Section 34-22-63

Repayment of loans; service contracts.

(a) Scholarships extended under Section 34-22-62(1) shall be repaid following graduation, either in cash as is provided under subsection (b) of this section or under terms of a contract to serve in a needy area in Alabama for a term to be specified by the board as provided in subsection (c) of this section. Any moneys received from recipients in repayment of a scholarship loan under subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall upon receipt thereof be remitted by the Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards to the Treasurer of the State of Alabama for credit to the Education Trust Fund.

(b) Scholarship loans to be repaid under this subsection shall be repaid to the Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards in full at an interest rate of six percent per annum from the date of graduation from optometry school, and payments are to be made annually, the first of which is due one year after the recipient enters the practice of optometry or one year after completion of residency training, whichever occurs first. Repayment in full must be completed within eight years from initiation of repayment. Any recipient who fails for any reason to continue his optometric education shall repay all loan amounts in accordance with terms and conditions established by the Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards, provided that interest rate on such unpaid loan amounts shall be fixed at six percent per annum from the date of his/her departure from optometry school.

(c) Scholarship loans to be repaid under this subsection shall be repaid by service in one of the following ways, subject to approval by the Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards, and considering the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare designated optometric manpower shortage areas as one means of determination:

(1) Practice for a four-year period in a community of less than 5,000 population which has been deemed to be critically in need of additional optometric practitioners.

(2) Practice for a five-year period in a community of more than 5,000 population and less than 15,000 population which has been deemed to be critically in need of additional optometric practitioners.

(3) Practice for a five-year period in a community of more than 15,000 but less than 100,000 population and repayment of one-half the loan plus six percent simple interest annually in five annual payments, beginning at the end of the first year of practice.

(4) Practice for four years in a position in Alabama in public health or as an optometrist in any state institution approved by the Board of Optometric Scholarship Awards.

(5) For loans of less than four years of study, service repayment may be prorated on the basis of one-fourth of the above requirements for each $3,000.00 loan.

(Acts 1982, No. 82-460, p. 735, §5.)