balance in the fund carries over for continued use under this section. The authority may receive, invest and expend on behalf of the fund money from gifts, grants, bequests and donations or other sources in addition to money appropriated or allocated by the State. Money in the fund must be invested by the authority, as provided by law, with the earned income to be added to the fund. Money received by the authority on behalf of the fund, except interest income, must be used for the purposes of this section; interest income may be used for such purposes or to pay student financial assistance administrative costs incurred by the authority.
[PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2009, c. 410, §3 (NEW).