House Status:
Senate Status:
Senate Status:
Minutes for HB2645 - Committee on Education
Short Title
Amending the nursing service scholarship program to remove limits on the amount of awards and number of scholarships, remove the sponsorship requirement, modify the interest rate terms for repayment obligations and abolish the nursing service scholarship review committee.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 6, 2024
Chair Molly Baumgardner opened the hearing.
Tamera Lawrence, Senior Assistant Revisor, The Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. (Attachment 1)
Dr. Blake Flanders, President and CEO, Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR), reported that this legislation was proposed by KBOR to increase interest in the Kansas Nursing Service Scholarship Program as one solution to the nursing workforce shortage in Kansas. This scholarship authorizes scholarships for qualified nursing students pursuing coursework that leads to licensure as licensed professional nurses or licensed practical nurses. It is available to students attending state universities, Washburn University, and Kansas not-for-profit independent institutions. Currently, scholarships are funded half by the state and half by each student's sponsor, which may be an adult care home, medical facility, home health agency, local health department, mental health or treatment facility or a state agency that employs licensed practical nurses or licensed professional nurses in Kansas.
Students must agree to complete their coursework and obtain licensure, then practice nursing in their sponsor's employ. If a student fails to meet the program's requirements, the scholarship must be repaid with interest.
This bill would make several changes to the program's authorizing statutes designed to increase the scholarships attractiveness, with the goal of increasing the state's nursing workforce. Principal changes include altering the sponsorship requirement, eliminating the cap on the number of scholarships to be awarded, and eliminate the cap on scholarship amounts. The bill would also make students eligible without a sponsor. It would also eliminate the nursing scholarship review committee and the interest rate on repayments for students not fulfilling their service obligation to a flat five percent.The current rate is 13.05%.
The committee was encouraged to add in the contents of HB2644 to this bill. It would establish uniform interest rate provisions for the service scholarships. A copy for KBOR's testimony was attached with this testimony. (Attachment 2)
Proponent Written Only was submitted by:
Matt Lindsey, President, Kansas Independent College Association (Attachment 3)
Jaron Caffrey, Director of Workforce and Health Care Policy (Attachment 4)
Discussion followed.
The Chair closed the hearing on SB2645.
