Section 0520-02-05-.05 - TERMS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP(1) Each Recipient of a scholarship under this Chapter shall remain in Good Standing with the EPP during the time of enrollment in order to continue to receive the scholarship.(2) Each Recipient shall maintain an active and valid Occupational Teacher License for the required three (3) years of employment.(3) A Recipient shall not accept any other financial assistance that carries with it a conflicting service obligation after graduation or program completion.(4) The total amount of a scholarship shall not exceed the cost of Tuition and Mandatory Fees at the EPP where the Recipient is enrolled, less all other gift aid, which must be credited first to the eligible Prospective Educator's Tuition and Mandatory Fees.(5) Funds shall be disbursed by the Department directly to the EPP on behalf of the Recipient. No funds shall be disbursed directly to scholarship Recipients.(6) The scholarship award may be transferred from one (1) EPP to another provided the transfer is approved by the Department.(7) Repayment. (a) If the Recipient is determined to have received the scholarship based on inaccurate application information, the full amount of the scholarship received shall become due immediately to the state of Tennessee.(b) The scholarship must be repaid should the Recipient fail to complete the EPP or fail to honor the terms and conditions of the scholarship agreement. Repayment for Recipients shall begin on the first day of the month following notification to the Recipient from the EPP of failure to complete the EPP program or notification of failure to honor the terms and conditions of the scholarship agreement.(c) For each consecutive academic year of Full-Time Teaching Service the Recipient completes prior to any default under the terms and conditions of the scholarship agreement, the Recipient shall receive a credit of twenty-five percent (25%) of the scholarship amount. This credit shall not begin until the Recipient completes the EPP for which the scholarship was provided.(d) Repayment may be made in whole or in monthly installments over a period of not more than four (4) years from the date of notification to the Recipient of failure to complete the educator preparation program or notification of failure to honor the terms and conditions of the scholarship agreement.(e) If a Recipient issues a check, draft, warrant, or electronic funds transfer which is subsequently returned to the state of Tennessee for reason of insufficient funds, a stop payment order by the issuer, or any other reason, it will be considered non-payment.(f) A Recipient shall be delinquent if the Recipient fails to make an installment payment after thirty calendar (30) days of the due date. Upon delinquency, the Department shall send notice to the Recipient of the delinquency and inform the Recipient of the consequences of default.(g) The Department shall consider a Recipient to be in default if the Recipient fails to make a payment for a period of two hundred seventy (270) consecutive calendar days. The Department will refer all defaulted accounts to the Office of the Attorney General for collection.(h) If it becomes impossible for the Recipient to fulfill the requirements of 0520-02-05-.03(1)(d) above due to the Recipient's death or permanent disability under the standards established by T.C.A. Title 8, Chapter 36, Part 5, for determining disability for members of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, then the Recipient shall no longer be required to repay any remaining unpaid scholarship amounts currently due.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0520-02-05-.05
Original rules filed March 26, 2020; effective June 24, 2020. Amendments filed September 20, 2023; effective December 19, 2023. Amendments filed September 11, 2024; effective 12/10/2024.Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-1-302 and 49-11-102.