42 U.S.C. § 254l — National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program

(a) Establishment: The Secretary must set up the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program. Its goal is to make sure there's an adequate supply of (1) physicians, dentists, behavioral and mental health professionals, certified nurse midwives, certified nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, and (2) other health professionals the Corps needs, to provide primary health services as described in section 254d(a)(2). (b) Eligibility; application; written contract: To join, a person must (1) be accepted into, or already enrolled full-time in, an accredited school in a state, in a Secretary-approved program leading to a degree in medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, another health profession, or an appropriate behavioral or mental health graduate degree; (2) be eligible for (or already hold) a commissioned officer appointment in the Service, or be eligible for civilian Corps service; (3) submit an application; and (4) sign and submit, with the application, a written contract agreeing to accept the scholarship and to serve the required period in a shortage area. (c) Review and evaluation of information and forms by prospective applicant: (1) When the Secretary sends out application and contract forms, they must include (A) a fair summary of the applicant's rights and responsibilities if accepted, including a clear explanation of the damages owed under section 254o if the person breaks the contract, and (B) information about satisfying the service obligation through private practice under section 254n, plus anything else needed to understand what joining the Program and Corps means — including what factors the Secretary uses to approve applications and make assignments. (2) All forms and information must be written so an average applicant can understand them, and must be given out early enough that applicants have real time to review them carefully. (3)(A) The Secretary must send program information to health schools and encourage them to pass it on to students. (B)(i) As a person's obligated service is nearing completion, the Secretary must encourage them to stay in their shortage area and keep providing primary care. (ii) During the transition to private practice, the Secretary may help the professional, if they're staying in a shortage area and continuing primary care. (C) The Secretary must encourage the entities hosting Scholarship participants to help those participants stay in the area and keep serving after their obligation ends — including options like sharing one job between two or more health professionals, or recruiting professional couples together. (d) Factors considered in providing contracts; priorities: (1) Subject to section 254f–1, in awarding contracts the Secretary (A) must consider how much interest the applicant has shown in providing primary health services; (B) must consider applications from all students at any accredited dental school in a state when reviewing dental applicants; and (C) may consider any other relevant factors. (2) The Secretary must give priority, in this order: (A) first, to anyone who previously received a scholarship under this section or the older section 294z; (B) second, to anyone whose traits make it more likely they'll keep serving in a shortage area after their obligation ends; and (C) third — but only after applying priority (B) — to anyone from a disadvantaged background. (e) Commencement of participation in Scholarship Program; notice: (1) A person becomes a Program participant only once the Secretary approves their application and accepts their contract. (2) The Secretary must promptly notify the person in writing once their participation is approved. (f) Written contract; contents: The contract between the Secretary and the individual must include: (1)(A) the Secretary's promise, subject to paragraph (2), to (i) pay the scholarship each school year (up to four years, however many years the student chooses, while they're in school) and (ii) accept the person into the Corps (or equivalent service) once funds are available; and (1)(B) the individual's promise, subject to paragraph (2), to (i) accept the scholarship, (ii) stay enrolled in their course of study until finished, (iii) maintain an acceptable academic standing (as the school defines it under Secretary regulations), (iv) if in medical or osteopathic school, complete a residency in a specialty the Secretary says the Corps needs, and (v) serve a period of obligated service equal to either one year for every year of scholarship received, or two years — whichever is longer — as a primary-care provider in a shortage area the Secretary assigns. (2) The contract must state that the whole arrangement — for both the government and the individual — depends on Congress actually appropriating the money. (3) The contract must state the damages owed under section 254o if the individual breaches it. (4) The contract can include other statements of rights and responsibilities, as long as they don't conflict with this subpart. (g) Scholarship provisions; contract with educational institution; increase in monthly stipend: (1) A yearly scholarship covers (A) payment of the student's (i) tuition and (ii) other reasonable school costs — fees, books, lab expenses — for that year, and (B) a stipend of $400 a month, adjusted as described below, for each of the 12 months starting with the first month of that school year. (2) The Secretary may instead contract directly with the school to pay the tuition and expenses, without needing to follow the usual government payment-timing rule in section 3324(a) and (b) of title 31. (3) Each school year, the Secretary must increase the monthly stipend by the same percentage that federal General Schedule pay went up that year (rounded up to the next whole dollar), based on the increase set under section 5303 of title 5. (h) Employment ceiling of Department unaffected: While in school under a Scholarship contract, participants don't count against any cap on the number of Department employees.