Graduate Student Supplemental Loans

13
53H-8-614
63A-3-205
0
Graduate Student Supplemental Loans
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Jennifer Dailey-Provost
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill establishes the Graduate Student Supplemental Revolving Loan
Fund to provide
supplemental financial aid to certain graduate students.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
establishes the Graduate Student Supplemental Revolving Loan
Fund (
fund) to provide
supplemental financial aid to certain graduate students for whom the cost of graduate
programs exceeds new federal financial aid limits;
requires the Utah Board of Higher Education to:
administer the
fund;
make rules to provide the supplemental loans; and
annually report to the governor and the Higher Education Appropriations
Subcommittee;
adds the
fund to a list of revolving loan funds for Division of Finance rulemaking; and
makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
This bill provides a special effective date.
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63A-3-205
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 105
ENACTS:
53H-8-614
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
53H-8-614
is enacted to read:
53H-8-614
. Graduate Student Supplemental Revolving Loan Fund.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Eligible graduate student" means a student who is enrolled at a degree-granting
institution in a graduate program that:
(i)
does not meet the federal definition of a professional degree program for purposes
of federal financial aid borrowing limits for graduate students; and
(ii)
may include nursing, physician assisting, public health, social work, counseling,
marriage and family therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology,
architecture, accounting, and education.
(b)
"Fund" means the Graduate Student Supplemental Revolving Loan Account that this
section establishes.
(2)
This section establishes a revolving loan fund known as the Graduate Student
Supplemental Revolving Loan Fund.
(3)
The fund consists of:
(a)
each degree-granting institution's unspent carry-forward balance as of July 1, 2027;
(b)
any appropriations the Legislature makes to the fund;
(c)
any contributions or grants from any other private or public sources for deposit into
the fund; and
(d)
all money the board collect from loan repayments.
(4)
(a)
The fund shall earn interest.
(b)
All interest earned on fund money shall be deposited into the fund.
(5)
The board:
(a)
shall administer the fund;
(b)
shall deposit all loan repayment money into the fund; and
(c)
may use money in the fund to:
(i)
provide certain supplemental graduate students loans in accordance with
Subsection
(6)
; and
(ii)
pay the board for the costs of:
(A)
administering the fund;
(B)
providing the loans described in Subsection
(6)
; and
(C)
obtaining repayments of the loans described in Subsection
(6)
.
(6)
The board shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, to:
(a)
establish a competitive low-interest student loan for eligible graduate students to
provide loan funding for the amount between the federal financial aid borrowing
limit for eligible graduate students and the full cost of the student's relevant graduate
program; and
(b)
establish processes for administration of the loans described in Subsection
(6)(a)
,
including for application, lending, and repayment.
(7)
Following the close of each fiscal year, the board shall submit an annual report of the
board's activities under this section for the preceding year to the governor and the Higher
Education Appropriations Subcommittee that includes a complete operating and
financial statement for the loans the board provides under this section.
Section 2. Section
63A-3-205
is amended to read:
63A-3-205
. Revolving loan funds -- Standards and procedures.
(1)
As used in this section, "revolving loan fund" means:
(a)
the Water Resources Conservation and Development Fund, created in Section
73-10-24
;
(b)
the Water Resources Construction Fund, created in Section
73-10-8
;
(c)
the Clean Fuel Conversion Funds, created in
Title 19, Chapter 1, Part 4, Clean Fuels
and Emission Reduction Technology Program Act
;
(d)
the Water Development Security Fund and its subaccounts, created in Section
73-10c-5
;
(e)
the Agriculture Resource Development Fund, created in Section
4-18-106
;
(f)
the Utah Rural Rehabilitation Fund, created in Section
4-19-105
;
(g)
the Permanent Community Impact Fund, created in Section
35A-8-303
;
(h)
the Petroleum Storage Tank Fund, created in Section
19-6-409
;
(i)
the Uintah Basin Revitalization Fund, created in Section
35A-8-1602
;
(j)
the Navajo Revitalization Fund, created in Section
35A-8-1704
;
and
(k)
the Energy Efficiency Fund, created in Section
11-45-201
.
; and
(l)
the Graduate Student Supplemental Revolving Loan Fund, created in Section
53H-8-614
.
(2)
The division shall for each revolving loan fund make rules establishing standards and
procedures governing:
(a)
payment schedules and due dates;
(b)
interest rate effective dates;
(c)
loan documentation requirements; and
(d)
interest rate calculation requirements.
Section 3.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
July 1, 2026
.
2-12-26 5:44 PM