38 U.S.C. § 7612 — Eligibility; application; agreement

(a) Who can join. Unless paragraph (2) applies, an individual must be accepted for enrollment or enrolled as a full-time student, as described in section 7602 of this title, to participate in the Scholarship Program. An eligible Department^* employee may instead be accepted as a participant if the employee is accepted for enrollment or enrolled, as described in section 7602, for less-than-full-time but at least half-time study. This section calls such a participant a “part-time student”. To be an eligible Department employee for this exception, the person must be a full-time Department employee who is permanently assigned to a Department health-care facility both on the date the person submits the application referred to in section 7603 and on the date the person becomes a participant in the Scholarship Program.

(b) What fields count. A scholarship may be awarded only for a qualifying field of education or training. A qualifying field is education or training leading to employment as an appointee under section 7401(1) or (3) of this title. The Secretary^* may designate additional qualifying fields if the education or training leads to employment in a position that would qualify the person for increased basic pay under section 7455(a)(1) for personnel described in section 7455(a)(2)(B). Before awarding the first scholarship for a course other than medicine or nursing, the Secretary must notify the Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the intent to award it. The notice must explain why scholarships in that course are necessary to help provide the Department with enough personnel in the health profession concerned. The notice must be given at least 60 days before the first scholarship is awarded.

(5) When selecting applicants, the Secretary must give priority to applicants entering their final year of training; give priority to applicants pursuing education or training for an occupation that the Inspector General’s most current determination published in the Federal Register under section 7412(a) has identified as having one of the largest staffing shortages throughout the Department; and ensure an equitable allocation of scholarships to people enrolled in the second year of a program leading to an associate degree in nursing.

(6) Physician and dentist scholarships. Each year, the Secretary must ensure that at least 50 scholarships go to people accepted for enrollment or enrolled in a program leading to employment as a physician or dentist, until the Secretary determines that the Department’s physician-and-dentist staffing shortage is less than 500. After that date, each year the Secretary must ensure that at least 10 percent of that staffing shortage, as determined by the Secretary, is the number of scholarships awarded to those people. The agreement for a scholarship under this paragraph must provide that the Secretary will provide scholarships for a specified two to four school years while the participant pursues the course, and that the participant will serve as a full-time Veterans Health Administration employee for 18 months for each school year or part of a school year for which the participant received a scholarship. The Secretary may prefer veteran^* applicants. Each year the Secretary must provide appropriate educational institutions with information about these scholarships.

(c) The agreement. In addition to section 7604’s requirements, an agreement must provide that the Secretary will provide a scholarship for one to four specified school years while the participant pursues the education or training described in section 7602, and that the participant will work full-time for the Veterans Health Administration for one calendar year for each school year or part of a school year funded, but for at least two years. If an extension is granted under section 7614(3), the scholarship may cover the number of school years resulting from the extension. For a part-time student, the required service is reduced according to the ratio of the participant’s credit hours to the credit hours a full-time student must carry in the course, but it may not be reduced below one year. The agreement must also require the participant to remain employed, while enrolled, as a Department employee permanently assigned to a Department health-care facility. If service is deferred under section 7616(b)(3)(A)(i), the agreement must require any additional service prescribed by the Secretary under section 7616(b)(4)(B).