Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Program Helps With Cost Of Education

Increasing the number of highly skilled technical workers in Arkansas and at the same time helping students with the expense of post secondary education are the two goals of the new Arkansas Technical Student Loan Forgiveness Program.

The program was created by Act 652 of the 1999 Arkansas General Assembly and is being implemented in the 1999-2000 academic year.

According to Dr. Steve Franks, director of the Department of Workforce Education, the loan forgiveness program is a direct response to the demands of business and industry for workers with advanced technical skills.

"We hope this will encourage Arkansans to pursue post secondary education opportunities and to remain in the state," Dr. Franks said. "Obviously, we want the best and the brightest to stay in Arkansas."

In June, the State Board of Workforce Education and Career Opportunities approved the high-demand technical career fields of advanced manufacturing, computer-information technology and biomedical/biotechnology for the loan forgiveness program for the 1999-2000 academic year.

These fields were selected through data from business and industry surveys, labor market information from the Arkansas Employment Security Department and input from the Arkansas Department of Economic Development, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, and other sources.

In addition to approving the high-demand career fields, the board designated a list of technical education programs by institution for the loan forgiveness program. More than 100 technical education programs at 24 institutions were designated at the June meeting. The board will consider additional designations at its August meeting.

Students must complete a designated program and must have a student loan to be eligible to apply for the loan forgiveness program.

The programs, which range from one-year certificate to four-year degree programs, must directly lead to employment in one of the approval high-demand technical career fields.

The board must annually review the list of high-demand career fields and designated technical education programs by institution. In the event that a student's program drops off the list of designated programs prior to the student's graduation, that student's loan forgiveness eligibility will not be affected.

Upon completion of a designated technical education program, an individual has up to six months to apply for the loan forgiveness program. One year of student loans will be forgiven for each year of employment in Arkansas in the high-demand field for which he or she trained. The loan amount, or up to $2,500 per year for a maximum of four years, will be forgiven.

The State Board of Workforce Education and Career Opportunities and the Department of Workforce Education are administering the loan forgiveness program.

More information on program eligibility and the application process, loan forgiveness program rules and regulations, descriptions of the high-demand technical career fields, and designated programs by institution can be obtained by contacting the Department of Workforce Education at 501-682-1500 or its web site at http://www.work-ed.state.ar.us

Financial aid officers at participating institutions can also provide information and assistance.