The Oklahoma Student Loan Authority shall establish and operate a supplemental loan program for qualified students who are not eligible for loans under the federally insured student loan program, pursuant to the following:
A. "Qualified students" shall be those students enrolled in collegiate education who have completed federal needs analysis and require additional financial assistance as certified by the institution of enrollment but are ineligible for a Guaranteed Student Loan sufficient to meet that need, provided that in no instance shall a supplemental loan be made to any student whose family income, if dependent, or whose personal income, if independent, exceeded Eighty Thousand Dollars ($80,000.00), or the income limitation as adjusted pursuant to this subsection, in the previous tax year. Beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, the Authority shall prescribe a cost-of-living adjustment to the income limitation provided in this section. The adjustment shall be based on the maximum percentage increase, if any, not to exceed the previous year's Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as prepared by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
B. The Authority may enter into agreements with the Commissioners of the Land Office for funding this loan program or may obtain funding through authorized procedures as provided for in the Oklahoma Student Loan Act.
C. The Authority may enter into agreements with the State Guarantee Agency or any nationally recognized guarantor approved by the United States Secretary of Education for the insurance of such loans.
D. The Authority shall collect its loans when due; and, in the event of a possible default after due diligence has been performed to collect, a claim shall be filed with the State Guarantee Agency for collection under the insurance program, which guarantor shall pay the claim for the Authority, following which it shall take whatever action may be necessary to collect from the borrower in order to assure that the State of Oklahoma will not suffer any loss in connection with default payments; and if insurance of the loan is with a nationally recognized guarantor, the same procedure shall apply.
E. The Authority shall establish the rate of interest to be paid on loans, which shall be paid by the borrowers to the Authority on a quarterly basis, which rate shall be as modest as possible for the benefit of the student but shall be at sufficient level to assure repayment of the debt incurred to underwrite the loans and expenses incurred by the Authority in administration of the program.
F. The Authority shall promulgate rules as may be necessary and appropriate for the full and effective administration of the loan program provided for in the Oklahoma Student Loan Act, and it shall be the sole state agency for providing loans to eligible persons under the federal and state student loan programs.
G. As in the case of other trust agencies, the State of Oklahoma is not obligated to support with state-appropriated funds the loan program provided for in the Oklahoma Student Loan Act.
Added by Laws 1987, c. 81, § 8, operative July 1, 1987. Amended by Laws 2001, c. 303, § 1, eff. July 1, 2001.